During the Dark Ages, Britain is at war. King Uther Pendragon (Gabriel Byrne) leads his men against The Duke of Cornwall (Corin Redgrave). Uther and his men swear their allegiance to God and St. George but they trust in the magic of the mysterious Merlin (Nicol Williamson).
Merlin negotiates peace between Uther and Cornwall but Uther throws that peace away when he becomes obsessed with Cornwall’s beautiful wife, Igrayne (Katrine Boorman). Merlin uses his magic to disguise Uther as Cornwall so that Uther can spend one night with Igrayne. When Cornwall is killed in battle, Uther marries Igrayne and realizes it was never necesarry to use Merlin’s magic and that Merlin, who has the power to see the future, knew that. Merlin takes Uther and Igrayne’s infant son from them and then disappears. Later, Uther is killed by by three of Cornwall’s men. Before dying, Uther drives his magic sword, Excalibur, into a stone. On the true king of England will be able to remove it.
Uther’s son, Arthur (Nigel Terry), grows up with no knowledge about his parentage. When he accidentally draws Excalibur out of the rock, Merlin returns to counsel the new king. And the new king has much to learn, as not all of the nobleman are willing to accept him as their ruler. Arthur proves himself worthy to be king while his half-sister, Morgan (Helen Mirren), waits for her chance to get revenge.
Excalibur is one of the most ambitious films made about King Arthur. John Boorman fits the entire legend of Arthur, Lancelot (Nicholas Clay), Percevel (Paul Geoffrey), Guinevere (Cherie Lunghi), and the search for the Holy Grail into one movie and, as a result, there’s not a dull moment. Boorman presents the reign of King Arthur as a conflict between England’s pagan past and the new era of man. Merlin and Morgan’s magic is powerful but, in the end, power is determined by bloody battles fought by men encased in clunky armor. Arthur, Lancelot, and the other knights claim to live by the honorable, chivalric code but only one of them is able to live up to the ideal. The others become consumed by lust, jealousy, and a thirst for power.
In my opinion, Excalibur is the best movie made about King Arthur, mostly because John Boorman takes the story seriously and makes us feel like we are watching people who truly are living in different world and a different time. The chivalric code is necessary to keep the peace in a time when there are multiple pretenders-to-throne. Mordred (Robert Addie) is not just a villain because he seeks to overthrow his father but also because he is the one person to have no respect for the code or the mystic power of the Holy Grail.
Excalibur has a large cast with many familiar faces. Keep an eye out for Patrick Stewart as one of Arthur’s earliest supporters and also Liam Neeson as a surly Sir Gawain. Of all the Lancelots who have appeared in the movies, Nicolas Clay is the best and Helen Mirren is the perfect Morgan. Nicol Williamson steals the movie as the mysterious Merlin. And while Nigel Terry was too old for the scenes where Arthur is supposed to be a callow teenager, he grows into the role just as Arthur grew into being king of the Britons.
Monty Python and The Holy Grail will always make me laugh but John Boorman’s big, beautiful, and bloody Excalibur is the best film about Camelot.
Through the Shattered Lens 