If King Arthur is as magnificently ridiculous as any Bruckheimer picture, its thuggish charms, which owe as much to Monty Python as to Sam Peckinpah, more than pick up the slack.
King Arthur (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:180
Fresh:56
Rotten:124
Average Rating:4.9/10
Consensus: The magic is gone, leaving a dreary, generic action movie.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for intense battle sequences, a scene of sensuality and some language
Runtime: 2 hrs 19 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:Jul 7, 2004 Wide
Box Office: $51,726,421
Synopsis: From producer Jerry Bruckheimer ('Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,' 'Black Hawk Down') and director Antoine Fuqua ('Training Day') comes Touchstone Pictures' / Jerry... From producer Jerry Bruckheimer ('Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,' 'Black Hawk Down') and director Antoine Fuqua ('Training Day') comes Touchstone Pictures' / Jerry Bruckheimer Films' 'King Arthur,' a spectacular, epic tale of one man's destiny to become a king. 'Let me sing with inspiration Of the man born of two nations, Of Rome and of Britain... ... Arthur the blessed Led his assault from the Great Wall...' by the 6th century Welsh poet, Taliesin For centuries most historians believed that King Arthur was only a legend, but that legend was based on a real hero whose actions changed the face of Britain and the world forever. Clive Owen, is 'Artorius' or Arthur, the hero of Roman and British parentage eulogized in the ancient Celtic poem. Like his loyal Knights, he sees only chaos and devastation will follow Rome's final pullout of Britain. Although, as a dedicated Christian he is desperate to return to Rome to influence the budding religion, his first loyalty is to his pagan Knights. Arthur sees his duty is to free them from their servitude to Rome so they may return to their ancestral homeland in Sarmatia. However, before he can, he must lead his Knights of the Round Table on one last mission, deep into enemy territory on a quest of adventure and profound enlightenment. Here, Arthur, Lancelot, Galahad, Bors, Tristan, Dagonet and Gawain are forced to confront their traditional enemy: Merlin and his indigenous guerilla armies. Disdainfully called 'Woads' by the Knights for the Woad plant they use to dye their bodies, Arthur and his Knights will see these guerillas are the soul of Britain, devastated by generations of Roman rule. Now, with Rome gone, and without the help of Arthur and his knights, the invading Saxons will roll over the people like an avalanche. Under the guidance of the shaman, Merlin and the beautiful, courageous Guinevere (Keira Knightley), Arthur will struggle to find the strength to fors ke his dreams of Rome to 'become a leader in this land,' and to change the face of history. Thrilling adventure, edge-of-your-seat action and historical grandeur come together in this unique look at the origins of one of the greatest legends ever told. [More]
Starring: Clive Owen, Stellan Skarsgard, Keira Knightley, Ioan Gruffudd
Starring: Clive Owen, Stellan Skarsgard, Keira Knightley, Ioan Gruffudd, Hugh Dancy, Stephen Dillane, Ray Winstone, Til Schweiger, Joel Edgerton, Mads Mikkelsen, Ray Stevenson, Sean Gilder, Ivano Marescotti, Ken Stott
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Screenwriter: David H. Franzoni
Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer
Composer: Hans Zimmer
Studio: Touchstone Pictures
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Release:
Dec 21, 2004
Reviews for King Arthur
Though King Arthur is set in ancient times, there's not much difference between this movie and Fuqua's recent film Tears of the Sun.
Gives us a Round Table and a flashing Excalibur but no magic, no mystery, no mythic resonance.
Who cares about the toying of a sacred legend? This film works on it’s own merits.
The potential of a political bent to this tale is realized nicely, and the film metes out proportions of angst against action with greater care than Spider-Man 2.
...has complications everywhere but where it counts: in the depiction of its title character.
It’s rare that a movie can show you something familiar as if with new eyes...
The movie's midsection feels strangely truncated, making room for a drawn-out final act that blithely disregards one of Peter Jackson's tenets: Battlefield sequences get pretty boring if you don't keep cutting away to smaller, character-driven passages.
Guinevere spends so much time as a lass who kicks *** that I’m not sure where she finds the energy to work her girlie charm on Arthur.
The only way to derive any enjoyment from King Arthur is to bear in mind it's more of a Jerry Bruckheimerian tale than an Arthurian one.
Beyond the incomprehensible battles, one might find a thoughtful deglamorization of the legend; a gritty, tough movie that shows a surprising willingness to traffic in ideas.
Makes an argument against religious absolutism, against the prideful righteousness that was part of Christianity at the time...and, implicitly, of modern-day Christianity.
A line from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, goes, “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” And while King Arthur may be closer to fact, I prefer the legend.
populated by characters who are frequently spattered with mud or caked in grime... Rarely have the Dark Ages seemed quite so dark.
It's a solid, somber, rousing piece of studio zirconium: cobbled together from Gladiator, Braveheart, Lord of the Rings, The Magnificent Seven, and five tons of Hollywood hooey.
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