{"id":33061,"date":"2026-02-25T02:46:42","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T10:46:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=33061"},"modified":"2026-02-25T02:46:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T10:46:42","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-4k-ultra-hd-review-excalibur-1981","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=33061","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! 4K Ultra HD Review: EXCALIBUR (1981)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This title is now available as a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K\nUltra HD set and a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray set from Arrow Video.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Folk hero King Arthur has been the stuff of legend for\nhundreds upon hundreds of years. His tales have been told around campfires when\nthat was the only source of entertainment, and then has been in print since,\nwell, the early days of books in general. The most famous collection of these\nstories was compiled by Thomas Malory in the 15th<\/sup> century and titled\nLe Morte d\u2019Arthur<\/em>. It\u2019s a huge, sprawling work that condensed all of the\nstories involving Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. According to\nexperts, certain aspects are contradictory and the story was largely considered\nunfilmable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is, it was unfilmable, until John Boorman (Point\nBlank, Deliverance, Zardoz, Hope and Glory<\/em>), a lifelong fan of these myths,\ndecided to adapt them into a single film. Obviously, the story needed to be\ndramatically shortened, and so characters have been combined and some elements\ndon\u2019t get as much time onscreen as one might expect. And yet, even with a\nrunning time of only 141 minutes, what is present in this film works\nstaggeringly well. In fact, this is the<\/em> best film ever made about King\nArthur and no one yet has come close to topping it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arrow Video have released a spectacular \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K\nUltra HD upgrade of the film. I own the previous Blu-ray from Warner Bros., and\nthis new restoration is a triumph, easily besting it. The original 35mm\nnegative from Warner Bros. was scanned, restored, and is presented in Dolby\nVision. It looks fantastic. Of course, there is some natural film grain\npresent, but there is more color visible, as well as a prominent sense of depth\nin many of the scenes that simply wasn\u2019t there before. And if that wasn\u2019t\nimpressive enough, this release contains a stunning array of fascinating\nextras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you haven\u2019t seen the picture, it begins with the\npower-hungry Uther Pendragon (Gabriel Byrne) making a deal with the wizard\nMerlin (Nicol Williamson). In exchange for the magical sword Excalibur, Uther\npromises to give up his first born. This turns out to be a good thing for baby\nArthur, since Uther is not a noble figure, eventually wedging Excalibur into a\nstone while dying in battle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Arthur (Nigel Terry) lives a modest life as a squire, before\nretrieving the sword in the stone. He proves himself worthy to those around\nhim, becomes King Arthur, and ends up receiving counsel from Merlin. The land\nthrives under him and he creates Camelot, putting together the Knights of the\nRound Table. But evil forces around the king plot to usurp his power, including\nsorceress Morgan le Fay (Helen Mirren). More trouble follows when Queen\nGuenevere (Cherie Lunghi) has an affair with Lancelot (Nicholas Clay), causing\nstrife. Morgan uses this opportunity to trick Arthur. She imprisons Merlin,\nthen pretends to be Guenevere, bedding Arthur. This results in a sinister\noffspring, Mordred (Charley Boorman\/Robert Addie).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Morgan and Mordred gain more power, Arthur becomes\ndespondent and his land also begins to suffer. Of his knights, the most loyal\nis Perceval (Paul Geoffrey), who has a similar upbringing to Arthur. Perceval\nleads a quest to find the Holy Grail that he believes can save Camelot and\ntheir subjects. The long, brutal and arduous mission over many years eventually\ngives Perceval and Arthus the secret of the Grail. Now elderly but renewed with\nvigor and purpose, Arthur makes peace with those around him, attempts to\nreunite his crew, and heads into battle one last time against Mordred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The movie benefits from an incredible cast (which also\nfeatures Patrick Stewart, Clive Smith, Liam Neeson and many others) who are all\ndelivering their lines from co-writers Boorman and Rospo Pallenberg with the\ngravitas of a Shakespeare play. It works, adding the necessary grandeur to the\nstory. The movie is succinct in dealing with its dramatic storylines, but\nnothing is confusing and one can relate to the characters and their trials.\nThis picture also looks unique and otherworldly, with green colors of the\nnatural world standing out, and red fires and darker elements making a distinct\nimpression. The sets are incredible, and certainly more epic than the budget\nwould suggest. Boorman has also created iconic imagery in his film, including\nthat of the Lady of the Lake\u2019s hard reaching of the water to grasp Excalibur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is a magnificent film. And, as noted earlier, it looks\nincredible in 4K Ultra HD as well, with the strong colors making a big\nimpression. The foreground and backgrounds of many shots during battles display\na surprising amount of depth on my television.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the extras, they are equally outstanding. There is an\narchival commentary with John Boorman, who is very honest about his lifelong\nlove of the legend, Merlin and King Arthur, as well as the challenges and\ndisappointments he had (as with any project) in getting his specific vision to\nthe screen. If you\u2019re looking for more insight, there are two new commentary\ntracks from Boorman film historians about the moviemaker and the production.\nThey also discuss many details about the project. It seems that Boorman was\nknown for making difficult and challenging pictures, frequently getting himself\nin over his head but somehow managing to pull off the miraculous. They note\nsome of the unique casting decisions, like Nicholson (who was an alcoholic and\nhad been trouble on other sets) and how he managed to get the best out of him.\nThe experts even get into minutia, discussing the accents of the actors and how\nTerry\u2019s Cornwall sound is actually correct and appropriate for Arthur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On an accompanying Blu-ray of bonus features, there is a\nwonderful, never-before-released 48-minute documentary on the production that\nwas made by Neil Jordan. It\u2019s an incredible piece that not only gives valuable\ninsight about the shoot, but also shows Boorman\u2019s mindset and process.\nCuriously enough, he seems rather exasperated much of the time. While he is\ngenerally pleasant to the cast and crew, he\u2019s also gloomy, expressing the idea\nthat shooting movies involves nothing but disappointment. Boorman notes that he\nnever seems to get exactly what he wants and that it takes a great toll. At\nleast by the end of the editing process, the director admits that he finds\nhimself enjoying moviemaking more when the pieces are finally coming together\nand he can find elements that he is proud of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also a great interview with Neil Jordan who\nexplains how he got involved in the movie. As a young man in Ireland, he was\nwriting and had great interest in going to film school, but didn\u2019t have the\nmoney to move to England after being accepted into a film program. Boorman\nowned a home in Ireland (Zardoz<\/em> and Excalibur <\/em>were essentially\nshot very close to his abode). The filmmaker heard about Jordan\u2019s writing, and\nthe two met. They realized they had similar interests and got along very well.\nSo much so that Jordan was asked to help the filmmaker slim down the lengthy script\ninto something more manageable \u2013 Jordan received credit as Creative Consultant\non the movie. He was also asked to be on set, but didn\u2019t really have any reason\nto be there, so the young man suggested that he make a documentary on the\nproduction. Jordan states that he learned a great deal from Boorman, eventually\ngoing on to a fantastic film career as director on The Company of Wolves,\nMona Lisa, The Crying Game, Interview with the Vampire, Ondine, Byzantium,\nGreta<\/em>, and many other notable titles. It\u2019s an excellent interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another fantastic feature is a new interview with John\nBoorman and his son, Charley. Boorman is now 93, but he still has memories to\nshare about the movie and his career. In fact, he notes that he is working on a\nnew animated film he hopes to complete soon. Charley is just as entertaining,\nnoting that he assumes he was cast as young Mordred because, well, his dad\nwouldn\u2019t have to pay him. He also notes other family members and their\nsignificant roles in the movie. One very funny observation from Charley is how\nhorrified he was at the premiere to learn that his voice had been dubbed over\u2026\nby his sister. Much of the film was shot with horses riding around and lots of\nbackground noise, meaning that many lines had to be rerecorded in\npost-production. Apparently, his sister was much more adept at this than he\nwas, and so she ended up providing his voice. He jokes about how his father\nbroke the news to him at the premiere.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is also a wonderful interview with production designer\nCharlie Pratt on how they accomplished the spectacular look of the film on a\nlimited budget. 2nd<\/sup> unit director Peter MacDonald has plenty of\nstories to share as well about his work on Excalibur<\/em> and his career in\ngeneral. He admits he had a big mouth as a young man and tells a lot of\nhilarious tales about blunt and silly things he said to people on set, which\nsomehow didn\u2019t get him fired, but instead promoted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also a featurette on the writing relationship\nbetween Boorman and Rospo Pallenberg, which lasted over a decade. He honestly\ntalks about their collaborations, a falling out they had, and how they\u2019ve\nmanaged to mend fences and become friends once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And you\u2019ll get another great film historian featurette that\ngoes over the repeating themes in Boorman\u2019s movies. Much of it has to do man\u2019s\nrelationship with nature and conflicts involving basic human instincts and more\nmodern, informed thinking. The speakers make some interesting points and this\nis an informative piece. Trailers and image galleries are also included on the\ndisc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But that\u2019s not all. Another Blu-ray included in the set\ncontains the shorter, 120-minute TV-cut of the movie, which cuts out love\nscenes and violence, but contains extra narration from Nicol Williamson.\nAdditionally, there is an excellent, 50-minute retrospective documentary on the\nmovie featuring cast members and crew talking about their time on the picture.\nIt seems to have been made a little over a decade ago, with many involved\nsweetly sharing the impact the production made on their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It all comes packaged in a reversible sleeve with two\noriginal artwork options. Additionally, there is a booklet with writing on the\nmovie, a double-sided fold-out poster featuring two artwork options and six\npostcard-sized reproductions of art cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Excalibur is a true epic and Arrow Video\u2019s new \u201cLimited\nEdition” 4K Ultra HD edition, as well as the \u201cLimited Edition\u201d really do\nthe film justice. It looks better than it ever has before, and comes with an\namazing assortment of extras, including several that have never been seen\nbefore. It\u2019s pretty safe to say that the distributor has scored with this\nrelease, which will likely be among my favorites of the year. If you enjoy\nfantasy pictures, you owe it to yourself to pick this up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This title is now available as a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra HD set and a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":33073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[113,300,1836,2925,2933,2953,7180,7181,7182,7183,7184,9020,9264,10820,11765,11851,14533,14826,14840],"class_list":["post-33061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-113","tag-4k-ultra-hd","tag-arrow-video","tag-blasts-from-the-past-4k-ultra-hd","tag-blasts-from-the-past-2","tag-blasts-from-the-past-excalibur","tag-excalibur","tag-excalibur-4k-ultra-hd","tag-excalibur-4k-ultra-hd-disc-review","tag-excalibur-disc-review","tag-excalibur-review","tag-helen-mirren","tag-holy-grail","tag-john-boorman","tag-king-arthur","tag-knights-of-the-round-table","tag-myth","tag-nicol-williamson","tag-nigel-terry"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33061\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}