# "Excalibur" appreciation thread
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excalibur-appreciation-thread/516939
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 9, 2009, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excalibur-appreciation-thread/516939 "2009-11-09T20:24:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2009, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excalibur-appreciation-thread/516939/1 "2009-11-09T20:24:42Z")
Just saw it again recently, and I have to say, John Boorman’s 1981 swords-and-sorcery pic _Excalibur_ holds up surprisingly well. Loved it in high school, and it’s still really good. Some of the effects are a little cheesy, and I wish they had a bigger budget for the final battle scene, but it’s still a great Arthurian epic with a terrific cast and awesome cinematography. Shiny armor, high ideals, torrid sex, triumph, despair, eye-nibbling crows and a great Wagnerian score. And, of course, Nicol Williamson is the best Merlin _evah!_
Watch out for future stars Gabriel Byrne as Uther, Liam Neeson as Gawain (the knight who charges the Queen with adultery) and Patrick Stewart as Leondegrance.
Good stuff.
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### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excalibur-appreciation-thread/516939/2 "2009-11-09T20:30:19Z")
It took a lot of guts to make this movie AFTER “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” And I have to say, for the most part, it holds up extremely well.
Normally, I don’t worry about the Oscars, but I’m STILL miffed the brilliant Nicol Williamson didn’t even get a nomination for his work as Merlin.
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### Author:  [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excalibur-appreciation-thread/516939/3 "2009-11-09T20:43:37Z")
Agreed, an excellent movie.
As an aside, I saw it when it first came out with my girlfriend, who was then working on getting a nomination for a Rhodes scholarship. Afterward she was unimpressed. Turns out she had never heard of King Arthur or Merlin, it was just another made up sword and sorcery movie to her! I guess it doesn’t make any difference but that is always what I remember when I see “Excalibur” - someone (educated and in the USA) made it to age 22 without ever having heard of these characters.
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excalibur-appreciation-thread/516939/4 "2009-11-09T20:47:56Z")
Always a favorite for me, but I have not seen it in years. I believe King Arthur himself was the young despot to be Prince John in _Lion in the Winter_.
I recall some distress that Morgana was light haired as she was suppose to be raven haired. I was pleased with the beautiful Guenevere, I think she mostly did Brit TV after that.
Merlin was great, I agree the best version.
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### Author:  [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excalibur-appreciation-thread/516939/5 "2009-11-09T20:51:38Z")
I used to love it; I’ve certainly seen it enough times. My feelings are now a bit mixed.
First, it turns out that what I actually love is Wagner’s Siegfried’s Funeral. It’s use in the sword-tossing final scene is absolutely goosebump-inducing.
I think it really captures the \*weirdness \*of Malory.
De-Christianizing the Grail quest was an odd choice, though, and a bad one.
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### Author:  [@wedgehed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wedgehed)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excalibur-appreciation-thread/516939/6 "2009-11-09T20:51:56Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> Watch out for future stars Gabriel Byrne as Uther, Liam Neeson as Gawain (the knight who charges the Queen with adultery) and Patrick Stewart as Leondegrance.
>
> Good stuff.
Don’t forget Helen Mirren as Morgana.
Does anyone have the scoop on why she & Nicol Williamson despised each other so much?
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### Author:  [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2009, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excalibur-appreciation-thread/516939/7 "2009-11-09T21:10:15Z")
Such an awesome movie, I can’t think of anything I don’t like about it!
What is the name of the music on the soundtrack when they rode to their final battle and all the land came back to life? I love that sequence, so moving…
I cry every time at the scene where Arthur visits Guinevere at the convent and tells her how he wished he could come back, just as a man, and have her take him back. “It is a dream I have…”, he says. :😭:
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### Author:  [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2009, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excalibur-appreciation-thread/516939/8 "2009-11-09T21:24:05Z")
> [@HelloKitty](#):
>
> Such an awesome movie, I can’t think of anything I don’t like about it!
>
> What is the name of the music on the soundtrack when they rode to their final battle and all the land came back to life? I love that sequence, so moving…
I think that was “O Fortuna” from Carmina Burana.
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### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excalibur-appreciation-thread/516939/9 "2009-11-09T21:26:06Z")
> [@wedgehed](#):
>
> Don’t forget Helen Mirren as Morgana.
>
> Does anyone have the scoop on why she & Nicol Williamson despised each other so much?
I have no inside knowledge, but apparently they had worked together in a Trevor Nunn production of “Macbeth,” and got into some nasty fights there. So, they were already hostile to each other before they were cast in “Excalibur.”
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### Author:  [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excalibur-appreciation-thread/516939/10 "2009-11-09T21:27:32Z")
You forgot the best part: Cherie Lunghi as Guinevere.
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### Author:  [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excalibur-appreciation-thread/516939/11 "2009-11-09T21:35:49Z")
> [@jsc1953](#):
>
> I used to love it; I’ve certainly seen it enough times. My feelings are now a bit mixed.
>
> First, it turns out that what I actually love is Wagner’s Siegfried’s Funeral. It’s use in the sword-tossing final scene is absolutely goosebump-inducing.
>
> I think it really captures the \*weirdness \*of Malory.
>
> De-Christianizing the Grail quest was an odd choice, though, and a bad one.
This is one of my favorite movies of all time. The bombastic Wagner soundtrack underscoring the epic scale of the legend; the misty landscapes, the anachronistic shining armor from the middle ages. And the characters: the harshness of Uther contrasted with the innocence of Arthur.
I liked the de-christianizing of the Grail Legend, especially the old religion making way for the new One God.
Some of the effects are a little dated and cheesey now, but I still love this film.
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### Author:  [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excalibur-appreciation-thread/516939/12 "2009-11-09T22:01:48Z")
> [@HelloKitty](#):
>
> Such an awesome movie, I can’t think of anything I don’t like about it!
>
> What is the name of the music on the soundtrack when they rode to their final battle and all the land came back to life? I love that sequence, so moving…
>
> I cry every time at the scene where Arthur visits Guinevere at the convent and tells her how he wished he could come back, just as a man, and have her take him back. “It is a dream I have…”, he says. :😭:
I first saw this in the theater with my dad. I was around 12 or so. Pop didn’t realize there’s be quite so much nudity or I doubt he’d have agreed to take me.
Anyway, even then, and moreso watching it now, I always saw this scene as an indirect, “Hey, honey, how’s about one for the road for old time’s sake?”
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### Author:  [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excalibur-appreciation-thread/516939/13 "2009-11-09T22:03:33Z")
It was all rather lush, which helped greatly. The landscape alternately a lovely green or horrid brown muck, the terribly shiny armour suddenly bespoiled by blood as swords crunch their way though it.
I liked the English accents, not all polished southern English, but a little bit of (if I’ve identified it correctly) West Country?
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### Author:  [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excalibur-appreciation-thread/516939/14 "2009-11-09T22:04:57Z")
A great movie. Also interesting to place it within the entire Boorman catalog: he tends to have lots of lush, green scenery and awesome landscapes as central “characters” in many of his movies (_Deliverance, Emerald Forest_, even \*Tailor of Panama \*highlighted much of the vegetation)
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### Author:  [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excalibur-appreciation-thread/516939/15 "2009-11-09T22:27:28Z")
I love this film so much. The beautiful, eerie green light that they use for the woods is so effective, for example. And I love so many performances in this - Nigel Terry is so convincing to me as a callow youth becoming a great King. And it’s interesting to learn here that Helen Mirren & Nicol Williamson really disliked each other. They made that antagonism work in their shared scenes together; they’re electric. Also, Nicol Williamson is fantastic. It’s like he’s in his own very different movie and yet it also somehow works. And chalk me up as another person who started listening to Wagner thanks to the stunning use of the music.
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### Author:  [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2009, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excalibur-appreciation-thread/516939/16 "2009-11-10T00:22:11Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#):
>
> A great movie. Also interesting to place it within the entire Boorman catalog: he tends to have lots of lush, green scenery and awesome landscapes as central “characters” in many of his movies (_Deliverance, Emerald Forest_, even \*Tailor of Panama \*highlighted much of the vegetation)
The underwater sequence in which Percival sheds his armor is similar to one in _Deliverance_, an exchange between Merlin and Morgana (Even though such knowledge would burn and blind you?/Then burn me) echoes one in _Zardoz_, an “You and the land are one” becomes “The king and the land are one” in _Hope and Glory_.
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### Author:  [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2009, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excalibur-appreciation-thread/516939/17 "2009-11-10T00:24:49Z")
I thought this movie sucked donkey balls - but then, my image of Merlin has always been from Mary Stewart’s Merlin trilogy (_The Crystal Cave_, _The Hollow Hills_, and _The Last Enchantment_). Nothing else comes close.
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### Author:  [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excalibur-appreciation-thread/516939/18 "2009-11-10T00:29:37Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> I was pleased with the beautiful Guenevere, I think she mostly did Brit TV after that.
She and Nigel Terry (Arthur) played husband and wife in “Covington Cross” a short-lived TV series that I thought showed a lot of promise but was never sure how seriously to take itself.
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### Author:  [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2009, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excalibur-appreciation-thread/516939/19 "2009-11-10T00:35:54Z")
I love the film and own it on DVD but must say I cringe at some of the dialog and it drags in spots towards the end. Nichol Williams is perfect as Merlin.
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### Author:  [@NJ\_Kef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NJ_Kef)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2009, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/excalibur-appreciation-thread/516939/20 "2009-11-10T00:36:36Z")
One of my favorite movies. When it appeared in theaters I saw it twice.
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