First, let me say that I DON’T think it’s the 1981 film Excalibur, but I could be wrong; it’s been a long time since I’ve seen it.
Now for some reason, this scene is stuck in my head; in it, it’s modern day, so of course considerable time has passed since the purported events of King Arthur’s reign. There’s a guy who enters some sort of pool area or something like that, and the buildup is that Great Britain is nearing its darkest hour and, well, isn’t Arthur supposed to come back, or at least Excalibur? So anyway, sure enough the Lady of the Lake appears and thursts Excalibur out of the water of the pool (or water tank or whatever) and the guy takes it, presumably ready to lead GB to victory or something like that.
Alternative hypothesis; when I first saw Excalibur it was on cable and I was maybe 10 years old or younger; it’s entirely possible that I was impressed by the story and visuals and just had a vivid dream with the scene I described above.
So does this scene/scenario sound familiar to anyone?
Well, I think I actually stumbled on it myself; I was wrong about the timing of it, but the plot synopsis for Merlin: The Return:
“Merlin: The Return” is the story of the battle between good and evil. The dark forces of Mordred are pitted against the mythical sorcery of Merlin. Mordred and his mother Morgana have been imprisoned in another world for the past 1500 years while Merlin’s magical powers kept them at bay. However, in the present, a scientist accidentally finds the gateway to the other world and is about to release Mordred into 20th Century life. Arthur is reawakened from his slumber and together with Merlin, tries to find a way to stop Mordred from re-entering this world." (from IMDB)
Are you sure it was a film? Could it have been the graphic novel Camelot 3000? The guy in the pool is a man who gets transformed into something sub-human but becomes one of Arthur’s knights.