Excalibur - a Medieval Fantasy Tale of Kings and Wizards

No collection of Medieval/fantasy movies would be complete without John Boorman's 1981 masterpiece, Excalibur. That's all you need to know. That's it. End of review.

OH alright, just kidding!

The Premise
Based on Le Morte D'arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, this is the most definitive Arthurian movie to date. A sword was forged that would determine destiny. He who could remove said sword from the rock would become a King. This is the tale of Arthur... of the wizard Merlin and the evil sorceress Morgana. Pulling the sword Excalibur from the stone is just the beginning of Arthur's adventure. Excalibur tells the tale of the birth of the famous Round Table, and the quest for the Holy Grail. Treachery and sword play abounds.

A Who's Who
If for nothing else, watch this movie for the cast. Here you will find the early roles of many of the best actors today.

Patrick Stewart is Leondegrance, a knight who wins the joust and thus the right to attempt to draw Excalibur from the stone. Having failed, Leondegrance then backs the peasant Arthur when Arthur succeeds. Stewart tends to over-act in this, but that is forgivable because he looks damned good in armor. Heh. I'm thinkin I'd like to see him in a kilt.... You will likely know Stewart as Capt. Picard from the Star Trek: The Next Generation series. I think I read somewhere that Stewart is classically trained... at any rate, I adore him in just about everything he has done.