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In King Arthur, director Antoine Fuqua never lets us forget that medieval Britain was not the brightly colored, sunlit, pastoral paradise depicted in the movies of Hollywood's Golden Age. His Britain is a gray, muddy, misty place in which armor-laden warriors trudge wearily and filthy peasants scrounge for sustenance. Consequently, his King Arthur (Clive Owen) is a rather dour fellow, and his fabled Knights of the Round Table are a relatively motley band of questionable characters. They attain heroic stature only in contrast to their adversaries, barbaric Saxons led by Cerdic (Stellan Skarsgård), a fearsome brute determined to lay waste to the countryside -- which, at first glance, hasn't much to offer. Now, we can believe that the real Guinevere (Keira Knightley) wasn't a doe-eyed maiden dressed in impeccable finery, but Fuqua makes her out to be Merrie Olde England's equivalent ofXena: Warrior Princess, provocatively clad in a midriff-baring, animal-skin ensemble and shooting arrows with a speed and accuracy that would've made Robin Hood blush. The legendary love triangle involving her, Arthur, and Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd) is barely a suggestion in this version; indeed, Guinevere doesn't even appear until the movie is almost half over. The battle scenes are staged with scope and vigor, with the fury of battle suggested more than shown, although this may be a consequence of the movie's PG-13 rating, which indicates that the most graphic bloodletting was deleted in the cutting room. In fact, battle scenes in the Extended Unrated Version of the film are at once bloodier and more coherent. All in all, King Arthur reflects a great deal of care, and most viewers will find it a rousing return to Camelot, even if it’s not your father’s Camelot. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

An ambitious attempt to wed the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table with known historical facts of the era, this action adventure drama begins with the fall of the Roman Empire in 450 A.D. as Roman armies flee the British Isles. Arthur (Clive Owen), a heroic knight and devoted Christian, is torn between his desire to travel to Rome to serve his faith and his loyalty to the land of his birth. As England falls into lawlessness, Arthur throws in his lot with a band of knights who hope to restore order to their fair and pleasant land and hopes to win freedom for his comrades, among them Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd), Galahad (Hugh Dancy), Tristan (Mads Mikkelsen), Gawain (Joel Edgerton), Bors (Ray Winstone), and Dagonet (Ray Stevenson). In time, Arthur and his men join forces with Merlin (Stephen Dillane), a shaman whose band of renegade knights were often pitched in battle against Roman forces. Forming a united front as loyal Englishmen against the invading Saxon armies, Arthur, Merlin, and the brave and beautiful Guinevere (Keira Knightley) are determined to unite a sovereign Britain under one army and one king. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 786936265262
• Source: TOUCHSTONE / DISNEY
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound, THX-Supervised Mastering
• Language: English
• Editions: Director's Cut, Subtitled, Uncensored, Dubbed
• Time: 2:19:00
• Sales Rank: 2,208

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