Okay, far and away the single best thing about FIRST KNIGHT (1995) is Sean Connery in the lead role as the legendary King Arthur. Watching this iconic movie star deliver a robust, sincere and sympathetic performance as the doomed king is nothing short of pure cinematic bliss.
The supporting cast is also fine with the lovely Julia Ormand as Guinnevere and Richard Gere as the swordsman for hire, Lancelot. Arthur, Lancelot and Guinnevere form the immortal love triangle in which characters are forced to choose between their love of each other and their fealty to the king. It’s the narrative thread that is central to almost every retelling of the Camelot myth.
Director Jery Zucker does a good job orchestrating the action. There’s not a lot of visual flash on display here just solid, workmanlike filmmaking that lets the material and the actors carry the day.
The production design of the film is good, but I swear, there’s a scene in a castle courtyard in which the surrounding crenellations and spired towers are done in a blue and white color scheme that looks remarkably like the Excalibur hotel in Las Vegas, where Judy and I stayed on our last trip to Vegas many years ago.
FIRST KNIGHT eschews any of the magic and sorcery that can be found in other versions of the material. There’s no Merlin or Morgain LeFay to be found here. That’s a smart choice as it allows the story to sharpen its focus on the three leads.
That said, I believe that John Boorman’s EXCALIBUR (1981) is actually the better film of the two. And yes, I’m fully aware of other cinematic versions of this material. I’m just focusing on these two films for comparison.
Boorman’s epic is gorgeously shot, with tons of brutal, hand to hand combat which demonstrates how nasty fighting can be when covered in armor and using a variety of extremely sharp weapons. Boorman also makes great use of the music of Richard Wagner. Everyone in the cast is beautiful with a young Helen Mirren as Morgain while Nicole Williamson’s Merlin practically steals the show.
If you have to choose between EXCALIBUR and FIRST KNIGHT, flip a coin. Boorman’s film has a ton of stuff going for it while FIRST KNIGHT has Sean Connery.
Nuff said.
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