Excalibur

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Excalibur

PG

1981

1h 59m

Adventure

Fantasy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

73%

Tomatometer

99 Reviews

80%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

The magical sword of Excalibur starts off in the hands of British lord Uther Pendragon (Gabriel Byrne) and then, years later, finds its way to his bastard son, Arthur (Nigel Terry), the knave destined to become king. Aided by the sorcerer Merlin (Nicol Williamson), Arthur fulfills his fate by bringing together the Knights of the Round Table at Camelot and unifying the country. However, this flawed monarch faces greater tests ahead in pursuit of love, the Holy Grail and his nation's survival.

Critics Consensus

John Boorman's operatic, opulent take on the legend of King Arthur is visually remarkable, and features strong performances from an all-star lineup of British thespians.

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Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

09/18/2023

John Boorman is an intoxicated moviemaker, with a wonderful kind of zeal -- a greed to encompass more and more and more in his pictures... I don’t know-of any other director who puts such a burnish on his obsessions.

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David Denby

New York Magazine/Vulture

06/17/2022

Excalibur is full of visual fustian -- flames in the night, mist rising ominously from the ground, bits of klutzy magic. Yet, despite all the rhetoric, the movie never takes off.

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David Robinson

The Times (UK)

01/03/2022

Boorman reveals a wonderfully individual gift for embodying the mystical and the magical.

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Gayle Sequeira

Inverse

Apr 1

Director John Boorman contrasts the lush beauty of his landscapes with the violence of the men who inhabit them. While the film's imagery is imbued with a dreamlike sheen, this is a world in which prophecies are serious business.

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Frank J. Avella

The Contending

Mar 9

A-

This is Boorman’s masterwork...There is lots of armor combat (a bit too much), magical sequences and some steamy sex between Lancelot and Guenevere. Boorman takes a lot of liberties with his adaptation, and most of it pays off.

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Armond White

National Review

Feb 24

Seeing Excalibur again -- witnessing Boorman’s modernist, erotic, quasi-Christian vision -- revives ideals we’ve lost about cinema and film culture. It was the best film of 1981.

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JOAN PAU R

@JoanPR 1d

This is what I call a classic. The special efects from 1981 are pretty dated, and the acting is often cartoonish, but when it comes to capturing the essence of the arthurian mythology this film simply gets it, when all the others (and there have been many) have failed. The magic is here, with the sense of a violent ancient age, the emergence of a chivalric ideal to domesticate such violence, then broken by lust and ambition, the decline of magic, and the need for the myth to survive when all the rest fails. More impornat, the storyline has been meningfully synthesized from the mass of events and characters in Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur (in itself a synthesis of many centuries of storytelling), so that the film actually tells a powerful story. Costumes and music (Carl Orff, Wagner) contribute magnificently.

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Travis M

@TMorg007 May 19

One of my all time favorites. Hardcore fantasy, great acting, I'm in. It's an epic journey and even during rewatching my eyes are glued to the screen every second. Glorious. I wish we had more like this!!

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Alan T

@RT61585789 Mar 30

I absolutely love this film the cast the photography the film score. Wonderful escapism. 😀

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Scott M

@RT75128960 Mar 2

One of my favorite films. Our middle school teachers showed us this on the last day of class in 1982 and it was amazing. Still remember it.

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Jose Miguel B

@Tankosko Feb 28

Great, what a peace of art… the photography… the cast… the music… a real gem of the seventh art

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Daniel G.

@d_grady Feb 22

Of course it’s a fever dream- odd choices, broken narrative, soft focus. But that’s the point- visiting the Arthurian world shouldn’t feel like you’re on this plane. Orff and Wagner never sounded so good Nicol Williamson is the definitive cinematic sorcerer. This film offers delights scarcely found elsewhere.

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John Boorman

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Nigel Terry

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Synopsis

The magical sword of Excalibur starts off in the hands of British lord Uther Pendragon (Gabriel Byrne) and then, years later, finds its way to his bastard son, Arthur (Nigel Terry), the knave destined to become king. Aided by the sorcerer Merlin (Nicol Williamson), Arthur fulfills his fate by bringing together the Knights of the Round Table at Camelot and unifying the country. However, this flawed monarch faces greater tests ahead in pursuit of love, the Holy Grail and his nation's survival.

Director: John Boorman
Producer: John Boorman
Screenwriter: Thomas Malory, Rospo Pallenberg, John Boorman
Distributor: Orion Pictures, Warner Home Vídeo, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros.
Production Co: Warner Brothers
Rating: PG
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 10, 1981, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2009
Runtime: 1h 59m