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King Arthur [DVD] [2004]
 
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King Arthur [DVD] [2004]

Clive Owen , Stephen Dillane , Antoine Fuqua    Suitable for 12 years and over   DVD
3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (161 customer reviews)
Price: £14.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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King Arthur [DVD] [2004] + Kingdom of Heaven [DVD] [2005] + Troy (1-Disc Edition) [DVD] [2004]
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Product details

  • Actors: Clive Owen, Stephen Dillane, Keira Knightley, Ioan Gruffudd, Mads Mikkelsen
  • Directors: Antoine Fuqua
  • Writers: David Franzoni
  • Producers: Bruce Moriarty, Chad Oman, James Flynn, Jerry Bruckheimer, Mike Stenson
  • Format: PAL
  • Language English, Latin
  • Subtitles: English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: 12
  • Studio: Disney
  • DVD Release Date: 29 Nov 2004
  • Run Time: 126 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (161 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B0002ZUHD8
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 11,578 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)

Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

It's got a round table, some knights, and a noble warrior who rises to become King Arthur, but everything else about this revisionist legend is pure Hollywood. That's not such a bad thing if you enjoyed Rob Roy, Braveheart, Gladiator and Troy, and there's some intriguing potential in presenting the "real" Arthur (played by Clive Owen) as a 5th-century soldier of Rome, assigned to defend Roman-imperial England against a hoard of invading Saxons (led by Stellan Skarsgard in hairy villain mode). As revamped history and "archaeological findings" would have us believe, Guinevere (Keira Knightley) is a warrior babe in face-paint and Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd) is a nonentity who fades into the woodwork. Never mind. Best to enjoy the harsh, gloomy atmosphere of Irish locations, the ruggedness of Owen and his hearty supporting cast, and the entertaining nonsense of a Jerry Bruckheimer production that strips battle-ready Guinevere down to leather-strap S&M gear while all the men sport full-body armor. Hail to the queen, indeed! --Jeff Shannon

From the studio

• Alternate Ending

• Blood on the Land: Forging King Arthur - The Behind-the-Scenes Making Of

• Producer’s Photo Gallery

• National Treasure Trailer


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Customer Reviews

161 Reviews
5 star:
 (39)
4 star:
 (33)
3 star:
 (28)
2 star:
 (21)
1 star:
 (40)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.1 out of 5 stars (161 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A fine epic despite terrible lead performances, 22 July 2006
By 
Trevor Willsmer (London, England) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 10 REVIEWER)   
The King Arthur Director's Cut is no better or worse than the theatrical, having the same strengths - some good character writing, action scenes where you can actually tell what is going on, an interesting background - and weaknesses - plot holes you could drive a Mack truck through, laughable historical errors, idiotic battle strategies and some hideously bad performances. The latter are definitely the biggest problem, with Antoine Fuqua proving more often than not truly hopeless at directing actors. Indeed, KA boasts some of, if not THE worst performances ever seen in a major studio picture. Clive Owen may look the part, but he delivers the lines like a dyslexic reading off idiot boards while fighting a hangover while Keira Knightley's Guinevere is just as pitiful: she's supposed to be a Celtic warrior queen but despite the fact that her people seem to speak Sioux for some reason she sounds like she's been to a rather expensive English finishing school where they teach you to mispronounce words like `cuhnntwee' (country) and `Roahm' (Rome). That wouldn't be so bad if she had even the remotest shred of talent, but none is to be found. Not since Helen of Troy have their been two leads so desperately in need of dubbing by more talented artists. Throw in Ken Stott doing an outta-ray-juss Ay-Taly-Eano accent, Ray Winstone overdosing on the bish-bash-bosh routine he does instead of acting these days and a couple of frighteningly inept child actors and it's a miracle that the film manages to be as much fun as it is. When the characters aren't trying to talk (something only Ioan Gufford seems to be able to do with success), the action is well handled (particularly the battle on the ice) and the film surprisingly good - but with better casting, it could have been so much more.

The alternate ending offered as an extra doesn't really work because it's so flatly directed, and the making of featurette is fairly brief. The audio commentary and 'round table' discussion from the R1 NTSC disc have not been included on the R2 disc.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Imaging a new story for the "real" King Arthur, 15 Feb 2005
By 
Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   
This review is from: King Arthur [VHS] (VHS Tape)
I am open to reinterpreting classic myths and legends in different settings. For example, it their "Elseworld" stories DC comics has retold the familiar origins of Superman and Batman in different time periods: e.g., Superman arrives in the England of the Dark Ages or Batman in the London of Victorian England. For that matter, "Camelot 3000" has Arthur and the knights of his roundtable reincarnated in the year 3000 in time to save England from an alien invasion. So when "King Arthur" wants to locate the "true story" of Arthur in the last days of the Roman occupation of Brittania I find that to be an intriguing idea.

The Romans had always found this last outpost of the Empire a problematic area: Hadrian's Wall essentially separates the north (Scotland) from the south (England), trying to keep the Woads (Huh? We would get the wrong idea if you called these people the Celts?) on the other side of the barrier. Adding to the incentive to abandon the land is the arrival of the Saxons on the scene who are set on killing everyone and pillaging everything. In such a land, a man who could become a rallying point against the onslaught of barbarism would be worth remembering.

In David Franzoni's script Arthur (Clive Owen) is the son of a Roman officer and a Briton woman. Sent to Rome to be educated he returned as Arturius, commander of a garrison on Hadrian's well. His knights, in a subplot that does come across as a bit forced, are from the land of Sarmatia, far to the west. When their land was defeated the Romans spared their lives, but bound the knights and their male descendants to 15 years of military service. Now that period is up and awaiting their honorable discharges (and safe passage throughout the empire) are the last six of the Sarmatia knights who ride with Arthur: Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd), Tristan (Mads Mikkelsen), Gawain (Joel Edgerton), Galahad (Hugh Dancy), Bors (Ray Winstone) and Dagonet (Ray Stevenson). They just want to go home, but a bishop (Ivano Marescotti) shows up from Rome with one last mission.

The knights go, but it is not for the bishop, because they are all pagans, or for Rome, because they care little for an empire that is abandoning the land their friends died defending, but for Arthur. The only one who does not seem to know that he is a living legend is Arthur himself; or, if he knows, he neither cares nor believes in the stories. But Merlin (Stephen Dillane), the holy man of the Woads respects Arthur as the warrior who can lead men in battle, Cerdic (Stellan Skarsgård) the leader of the Saxons hears Arthur's name everywhere he goes and finds him the rare man worth killing, and young Guinevere (Keira Knightley) has been raised on fairy tales about Arthur and his knights. This film is not about King Arthur as much as it is about how Arthur became king in this reimagining of the tale.

Given the context of this telling of the Arthur story it makes sense that the epic love triangle between Arthur, Guenivere and Lancelot is jettisoned. In many ways that story, which remains the greatest love triangle since it is the husband's wife and best friend, has taken over the Arthurian legend. Director Antoine Fuqua is really going back to the basics, although in a way that will make most Arthurian scholars cringe. In this context I like not only turning Guenivere into a Celtic warrior but also that she advocates Arthur's destiny and is not merely a landed lady worthy of marriage. Besides, there is the nice contrast between Knightley's stately beauty as she fires her arrows and her ferocity as she gets to race across a battle field and win a bunch of sword fights. You get the feeling she was having the most fun of anyone in this film (I waited patiently for Ioan Gruffudd to do something really impressive with his two swords but they never really came up with anything).

What is interesting given the idea that the Knights of the Round Table were the personification of Christian warriors is how the Church is blamed in the film for the downfall of Rome. Arthur is a true believer who has taken the teachings of Christianity to the level of the equality of all human beings, while the only other Christians we see in the film are engaging in torture and slavery. Arthur embodies the best of both Roman and Christian virtues, which makes him a most unique individual, but this film really does some serious retroactive Church bashing.

Yes, there are some problematic elements in this film. No Roman family, let along one with the Pope's favorite godson, is going to be living beyond Hadrian's Wall in Caledonia (Scotland), and I the ending of the sword fight between Arthur and Cerdic is so trite by this point in movie history it is rather insulting to the audience. But on balance this is ambitious effort to tell the "real" story and there the situation is reasonably well thought out (plus working in bits from classic films like "The Seven Samurai" and "Alexander Nevsky"). Most importantly, the actors make it believable, even when they have to proclaim rather pretentious dialogue. The climactic battle scene offers a nice blend of Roman technology and Celtic bravery (I thought the charge of the Woads was a nice representation of the speed of the Celtic attack since they do not bother with armor), and the result, while not a great film, is certainly interesting enough to warrant a look.

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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Britannia - Last Outpost of Freedom, 5 Mar 2009
By 
I shan't review the film for its historical accuracy, as I do not believe that is the intention of this story about a myth. With all of these "historical" films, I enjoy them the most as they give a background or feeling of living in past times, similar to battle recreations, and they open a door to learning more about the period if you wish - not as an academic documentary.

As I have never been interested in the Arthurian legend, I was pleased to discover that the story of this film is mainly concerned with the decline of the Roman Empire and its withdrawal from Britain, and how that affected the inhabitants. Any references to any Kings Arthur, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

I found the acting quite acceptable: I wasn't expecting the RSC. I loved the atmosphere and scenery in the film (even if it was largely computer-generated). The recreation of Hadrian's Wall was very impressive and the battle scene set on a frozen lake was the best scene in the film.

If you like a bloody battle between large armies, then this film has something to offer. Better than Troy (Director's Cut) [DVD] [2004] but not as good as Alexander Revisited - The Final Cut (2 Disc Special Edition) [2004] [DVD] this film is still worth watching on a Sunday afternoon.
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