Reviews

Boorman's masterful revamp of the arthurian legend is a lush visual, and audio treat that is every bit as stunning as when I first saw it on the big screen in the early 1980's. The cast is superb, and whether or not you're seduced by the idiosyncratic peculiarities of Nicol Williamson's memorable Merlin, Helen Mirren's calculating Morgana, or Nigel Terry's quietly, forceful Arthur or, indeed, simply want to hear one of the best cinematic meldings of Wagner's incredible music ever, you owe it to yourself to experience this hypnotically, beautiful film.

2 stars. Not for kids either. Quite a few butts bopping around. LOL

I purchased this movie along with the Mists of Avalon. They make a great combination. They tell the whole story well together of King Arthur.

Okay, first and formost - if you are buying this movie, you are buying it because you seen it! If you haven't seen and you are buying it because someone recommended it, then my review is going to tell you to buy! Period! This movie is a classic! Period! I was 6 years old the first time I seen it and I have been trying to find this movie for years, I am 34 years old now and I finally found it and purchased it right here on Amazon! What are you waiting for, put in your order right now!

Excalibur (1981) is an epic fantasy action adventure movie about the legend of King Arthur and the Knights Of The Round Table in Camelot, attempts to recover the Holy Grail, and a magic sword called Excalibur. This movie came out in 1981 but still holds up well today. Directed by John Boorman, this movie makes the most of its limited budget. This movie obviously doesn't have any CGI effects, but the special effects are decent nonetheless. This movie is portrayed in a very "real" way - dirt and grime, blood, gore, etc. Being a sword and sorcery movie, there is a lot of violence and the battle scenes leave nothing in the bag. They are bloody and graphic, just like they should be. There is some nudity and some sex scenes as well. The acting is very good. Nigel Terry plays Arthur. Nicol Williamson plays Merlin. Helen Mirren plays the sorceress Morgana. Liam Neeson makes an appearance as Gawain. Nicholas Clay plays Lancelot. Cherie Lunghi plays Guenevere, and Paul Geoffrey plays Perceval. This movie has a great epic fantasy atmosphere and imagery - magic, warfare, castles, fire, etc. The costumes for the characters are really well done. I especially like the armor the knights wear. Countless horses are used throughout the movie, mostly in battle scenes. Watching this movie again for the first time in many years made me appreciate the huge amount of effort that went into making this classic movie. Everything is REAL with a used look to it and presented in a very real way. The soundtrack is very good as well. If you like epic fantasy adventure movies along the lines of Conan The Barbarian and Lord Of The Rings and are a fan of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, then you just might enjoy this movie. Highly recommended.

Reviews

It's NOT A MOVIE! It's rather dull, with no dialogue at all. Only dry narration and rather stilted acting. Sort of like a boring Discovery channel documentary of British flora, occasionally interrupted by weird people walking around with swords and chewing bits of meat. If you work night shift, and you suffer daytime insomnia, this DVD is for you.

Reviews

I was very surprized at the looks and quality, You really get your money's worth.

The sword arrived in excellent condition, the detailing was simply superb. The blade is a nice, balanced weight (Not perfect, but just a few inches above). Its clearly a show piece, as the blade itself features no edge. This doesn't detract from its overall value, considering a combat ready sword useually has a value of over $200. In itself, I recommend this piece to anyone looking for a nice collecters piece to put up on their wall.

Reviews

I bought this and another sword for a film I was shooting. It wasn't used for sword play, but the character who wore it had to take it out of his belt and place it on a table about 30 times (during rehearsal and for multiple takes), and it was transported with the tripods and C-stands instead of with the more delicate furnishings and props. The leather covering on the grip came loose by the end of the first day and had to be glued back to the handle, and the handle is now very loosely attached to the blade, which is why I cannot give the item 5 stars. It is, however, a handsome and wholly believable weapon to look at, and it is being sold on Amazon at a bargain price. I know, because I checked all the usual medieval-faire-vendors' sites first. I got the use I wanted from it, and will be happy henceforth to hang it on my wall.

Sword looks awesome! very heavy and cool. Blade is strong but not sharp..for collector purposes. handle and point where blade connects to hilt is very shaky but can be fixed quickly. Overall sword and scabbard are very realistic and cool looking.

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I KILLED A DRAGON IN MY BACK YARD WITH THIS! IT REALLY WORKS! Actually, the engraving on the blade that says "KING AURTHUR - EXCALIBUR" certainly takes away from its aesthetic value. If you hang it on the wall high enough, you can barely make out the engraving. If you dont want to see it at all, the other side is blank with no design at all, which sucks.

Reviews

I loved this book! With the gorgeous poetic writing style, it reminded me of an adult fairy tale, chalk full with life lessons, and a destined great romance. It is an old fashioned gem with wisdom for the modern world.

This story really inspired me. It was enjoyable to see a mystery unravel in medieval times. Sophisticated plot and excellent writing made the romance in it all the more epic. And I have to admit it, I am in love with the Kayente!

I very much enjoyed this book. The complex emotional and psychological profiles of the characters enthrall you from the start. The heroine's journey through many trials and tribulations proves that strength can be found in many forms, and not always where expected. The male lead proves that there can be more to a man than what meets the eye. I recommend this book to anyone looking for fantasy, romance, and adventure.

I feel totally duped by all these 5 star reviews, I can't figure them out, did we read the same book? I usually don't write reviews, but I feel so strong about this one I have to. The writing style was horrible, lacking depth, reminding me of my 5th grader just learning to write using too many adverbs and adjectives, just because. I gave this book an honest effort and forced my way through it. But cannot recommend anyone else do the same. I don't think Amazon had the excerpt from the book included in the listing when I made my purchase, I'm sure I wouldn't have ordered it if it was there.

This characters were so well developed I didn't want the story to end. I can only hope one day there will be a sequel. This is a well written medieval mystery romance that is sure to be a classic one day.

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If you're a fan of Chris Claremont you're certainly going to love reading the first volume comprising of the first issues of Excalibur. One thing you've got to love about this is that all the heroes have their own personal demons to deal with from the start, but still they overcome and learn to work as a team even though they still have problems. And there's also reference to British pop culture like the sci-fi comic Dan Dare here as well, and possibly Doctor Who.

Still as good as they were when I bought two copies (one for careful reading, one for collecting) of each issue. Before my mother gave them away when I was at college.

Here is one of the x-men's best sister titles. With phenomenal art by Alan Davis and some great writing by Claremont, the classic Excalibur series was witty and original. Great characters and characterization, this a great series. A must have, esp. for fans of Alan Davis and classic Claremont.

The original Excalibur team was never a huge seller and for the majority of the run of the series it remained very distant from the events of the X-Men and related titles. Yet it always had strong ties to the X-Men and was in essence the X-Men's equivalent in Europe. This collection included the hard to find origin of the team, the Excalibur: Drawing the Sword special, and the first five issues of the series. The Birth of Excalibur: In the Mutant Massacre Shadowcat, Nightcrawler and Colossus were all severely injured in battle by Mr. Sinister's Marauders, and all three were relocated to the Mutant Research Center on Muir Isle in Scotland to recover. Colossus recovered from his injuries before his other incapacitated teammates and rejoined the X-Men around the time of Inferno (note: Colossus would eventually join Excalibur near the end of the run of the series). Shadowcat and Nightcrawler slowly recovered but soon after the latter awoke from his coma the two of them watched helplessly as the X-Men (seemingly) sacrificed their lives in Dallas during the Fall of the Mutants. One of the X-Men at the time was Pyslock, the twin sister of Captain Britain, and her death sparked a dark period of heavy whiskey drinking for the UK's iconic hero. Soon after the X-Men's apparent final stand in Dallas was seen on TVs across the globe, Rachael Summers, a.k.a. Phoenix (II), began showing up in the dreams of both Shadowcat and Nightcrawler. Not long before the Mutant Massacre Rachael had attempted to assassinate Selene, the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club in Manhattan but Wolverine stopped her with a quick slash of his claws. Rachael's potent psionic powers were just barely holding her together when Spiral, a favored agent of the other-dimensional alien programmer Mojo, seduced Rachel into entering the entertainment-dominated Mojoverse. The X-Men, not even bothering to look for her, assumed she had just run out on the team. Then in the streets of London, Phoenix reappeared with Mojo's Warwolves ravaging the city to capture her. Soon after, the strange and alien mercenaries known as Technet appeared, with the intent of capturing Phoenix also. Shadowcat, Meggan (a faerie-like mutant changeling), Nightcrawler and Captain Britain all get involved and together repel the forces that hounded Phoenix. From this team-up, the five heroes, along with Shadowcat's pet dragon Lockheed, all agree to unite as a team to try and fill the void left by the death of the X-Men. In the first few issues of their series, Excalibur battles the Warwolves once again, Arcade and the Crazy Gang (which seems to have been inspired by English humorists such as Monty Python), and the Juggernaut, as well as struggling to come together as a team. Although Excalibur is one of the lesser known X-Men related books, it is one worth checking out. The other mutant books at the time were deeply serious and had a heavy doom-and-gloom tone, but Excalibur was more humorous and lighthearted while still dealing with the core characters' personalities in a realistic yet atypical manner. Another element that endears me to the series, at least in its beginnings, is the heavy influence of British culture in the plots and characters. Not everyone will like this, but for those who can appreciate its unique stories will enjoy it quite a bit.

To understand this book some background is needed. This is taking place at a time when most of the X-Men were believed dead, their lives given to defend the world against the Siege Perilous. Left behind were Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler (both who were injured and not with the team), Captain Britain, and Rachel Summers, who was Phoenix at the time. This book picks up the tattered remains of the X-Men, Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde, Phoenix, Captain Britain, and Megan and forms them into Excalibur. Chris Claremont and Alan Davis created this book, which is set in the British Isles. In this graphic the team is formed, faces some of Mojo's creations, the Juggernaut, Arcade and more. Relationships are formed and tested, as everyone is just getting to know each other. However, with that all being said, I must admit that while I love Chris Claremont and worshiped him when he was at the heights of his X-Men glory, this is not his best work. The first half of the graphic feels stilted and is frankly.... Boring. The last bit of the graphic started to move better and I'm looking forward to the next graphic to see if Claremont found what he wanted to do with these characters. Alan Davis's art is as beautiful as ever, the man has a very stylized form that I happened to gain an attachment to with other X-Books of the time. Buy this book and enjoy it, just be aware that as it is with most introductory works, bugs were still being ironed out when this was written and it isn't optimal, but it is enjoyable. Recommended to comic book newcomers and season veterans alike, but especially recommended to X-Men fans and those looking for some `retro' fun.

Reviews

This volume collects Excalibur (v.1) # 6-11 and Mojo Mayhem. All are written by Chris Claremont, and the artwork is by pencillers Alan Davis, Arthur Adams, Ron Lim, and Marshall Rogers, and inkers Paul Neary, Josef Rubinstein, Terry Austin, and Bob Wiacek. The first couple issues crossover into the X-Men Inferno event, and while Excalibur isn't key to understanding Inferno, reading Inferno helps to understand what's happening in Excalibur. Phoenix responds to the psychic distress call of her "brother" Nathan Christopher Summers, and the rest of Excalibur follows, but they all get trapped by the chaos of New York before they can help with the major event. Claremont uses his oft repeated plot trick of having one or more of the characters getting corrupted, in this case Meggan and later Captain Britain, and the team is forced to fight each other. After the battle, while still in New York, is the character development issue where Meggan deals with her empathic shapeshifting identity crisis (she tends to look like what people want her too, so how does she get to know herself?), Captain Britain's powers seem to be fading, Kitty deals with the loss of yet another friend from her X-Men days, Nightcrawler steals the X-Men's old jet (not knowing that the X-men are actually still alive) and Phoenix checks in on her baby brother. Then, back in England the dimension hopping story that's been building since issue #1 (in Excalibur Classic vol. 1, 'natch) comes to a head as Hauptman Englande leads a Nazi version of Excalibur into our dimension to retrieve the Nazi Moira MacTaggart and Callisto. This of course has gets a big reaction from Kitty Pryde, who is Jewish. This story also sets up the next volume "The Cross-Time Caper." And in Mojo Mayhem the newly cloned X-Babies rebel against Mojo and escape to Earth. They turn to Kitty Pride for help, and together they try to manage a cross country trip while being pursued by Mojo's newest agent . . . the Agent! He can look like anyone and if you sign the dotted line, he owns you body and soul! Excalibur is the lighthearted spinoff of the X-Men line, and these stories are plenty of fun, but don't expect anything epic. The character development is good, but in signature Claremont style it can take years before a concept is resolved. The Alan Davis/Paul Neary artwork is some of the best in the business, and my personal favorite from this period in Marvel history, but they only illustrated three of the six regular issues collected here. The Lim/Rubinstein and Rogers/Austin artwork isn't bad, but by comparison it seems a bit lacking. It's always nice to see Arthur Adams illustrating the Mojoverse characters he help create in the original Longshot miniseries, and to this day nobody can draw Mojo like he can. If you're looking for a stand-alone story, this isn't it. But if you enjoy comics from the era of single issue stories with dangling subplots, when you could pick up and enjoy a single issue, but long term readers were also rewarded, then this is a good example of the time. Also, if you're planning on picking up the other Excalibur Classic volumes, then this is definately an essential prelude to the third volume.

Reviews

Looks great. I bought two swords for my twins. For now both of swords are broken :) Can not hold side to side move. broken on connection place with handl. :)