Excalibur (1981)

 

Genre: Fantasy/ Adventure 

Time: 2h 21mins

Director: John Boorman

Quick Summary: Merlin the magician helps Arthur Pendragon unite the Britons around the Round Table of Camelot, even as dark forces conspire to tear it apart.

I will start off by saying this isn't for everyone, a lot of people will get bored by this as unfortunately, it is incredibly long and disjointed with its pacing.

Aesthetic-wise, this is stunning to look at. So much detail has gone into everything it's outstanding. Sadly everything else is just a mess. Jumping from one scene to another, sometimes jumping forward into the future by months or years without actually saying can make it very confusing. 

Though it is hard to tell what is going on, it is so amazing to watch. It's really easy to get lost in the visual beauty of this, the set pieces and landscapes are so pretty all with a wonderful luminous filter over it giving the appearance of a time wrapped up in fantasy and magic. 

I actually found myself laughing a lot at the script unintentionally as the delivery from the majority of the characters was just so poor and the script was so janky and poorly written. I assume everything said is supposed to be taken seriously, but I found it very difficult. 

Pacing-wise, it was so slow. Like insanely slow. For a film in which so much happens, the scenes went on forever. They even cut down the length of the film by half an hour down to two hours and a half, which I find hard to believe. 

Aside from its many flaws, I still really really enjoyed this. It's really in-depth for the fairytale of King Arthur and the Sword in the Stone. It's fascinating to watch this story unfold over many years and how things, people and desires change. I'd say it's a good watch if you love the more realistic fantasy film, or just want to get lost in beautiful visuals.

7/10

"When a man lies, he murders some part of the world."

" Good and evil, there never is one without the other."