This title is now available as a “Limited Edition” 4K Ultra HD set and a “Limited Edition” Blu-ray set from Arrow Video.
Folk hero King Arthur has been the stuff of legend for hundreds upon hundreds of years. His tales have been told around campfires when that was the only source of entertainment, and then has been in print since, well, the early days of books in general. The most famous collection of these stories was compiled by Thomas Malory in the 15th century and titled Le Morte d’Arthur. It’s a huge, sprawling work that condensed all of the stories involving Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. According to experts, certain aspects are contradictory and the story was largely considered unfilmable.
That is, it was unfilmable, until John Boorman (Point Blank, Deliverance, Zardoz, Hope and Glory), a lifelong fan of these myths, decided to adapt them into a single film. Obviously, the story needed to be dramatically shortened, and so characters have been combined and some elements don’t get as much time onscreen as one might expect. And yet, even with a running time of only 141 minutes, what is present in this film works staggeringly well. In fact, this is the best film ever made about King Arthur and no one yet has come close to topping it.
Arrow Video have released a spectacular “Limited Edition” 4K Ultra HD upgrade of the film. I own the previous Blu-ray from Warner Bros., and this new restoration is a triumph, easily besting it. The original 35mm negative from Warner Bros. was scanned, restored, and is presented in Dolby Vision. It looks fantastic. Of course, there is some natural film grain present, but there is more color visible, as well as a prominent sense of depth in many of the scenes that simply wasn’t there before. And if that wasn’t impressive enough, this release contains a stunning array of fascinating extras.
If you haven’t seen the picture, it begins with the power-hungry Uther Pendragon (Gabriel Byrne) making a deal with the wizard Merlin (Nicol Williamson). In exchange for the magical sword Excalibur, Uther promises to give up his first born. This turns out to be a good thing for baby Arthur, since Uther is not a noble figure, eventually wedging Excalibur into a stone while dying in battle.
Arthur (Nigel Terry) lives a modest life as a squire, before retrieving the sword in the stone. He proves himself worthy to those around him, becomes King Arthur, and ends up receiving counsel from Merlin. The land thrives under him and he creates Camelot, putting together the Knights of the Round Table. But evil forces around the king plot to usurp his power, including sorceress Morgan le Fay (Helen Mirren). More trouble follows when Queen Guenevere (Cherie Lunghi) has an affair with Lancelot (Nicholas Clay), causing strife. Morgan uses this opportunity to trick Arthur. She imprisons Merlin, then pretends to be Guenevere, bedding Arthur. This results in a sinister offspring, Mordred (Charley Boorman/Robert Addie).
As Morgan and Mordred gain more power, Arthur becomes despondent and his land also begins to suffer. Of his knights, the most loyal is Perceval (Paul Geoffrey), who has a similar upbringing to Arthur. Perceval leads a quest to find the Holy Grail that he believes can save Camelot and their subjects. The long, brutal and arduous mission over many years eventually gives Perceval and Arthus the secret of the Grail. Now elderly but renewed with vigor and purpose, Arthur makes peace with those around him, attempts to reunite his crew, and heads into battle one last time against Mordred.
The movie benefits from an incredible cast (which also features Patrick Stewart, Clive Smith, Liam Neeson and many others) who are all delivering their lines from co-writers Boorman and Rospo Pallenberg with the gravitas of a Shakespeare play. It works, adding the necessary grandeur to the story. The movie is succinct in dealing with its dramatic storylines, but nothing is confusing and one can relate to the characters and their trials. This picture also looks unique and otherworldly, with green colors of the natural world standing out, and red fires and darker elements making a distinct impression. The sets are incredible, and certainly more epic than the budget would suggest. Boorman has also created iconic imagery in his film, including that of the Lady of the Lake’s hard reaching of the water to grasp Excalibur.
This is a magnificent film. And, as noted earlier, it looks incredible in 4K Ultra HD as well, with the strong colors making a big impression. The foreground and backgrounds of many shots during battles display a surprising amount of depth on my television.
As for the extras, they are equally outstanding. There is an archival commentary with John Boorman, who is very honest about his lifelong love of the legend, Merlin and King Arthur, as well as the challenges and disappointments he had (as with any project) in getting his specific vision to the screen. If you’re looking for more insight, there are two new commentary tracks from Boorman film historians about the moviemaker and the production. They also discuss many details about the project. It seems that Boorman was known for making difficult and challenging pictures, frequently getting himself in over his head but somehow managing to pull off the miraculous. They note some of the unique casting decisions, like Nicholson (who was an alcoholic and had been trouble on other sets) and how he managed to get the best out of him. The experts even get into minutia, discussing the accents of the actors and how Terry’s Cornwall sound is actually correct and appropriate for Arthur.
On an accompanying Blu-ray of bonus features, there is a wonderful, never-before-released 48-minute documentary on the production that was made by Neil Jordan. It’s an incredible piece that not only gives valuable insight about the shoot, but also shows Boorman’s mindset and process. Curiously enough, he seems rather exasperated much of the time. While he is generally pleasant to the cast and crew, he’s also gloomy, expressing the idea that shooting movies involves nothing but disappointment. Boorman notes that he never seems to get exactly what he wants and that it takes a great toll. At least by the end of the editing process, the director admits that he finds himself enjoying moviemaking more when the pieces are finally coming together and he can find elements that he is proud of.
There is also a great interview with Neil Jordan who explains how he got involved in the movie. As a young man in Ireland, he was writing and had great interest in going to film school, but didn’t have the money to move to England after being accepted into a film program. Boorman owned a home in Ireland (Zardoz and Excalibur were essentially shot very close to his abode). The filmmaker heard about Jordan’s writing, and the two met. They realized they had similar interests and got along very well. So much so that Jordan was asked to help the filmmaker slim down the lengthy script into something more manageable – Jordan received credit as Creative Consultant on the movie. He was also asked to be on set, but didn’t really have any reason to be there, so the young man suggested that he make a documentary on the production. Jordan states that he learned a great deal from Boorman, eventually going on to a fantastic film career as director on The Company of Wolves, Mona Lisa, The Crying Game, Interview with the Vampire, Ondine, Byzantium, Greta, and many other notable titles. It’s an excellent interview.
Another fantastic feature is a new interview with John Boorman and his son, Charley. Boorman is now 93, but he still has memories to share about the movie and his career. In fact, he notes that he is working on a new animated film he hopes to complete soon. Charley is just as entertaining, noting that he assumes he was cast as young Mordred because, well, his dad wouldn’t have to pay him. He also notes other family members and their significant roles in the movie. One very funny observation from Charley is how horrified he was at the premiere to learn that his voice had been dubbed over… by his sister. Much of the film was shot with horses riding around and lots of background noise, meaning that many lines had to be rerecorded in post-production. Apparently, his sister was much more adept at this than he was, and so she ended up providing his voice. He jokes about how his father broke the news to him at the premiere.
There is also a wonderful interview with production designer Charlie Pratt on how they accomplished the spectacular look of the film on a limited budget. 2nd unit director Peter MacDonald has plenty of stories to share as well about his work on Excalibur and his career in general. He admits he had a big mouth as a young man and tells a lot of hilarious tales about blunt and silly things he said to people on set, which somehow didn’t get him fired, but instead promoted.
There is also a featurette on the writing relationship between Boorman and Rospo Pallenberg, which lasted over a decade. He honestly talks about their collaborations, a falling out they had, and how they’ve managed to mend fences and become friends once again.
And you’ll get another great film historian featurette that goes over the repeating themes in Boorman’s movies. Much of it has to do man’s relationship with nature and conflicts involving basic human instincts and more modern, informed thinking. The speakers make some interesting points and this is an informative piece. Trailers and image galleries are also included on the disc.
But that’s not all. Another Blu-ray included in the set contains the shorter, 120-minute TV-cut of the movie, which cuts out love scenes and violence, but contains extra narration from Nicol Williamson. Additionally, there is an excellent, 50-minute retrospective documentary on the movie featuring cast members and crew talking about their time on the picture. It seems to have been made a little over a decade ago, with many involved sweetly sharing the impact the production made on their lives.
It all comes packaged in a reversible sleeve with two original artwork options. Additionally, there is a booklet with writing on the movie, a double-sided fold-out poster featuring two artwork options and six postcard-sized reproductions of art cards.
Excalibur is a true epic and Arrow Video’s new “Limited Edition” 4K Ultra HD edition, as well as the “Limited Edition” really do the film justice. It looks better than it ever has before, and comes with an amazing assortment of extras, including several that have never been seen before. It’s pretty safe to say that the distributor has scored with this release, which will likely be among my favorites of the year. If you enjoy fantasy pictures, you owe it to yourself to pick this up.
