# Excalibur (1981)

### reviewed by
Chuck Dowling

    Excalibur (1981)
    **** out of *****

Cast: Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren, Nicholas Clay, Cherie Lunghi, Paul Geoffrey, Nicol Williamson, Gabriel Byrne, Katrine Boorman, Liam Neeson, Colin Redgrave, Patrick Stewart, Charlie Boorman Written by: Rospo Pallenberg and John Boorman Based on the book "Le Morte d'Arthur" by: Thomas Malory Directed by: John Boorman Running Time: 141 minutes

I've never been a big fan of the whole "sword and sorcery" genre. Not for any particular reason mind you, it's just never help much appeal to me. As a result, I'd never even considered watching a second of John Boorman's Excalibur. Now, eighteen years after it's release comes a DVD of the film... so I decided I'd give it a shot. I'm thrilled that I did, as Excalibur is one of the best told stories I've seen in a long time.

Surely everyone is familiar in some way with the legend of King Arthur, but I doubt there's a better representation of it on film than this one. Excalibur begins as the wizard Merlin (Nicol Williamson) strikes a deal with Uther (Gabriel Byrne) to help Uther bed the woman he desires, even though it has caused war amongst the people of the land. As a result of this encounter, Arthur is born. Due to the bargain previously struck, Merlin takes young Arthur away with him.

Arthur (Nigel Terry) grows to be a man and one day, by complete random chance, pulls the mighty Excalibur from the stone in which it was thrust into by Uther years earlier. This signifies that Arthur is now king of the land. Much follows, including the rise and fall of Camelot, the introduction of the knights of the round table, meeting Lancelot (Nicholas Clay) and his subsequent affair with Arthur's wife Guenevere (Cherie Lunghi), and the battles between Merlin and Arthur's half-sister Morgana (a gorgeously young Helen Mirren).

Excalibur holds up incredibly well considering it's age... more than likely due to the incredibly compelling story. Great production values and use of music (both original score by Trevor Jones and familiar stock music from Richard Wagner and Carl Orff) compliment this experience.

Excalibur is available on DVD from Warner Home Video. It contains the film in it's original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, a commentary track with director John Boorman, a biography and filmography for Boorman, and the film's original theatrical trailer.

I'm not sure why, but I wasn't expecting much from the commentary by John Boorman. To my surprise though it was very informative. Boorman does take his time, and sometimes leaves gaps of silence between bits of information, but he's still knowledgeable about seemingly every aspect of this film. Most directors I hear do commentary about a film that they made years earlier tend to forget many of the tiny details... like actor's names for example. In those cases, directors usually bring along a director of photography or co-producer to ask questions to in order to help refresh their memory. But Boorman's there all by himself, able to identify things as detailed as every different filming location, even when they change two or three times in a single scene (unfortunately, if you've never been in Ireland you won't know where he's talking about). Boorman's commentary is also highly complimentary. He's very giving with kind words to both cast and crew.

Some interesting tidbits of info he shares: Helen Mirren and Nicol Williamson couldn't stand one another based on an event from their past, and both threatened not to do the film if they had to work with one another. Boorman was able to convince them both to do the film, and since their characters are enemies he was able to use their natural animosity towards one another for their performances. Also, Liam Neeson and Mirren had a relationship for a year or two after they met on the set. And Boorman still has the sword Excalibur, Helen Mirren's breastplate, and the Holy Grail in his home (that's got to be a surreal experience to walk into your living room and see the Holy Grail sitting on your mantle).

Excalibur is a great film, and this is a great DVD to own. The transfer is great... making it hard to believe that the film is over 18 years old. If it weren't for the familiar faces in the cast you'd think this was a recent effort. If you're a fan of sword and sorcery, a Boorman fan, or just love great storytelling, get yourself a copy of this one. [R]

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