King Arthur [Director's Cut] [Blu-ray]

Director: Antoine Fuqua Antoine Fuqua

Overview

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.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/03/2007
UPC:	0786936726473
Original Release:	2004
Source:	Touchstone / Disney
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:19:00
Sales rank:	1,837

Special Features

Backstage - Blood on the Land: Forging King Arthur; King Arthur: A Roundtable discussion; Alternate ending "Badou Hill," with director's commentary; Producer's photo gallery; "Knight Vision" pop-up trivia track; Movie Showcase; Seamless menus

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Clive Owen	Arthur
Ioan Gruffudd	Lancelot
Mads Mikkelsen	Tristan
Joel Edgerton	Gawain
Hugh Dancy	Galahad
Ray Winstone	Bors
Ray Stevenson	Dagonet
Keira Knightley	Guinevere
Stephen Dillane	Merlin
Til Schweiger	Cynric
Sean Gilder	Jols
Pat Kinevane	Horton
Ivano Marescotti	Bishop Germanius
Ken Stott	Marius Honorius
Lorenzo De Angelis	Alecto
Stefania Orsola Garello	Fulcinia
Alan Devine	British Scout
Valéria Cavalli	Fulcinia
Charlie Creed-Miles	Ganis
Johnny Brennan	Lucan,Lucan
David Murray	Merlin's Lieutenant
Ned Dennehy	Mental Monk
Phelim Drew	Obnoxious Monk
Des Braiden	Third Monk
Malachy McKenna	Cerdic Scout
Brian McGuinness	Cerdic Officer
Patrick Leech	Cerdic Officer
Bosco Hogan	Bishop Decoy
David Wilmot	Woad Killed by Lancelot
Lochlann O'Mearain	Roman Commander
Paul McGlinchey	Mercenary
Dessie Gallagher	Mercenary
Maria Gladkowska	Arthur's Mother
Shane Murray-Corcoran	Young Arthur
Daire McCormack	Agustus
Dawn Bradfield	Vanora
Lesley-Ann Shaw	Scottish Village Girl
Joe McKinney	Mangled Saxon
Gerry O'Brien	Woad Advisor
Brian Condon	Cerdic Bodyguard
Donncha Crowley	Monk
Chick Allen	Saxon
Elliot Henderson-Boyle	Young Lancelot
Clive Russell	Lancelot's Father
Stephanie Putson	Lancelot's Mother
Graham McTavish	Roman Officer
Hans Zimmer	Composer
Stellan Skarsgård	Cerdic
Lochlann O'Mearáin	Roman Commander

Technical Credits

David Franzoni

Antoine Fuqua	Director
David Franzoni	Screenwriter,Executive Producer
Chad Oman	Executive Producer
Mike Stenson	Executive Producer
Ned Dowd	Executive Producer,Producer
Jerry Bruckheimer	Producer
Neil Corbould	Special Effects
Steve Dent	Stunts
Michelle Guish	Casting
Matt Johnson	Special Effects
Rona Kress	Casting
Corina Rosca	Special Effects
Bruce Moriarty	Producer
James Flynn	Producer
Bruce Armstrong	Special Effects
Carlo Antonioni	Stunts
Harry Barnes	Sound Effects

Editorial Reviews

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.

Barnes & Noble - Ed Hulse

Marketed as a more historically accurate version of the Camelot mythos than previous incarnations, King Arthur is a complicated hash of fact and fiction. Screenwriter David Franzoni and director Antoine Fuqua attempt to graft latter-day theories about Arthur's possible real-life identity as a Roman cavalryman named Artorious Castus (Clive Owen) onto the most famous elements of the beloved legend. The filmmakers preserve the existence of Guinevere (Keira Knightley) and Merlin (Stephen Dillane), this time as Woad tribal leaders at war on two fronts against the invading Saxons and retreating Romans. They endeavor to explain the close kinship among Artorious' followers by identifying them as Salmatian cavalrymen, an allegedly elite corps conflicted by opposing allegiances. And they delve into the religious, ethical, racial, political, and philosophical tensions between these various factions. As might be expected, explaining all of these complicated machinations requires an unfortunate amount of exposition, after which an audience may be too baffled to notice some gripping sequences, particularly a tense skirmish ingeniously executed across the cracking ice of a frozen lake. His previous script for Gladiator (2000) used history as an interesting backdrop for a wholly invented story, but here Franzoni's clever concept is hidebound by his effort to modulate his sources, with murky results.

All Movie Guide - Karl Williams