Excalibur

For a long time co-writer/director John Boorman's 1981 film was, for many, the definitive take of Arthurian legend on film. In the four plus decades since, Excalibur feels a bit forgotten. Shot entirely on location in Ireland, the film won immediate acclaim for its viaual style, costume design, and cinematography. Cast with mostly unknowns (with a couple of notable exceptions) the film adapts Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur covering Arthur from conception through death.

The film offers the rise of Arthur (Nigel Terry) and Camelot, the evil machinations of Morgana (Helen Mirren) and her progeny, the tragic love triangle of Arthur, Guenevere (Cherie Lunghi), and Lancelot (Nicholas Clay), the quest of the Holy Grail, the greed and brutality of Uther Pendragon (Gabriel Byrne), Merlin (Nicol Williamson) with all his plans and his Charm of Making, and of course the Lady of the Lake (Hilary Joyalle) and the sword which would crown a king.

Unapologetically operatic, the lush and vibrant film is set to a score by Trevor Jones who incorporated well-known classic excerpts to blend to the original music composed for Excalibur. In much the same way, Boorman and co-writer Rospo Pallenberg attempted to blend together various separate myths (some specifically Arthurian and others tangential) into a coherent whole. I'm not sure the film is a complete sucess, as some aspects of the story can feel disjointed, but even so Excalibur is a joy to behold.

The new three-disc 4K edition includes both 4K and Blu-ray versions of the film, the shorter TV version of Excalibur (cutting out about 20 minutes), previously-released featurettes, and a new documentary featuring cast and crew looking back on the film.

• Title: Excalibur
• IMDb: link