A Knight's Tale (2001)
Average Rating: 5.8/10
Reviews Counted: 146
Fresh: 85 | Rotten: 61
Once you get past the anachronism, A Knight's Tale becomes a predictable, if spirited, Rocky on horseback.
Average Rating: 5.6/10
Critic Reviews: 38
Fresh: 21 | Rotten: 17
Once you get past the anachronism, A Knight's Tale becomes a predictable, if spirited, Rocky on horseback.
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Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 345,764
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Movie Info
This crowd-pleasing medieval adventure tale is very loosely inspired by Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales and mixes the anachronistic elements of modern-day rock music and colloquialisms with a period setting and characters. Heath Ledger stars as William Thatcher, a low-born 14th century squire who, in a fit of inspired spontaneity, replaces his deceased employer as the competitor at a jousting competition. Jousting is a pastime only permitted to knights, who are of noble birth, but
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Cast
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Heath Ledger
William Thatcher -
Mark Addy
Roland -
Rufus Sewell
Count Adhemar -
Paul Bettany
Chaucer -
Shannyn Sossamon
Jocelyn -
Alan Tudyk
Wat -
Laura Fraser
Kate -
Christopher Cazenove
John Thatcher -
Bérénice Bejo
Christiana -
James Purefoy
Colville -
Olivia Williams
Phillipa Chaucer (uncre... -
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A Knight's Tale Trailer & Photos
All Critics (154) | Top Critics (40) | Fresh (90) | Rotten (63) | DVD (37)
Whipping along at speed, with elaborate camera movements and rousing speeches, this knows how to engage a crowd. It's corny, of course, but a guilty pleasure: romantic, diverting, with mildly amusing modern gags.
Instead of pulling young audiences imaginatively back into the past, A Knight's Tale cheapens the process by demonstrating that there's no essential difference between then and now.
The movie promises to rock you, and much of the time it does.
The result is half Python, half Ivanhoe -- and not as much fun as either.
You might find yourself smiling and laughing all the way through it.
Essentially, it's a screenful of pseudo-medieval popcorn that hits a high enough level of goofy fun to transcend a pretty blatant marketing strategy aimed at the MTV demographic.
Slightly edgy medieval tale with rock music.
It's as if Helgeland didn't have enough confidence in his own material's basic appeal that he resorted to desperate pandering.
Endless jousting tournaments transpire with lots of balsa wood jousting poles splintering across the screen. It's a classic example of a "'what-on-earth-were-they-thinking" movie that no group of filmmakers and actors could have ever pulled off with much
Unmotivated storyline, bad love interest situation, dull leading man, quick plot with no set-up. Lazy movie.
For all its mainstream exertions, A Knight's Tale is actually something of an experimental melding of old and new.
A Knight's Tale looks and sounds pretty darned good in Blu-ray.
An inventive medieval epic....
It can get a bit old. But in the end, the populist theme and anachronisms save the day. A Knight's Tale is a fun and funky romp.
A breezy, lightweight romp perfect for a summer afternoon.
...surprisingly intelligent summer fare...
It's all done with a light-hearted touch and a wicked sense of humor.
Historical accuracy is cashed in for a classic rock soundtrack and a forest of shattered lances, but the trade-off is worthwhile.
Minor grievances aside, this warped medieval yarn glides by on a funny, friendly, goofy sort of goodness.
Audience Reviews for A Knight's Tale
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Roland: [seeing Sir Ecktor dead] He's dead
- Wat: What do you mean Dead?
- Roland: The spark of his life is smothered in shite....his spirit has gone but his stench remains does that answer your question?
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- William Thatcher: It is strange to think, I haven't seen you since a month. I have seen the new moon, but not you. I have seen sunsets and sunrises, but nothing of your beautiful face. The pieces of my broken heart are so small that they could be passed through the eye of a needle. I miss you like the sun misses the flower; like the sun misses the flower in the depths of winter. Instead of beauty to direct its light to, the heart hardens like the frozen world your absence has banished me to. I next compete in the city of Paris, I will find it empty and in the winter if you are not there. Hope guides me, that is what gets me through the day and especially the night. The hope that after you're gone from my sight, it will not be the last time that I look upon you.
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- Roland: You may feel like a poet, but you sound like an idiot.
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- John Thatcher: [hearing William enter] Is someone there? If you're here for the net, I haven't finished it yet. Who are you?
- William Thatcher: A knight. My name is...Ulrich.
- John Thatcher: I hear your name called out there. What business have you here?
- William Thatcher: I have word, Master Thatcher. Word of your son.
- John Thatcher: [drops his tools] Of my William? Come in, sir. What word? Does he live?
- William Thatcher: Oh yes. He lives. He wanted you to know...he changed his stars after all.
- John Thatcher: [emotion washes over, he starts crying] And has he followed his feet? Has he found his way home at last?
- William Thatcher: Yes. [his father blindly reaches out; now it's William's turn to cry] Oh, Father.
- John Thatcher: Oh, William. Oh my boy. [shoulders shake with sobs as he and his son melt in each other's arms]
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- Chaucer: [keeping time with a stick as William and Wat dance] And one, two, and three and four and your hands should be light like a birdy on a branch. And one, two, and three and four and Wat doesn't lead. He follows like a girl.
- Wat: [looks at William]
- William Thatcher: [shrugs in agreement with Chaucer]
- Wat: [laughs a bit, then punches Chaucer in the nose]
- Chaucer: [with some bloody cotton up his nose moments later, conducting William and Wat] And one, two and twirly, twirly, twirly. One and two and you're still getting it wrong. And one, two, and three and four. You can hit me all day cause you punch like a what?
- Roland: A girl.
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- William Thatcher: Your just a silly girl!
- Jocelyn: Better a silly girl with a flower than a silly boy with a horse and a stick.
- Wat: It's called a lance. Hello?
Discussion Forum
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