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Merlin the magician helps Arthur Pendragon unite the Britons around the round table of Camelot even as forces conspire to tear it apart
28 December 1896, Kilkenny, Ireland
8 February 1946, Dublin, Ireland, UK
10 February 1960, London, England, UK
18 September 1946, London, England, UK
4 April 1952, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, UK
9 February 1953, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
1955, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
15 August 1945, Bristol, England, UK
9 February 1936, Liverpool, England, UK
1958, London, England, UK
13 July 1940, Mirfield, Yorkshire, England, UK
7 June 1952, Ballymena, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK
7 April 1941, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, UK
12 May 1950, Dublin, Ireland
16 July 1939, Marylebone, London, England, UK
26 July 1945, Chiswick, London, England, UK
14 September 1936, Hamilton, Scotland, UK
23 August 1966, Wimbledon, London, England, UK
November 06, 2013
The result is almost always the handsomest of films to behold. Storywise it has its moments, too, although it never quite achieves the difficult blend of grandeur and madness for which it strives.
October 08, 2008
Exquisite, a near-perfect blend of action, romance, fantasy and philosophy, finely acted and beautifully filmed by director John Boorman and cinematographer Alex Thomson.
January 26, 2006
For all its audacity, a misguided folly.
November 06, 2013
Give Boorman credit for the loopy grandeur of his imagery and imaginings, for the sweet smell of excess, for his heroic gamble that a movie can dare to trip over its pretensions -- and still fly.
October 23, 2004
What a wondrous vision Excalibur is! And what a mess.
November 06, 2013
The search for the Holy Grail and the final battle are simply stunning sequences, and, while the dizzying pace leaves scant time for proper characterisation, Nicol Williamson, Nigel Terry and Helen Mirren make their mark.
November 06, 2013
Perhaps the best-ever filmed version of the Arthurian legend.
November 06, 2013
Despite moments of high style and wit, [Excalibur] too often substitutes mayhem for magic.
November 06, 2013
Excessive but occasionally inspired, Excalibur gives us grimy lumbering knights, gloomy castles, slithering dragons, mesmerizing magic, and (of course) the struggle between good and evil.
April 28, 2013
Remains the definitive big screen telling of the Arthurian legend.
November 06, 2013
There is humor here (in the form of a vaudeville Merlin, played by Nicol Williamson) as well as a diminution of scale that seems intended to help audiences through the thornier byways of Boorman's vision.
August 30, 2004
Mr. Boorman takes these myths very seriously, but he has used them with a pretentiousness that obscures his vision.
