King Arthur Movie Review 2004

The noble knights are recast as centurions fighting for Rome in Britain circa 500 A.D. Arthur is Artorius, a mercenary from a backwater colony fighting to earn back his freedom by pacifying Celts. He and his men don't like this one bit, especially when sent to rescue a rich brat favored by the Pope from encroaching Saxon invaders. The filmmakers claim historical accuracy. Well. . .maybe, but it's still just an excuse to recycle a classic western/war story: corrupt command sends band of hardened roughnecks on suicide mission. Nothing feels very novel about this novel idea, but it is a fun ride. Owen is a terrific Arthur, all brooding and steely. Knightley is perhaps the sexiest (and most proactive) Guinevere ever. Skaargard hams it up as a nasty proto-fascist villain.

Distribution

Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 500 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91521-1120, Toll-free: 800-723-4763, URL: http://www.bvhe.com

Available on DVD
Running time 130 minutes.
Originally from British, Irish.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Adventure Drama, Folklore & Legends, Rome--Ancient, Camelot (Old), War, General

Screenplay

David Franzoni

Cast

Clive Owen, Stephen (Dillon) Dillane, Keira Knightley, Ioan Gruffudd, Stellan Skarsgard, Ray Winstone, Hugh Dancy, Ray Stevenson, Charlie Creed-Miles, Joel Edgerton, Ken Stott, Til Schweiger, Mads Mikkelsen, Sean Gilder, Ivano Marescotti, Lorenzo De Angelis

Cinematography

Slawomir Idziak

Director

Antoine Fuqua

Music

Hans Zimmer

Other

Peter J. Devlin, Conrad Buff, Anna Rackard, Penny Rose, Dan Weil

Producer

Jerry Bruckheimer, Touchstone Pictures, Buena Vista