Movies - King Arthur

Home > Listing Index > Movies > King Arthur (film)

	Movies - King Arthur

King Arthur is a film first released in the United States on June 28, 2004, dubbed as "The Untold True Story That Inspired The Legend" by Touchstone Pictures.

The makers of the film claim to present a historically accurate version of the Arthurian legends, supposedly inspired by new archaeological findings. The accuracy of these claims is subject to debate, but the film is unusual in representing Arthur as a Roman soldier rather than a medieval knight.

This historical approach to the Arthurian legends had already been showcased in film once - in Arthur of the Britons, a 1972-1973 British TV series, and King Arthur, The Young Warlord, a movie-length compilation of some of its episodes. (In this version, Arthur is a Celtic chieftain.)

Plot

Arthur, also known as Artorius (Clive Owen), is portrayed as a Roman cavalry officer, the son of a Roman father and a Celtic mother, who leads a military force of Sarmatian cavalry in Britain at the close of the Roman occupation in 452 A.D. He and his men guard Hadrian's Wall against the "Woads", a Celtic people who resist Roman rule roughly based on the historical Picts, led by their mysterious leader Merlin. He is not the first Arthur - over the years, many of his ancestors have manned the Wall, leading Sarmatian auxiliaries.

As the film starts, Arthur and his remaining men Lancelot, Bors, Tristan, Gawain, Galahad and Dagonet - are expecting to be finally discharged from the service of the Empire after faithfully serving for 15 years. However, they are dispatched on a final and possibly suicidal mission by Bishop Germanus of Auxerre to rescue an important Roman family from impending capture by the invading Saxons, led by their chief Cerdic and his son Cynric. This rescue has to be done by the knights because Rome is retiring from Britain, by now considered an indefensible outpost.

In the course of this mission, Arthur encounters and rescues Guinevere (Keira Knightley), a Woadish princess, from the imprisonment and torture of the Roman citizen he is charged with rescuing. It is also revealed that Guinevere is Merlin's daughter and Arthur himself is actually half Celt (by his mother). His famous sword, Excalibur, is also revealed to be originally his father's, which he drew from the tombstone on his burial mound as a boy (thus the legend of the Sword in the Stone).

The Roman family is rescued and the knights fight with the Saxons on a frozen lake (losing Dagonet in the process) before they can make it back to the Wall. Struck by Rome leaving its subjects to the mercy of the Saxons, Arthur is further disillusioned when he learns that Bishop Pelagius, whose teachings about the equality of all men inspired the brotherhood of his Round Table — has been executed as a heretic.

In due course, Arthur and his remaining men forsake Roman citizenship and form an alliance between the Romano-British and the Woads to fight the invading Saxons. In the climactic battle, the Battle of Badon Hill, the Saxons are defeated and Cerdic and his son are killed — at the cost of many lives, including Lancelot's and Tristan's.

The film ends with Arthur and Guinevere's marriage. Merlin then proclaims him to be their king. King Arthur and his remaining knights promise to lead the Britons, now united after Roman leave, against future invaders.

Main cast

Clive Owen
.... Arthur
Ioan Gruffudd
.... Lancelot
Mads Mikkelsen
.... Tristan
Joel Edgerton
.... Gawain
Hugh Dancy
.... Galahad
Ray Winstone
.... Bors
Ray Stevenson
.... Dagonet
Keira Knightley
.... Guinevere
Stephen Dillane .... Merlin
Stellan Skarsgård
.... Cerdic
Til Schweiger
.... Cynric
Sean Gilder .... Jols
Pat Kinevane .... Horton
Ivano Marescotti .... Bishop Germanius
Ken Stott
.... Marius Honorius

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for King Arthur (film) ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article King Arthur (film); it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Movies - King Arthur

Plot

Main cast

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay