Examining Excalibur

There are very few films that I disliked when I watched them for the first few times, only to appreciate them recently. One of them is Blade Runner circa 1982 and the other is Excalibur circa 1981.

As a young man, I both movies to be little too weird, deep, and dark, especially against the backdrop of happier 80s movies. So when I watched them for the first time, I could not help dislike them.

[Well, except for the minor nudity that all impressionable boys my age appreciated at the time.]

In the case of Excalibur, I watched it a second time, and still didn’t like it. And that dislike stretched on to a third, fourth, fifth, and more viewings. Then as I was going through the Manly Movies by one of our writers, I came across it and decided to see Excalibur again. And having finished it for the umpteenth time, I cannot help at marvel at the majesty of this film.

Reading a couple of books on King Arthur since my first viewing may have helped contribute to my newfound appreciation of Excalibur. A couple of books were written in what I would term as typical conversational English, while one appeared to be old English. And while it was little difficult reading the latter one, it served to fill my imagination with a world of bravery, honor, knights, and a king of a long gone era.

And thanks to this bit of enlightenment, I think that Excalibur circa 1981 is worth revisiting by people who were in the same boat as I was all those years ago.

The Story

Excalibur is a movie about the life and death of Arthur, a squire who became king by pulling out the sword Excalibur and uniting all the knights in the land. During his reign, he established the Knights of the Round Table, ushering a time of peace.

But as many will remember, Arthur’s wife and queen, Guinevere, ended up having an affair with his best knight Lancelot. And it was that affair that tore Camelot apart, harkening the fall of the Knights of the Round Table and, ultimately, the death of King Arthur.

Character Development

One of the dangers of having actors wear suits of armor, with metal helmets fully covering their heads is that it can be tough to keep track of them as the movie unfolds. The solution that many directors have chosen to overcome this dilemma is to keep many of their actors unmasked. Unfortunately, this has the unintended effect of removing the some of the drama from scenes because it appears more to cater to the vanity of the actors in instead of the story.

Excalibur is probably one of the few movies I have come across when the removal of helmets feels unnatural. The faces of the knights are dirty, gritty, and sweaty, so making actors look good isn’t one of the things that come across.

[No money shots of this movie.]

And it is this approach of putting the film before the actors that makes it one of the best to come out of the 1980s, or for many movies since then.

So when the ambitious Uther Pendragon would rage at the Sorcerer Merlin about bringing him victory, or the woman of his dreams, it comes off being highly believable with or without his armor’s mask on.

Arthur’s birth, royal ascension, married life, and ultimate demise were very well done. It is actually more amazing if you were to re-watch the movie and realize that the time devoted to each of these milestones weren’t very long. Yet, at the end of the movie, it feels like King Arthur’s whole life was covered completely. Which goes to show you that devoting a large amount of time is not always necessary to develop one’s characters.

[Yup, the director gets my nod for achieving the impossible here.]

Special Effects

As I was watching this movie, I could not help but wince at how brutal it was. My reaction today was pretty much the same one I had years ago. This level of violence stood out from the squeaky clean, feel-good movies of the 1980s by showing how bloody, dirty, and difficult warfare was in the days of the knight.

To support all this visual chaos, the special effects needed to follow suit. And this is where it excelled. Everything from the blood gushing out of severed body parts to the bone-jarring sound of weapons striking metal body armor was as gory as it could be, yet was somehow disturbingly artistic.

It got to the point when the final battle became quite unnerving to see because the film plays heavily on the viewer’s imagination. And while it wasn’t as blatantly gory as the movie 300 circa 2006 was, it still could have the same effect.

Another nice touch found throughout the movie was that everything around the sword Excalibur would be bathed in green light. Getting that light to be reflected off the blades of swords and armor without revealing its source was nothing short of amazing, especially when there was no digital computer effects back in those days.

In addition to this, the costumes were rather amazing. Every knight was encased in his own armor and it sparkled enough to become blinding. Shots armor as they shined is one of the most iconic images of this film.

Speaking about lighting, the predominant color is the light green tinge that helped to set the mood for many of the scenes, day or night. It is the color that I ended up associating with Excalibur as every time the sword would be drawn, the surrounding areas would be bathed in a green hue.

And since this is a tale about the Knights of the Round Table, the movie is overflowing with armor; black, silver, and gold. Of different designs and sizes.

Well, being a movie in the early 80s also meant some things didn’t look very convincing. Some scenes with the fog looked like it was layered.

Favorite Character

While many of the characters had their own individual moments to shine, the movie Excalibur continued to follow the close friendship of King Arthur Pendragon, played by Nigel Terry, and the Sorcerer Merlin, played by the late great Nicol Williamson.

And while King Artur’s straight and dependable character was a bastion of light and model for all knights, Williamson’s Merlin was so quirky and funny, he stole the show from everyone else.

He wasn’t the typical dark and brooding sorcerer, he wasn’t the dark and serious medicine man, and he wasn’t the terrifying forked tongue of a wizard who would steal your youth or first born just so he could live forever.

[Although he did take Uther Pendragon’s first born and lived for several human generations without aging.]

Merlin in this movie was totally unpredictable and I sometimes found myself wondering who’s side he would be on and what he would do. And when he did appear on a scene, he would sometimes do something to get a chuckle or laugh out of me. There has been no other Merlin, or character like this one for as long as I can remember.

Favorite Scene

No high and mighty knight would ever follow a lowly squire, so when Arthur pulled out Excalibur from the ground, he ignited a war between those who would follow him with those who would see him dead.

It was that pivotal scene when Arthur was finally knighted, by not less than the very knight leading the charge against him that surprised me. It is one of those moments that ends up filling a person with pride and awe at how a man with good intentions can overcome the hatred and anger of another to unite them.

Final Thoughts

In the year 1981, I was but a lad who was transitioning into serious and more adult-themed movies. And one of the drawbacks of youth was not knowing many actors or actresses at the time.

So when a cast composed of a younger Gabriel Byrne and Nicol Williamson joined by Patrick Stewart who played Sir Leondegrance, Liam Neeson who played Sir Gawain, and Helen Mirren who played the Enchantress Morgana, and I thought nothing of it. Looking back, I am surprised how a movie can pack so much star power in a single movie and manage not to have one upstage the other.

[Well, maybe except for Merlin.]

If you didn’t enjoy the movie all those years ago, perhaps revisiting it today may change your mind. Just make sure to keep minors out of the room because this isn’t something for their eyes or minds.

“One day, a king will come, and the sword will rise again.”
– King Arthur Pendragon