Excalibur

1981
PG
2h 20m

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

69K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer2:30

Adventure Epic Epic Fantasy Epic Sword & Sorcery Adventure Drama Fantasy Romance

Merlin the magician helps Arthur Pendragon unite the Britons around the Round Table of Camelot, even as dark forces conspire to tear it apart.Merlin the magician helps Arthur Pendragon unite the Britons around the Round Table of Camelot, even as dark forces conspire to tear it apart.Merlin the magician helps Arthur Pendragon unite the Britons around the Round Table of Camelot, even as dark forces conspire to tear it apart.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

69K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

1,303

261

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 2 wins & 11 nominations total

Trivia
The initial fight scene had to be filmed three times. It was filmed at night, and all of the film came out underexposed the first two times, due to a fault in the exposure meter. The cameraman had a nervous breakdown over the issue and quit.

Goofs
During the final battle scene against Mordred, the background audio track of men yelling and swordplay is clearly a re-tread of the Leon De Grance castle battle. In the final battle scene, one can clearly hear the "throw the rope" line that Merlin yells to Arthur from Leon De Grance castle battle, as well as the yell from Arthur as he jumped from the castle into the moat. (00:37:02 same as 02:88:18, 00:40:12 same as 02:09:58).

Quotes
Merlin: STAND BACK! Be silent! Be still!... That's it... and look upon this moment. Savor it! Rejoice with great gladness! Great gladness! Remember it always, for you are joined by it. You are One, under the stars. Remember it well, then... this night, this great victory. So that in the years ahead, you can say, 'I was there that night, with Arthur, the King!' For it is the doom of men that they forget.

Alternate versions
CBS edited 20 minutes from this film for its 1985 network television premiere.

Connections
Edited into Wizards and Warriors: The Kidnap (1983)

Soundtracks
Prelude to Parsifal
by Richard Wagner
Specially recorded by London Philharmonic Orchestra (as The London Philharmonic Orchestra)
Conducted by Norman Del Mar

User reviews440

Review

Featured review

superb

it is not easy to say why.and the explanation is the last detail for look for. maybe because it remains the most inspired adaptation of a story to well known.but the cause remains always a must define. and it could be, maybe , the mix of Wagner, kitsch and late romanticism. for acting. and for tension. for the great poetry of image. or , only, for the memories about a fresco about a time as fruit of myths. Excalibur remains unique. and this is the only important thing for define it. as a seductive show. maybe, as an experience. about fascination for an ambiguous past. and refuge in a world who seems out of each form of illusion. or reality.