King Arthur (2004)
Average Rating: 5/10
Reviews Counted: 182
Fresh: 57 | Rotten: 125
The magic is gone, leaving a dreary, generic action movie.
Average Rating: 5.2/10
Critic Reviews: 40
Fresh: 13 | Rotten: 27
The magic is gone, leaving a dreary, generic action movie.
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Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 364,315
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Movie Info
An ambitious attempt to wed the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table with known historical facts of the era, this action adventure drama begins with the fall of the Roman Empire in 450 A.D. as Roman armies flee the British Isles. Arthur (Clive Owen), a heroic knight and devoted Christian, is torn between his desire to travel to Rome to serve his faith and his loyalty to the land of his birth. As England falls into lawlessness, Arthur throws in his lot with a band of knights
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Cast
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Clive Owen
Artorious Castus -
Keira Knightley
Guinevere -
Ioan Gruffudd
Lancelot -
Stephen Dillane
Merlin -
Stellan Skarsgård
Cerdic -
Ray Winstone
Bors -
Hugh Dancy
Galahad -
Til Schweiger
Cynric -
Mads Mikkelsen
Tristan -
Ray Stevenson
Dagonet -
Ken Stott
Marius Honorius -
Charlie Creed-Miles
Ganis -
Joel Edgerton
Gawain -
Sean Gilder
Jols -
Ivano Marescotti
Bishop Germanius -
Lorenzo De Angelis
Alecto -
Valeria Cavalli
Fulcinia -
Pat Kinevane
Horton
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King Arthur Trailer & Photos
All Critics (191) | Top Critics (41) | Fresh (59) | Rotten (126) | DVD (35)
A title card says this King Arthur, grimly directed by Antoine Fuqua, is based on the latest research into the mythic past. Maybe so. But one can't help thinking the research that really counted was that into the more recent box-office charts.
Top CriticGladiator lite.
I loved the notion of the Dark Ages as the Wild West with swords. Thumbs up.
If this is history demystified, give me myth.
It's hard to care about a valiant groping for accuracy when a story is so badly told you can't tell what the devil is going on.
By going back to its origins and dusting itself off, the King Arthur story has proved itself to have a very contemporary resonance.
Entertaining, but ultimately forgettable.
The interminable battle scenes are limply choreographed and unexciting. This is one king that's best left alone.
Get past the oddity of this version and ignore the shortcomings, and it's worth watching.
Guinevere, no dainty princess she, is a kind of hardened medieval feminist, and the aggressor to Arthur's bashful but equally driven warrior, in both bed and on the battlefield.
Guinevere, no dainty princess she, is a kind of hardened medieval feminist, and the aggressor to Arthur's bashful but equally driven warrior, in both bed and on the battlefield.
In many ways this movie tells us far more about the values and age in which we are living, than the one it pretends to be returning us to.
A brash departure from the legend that retains the round table, but that's about it. Still, the contemporary echoes make the Dark Ages relevant again and the movie, while longwinded in parts, overcomes its shortcomings.
It nods in the direction of tons of potentially interesting developments of plot, theme and character, but doesn't bother to follow through on any of them enough to pay off.
...remains an instantly forgettable, wannabe epic.
Underrated, revisionist version of the Camelot legend; one of the year's 10 best
Audience Reviews for King Arthur
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Tristan: You are free now.
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- Bishop Germanius: We are all going to die someday. If it's death by a Saxonhand that frightens you, stay home!
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- Lancelot: I don't believe in heaven. I've been living in this hell. But if you represent what heaven is, then take me there.
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- Artorious Castus: Deeds in themselves are meaningless unless they're for some higher purpose.
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- Artorious Castus: There is no destiny. There is only free will.
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- Artorious Castus: No man fears to kneel before the god he trusts.
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Foreign Titles
- Le Roi Arthur (FR)
