King Arthur

Easily the best story (non-comedic) told of King Arthur and his Knights. With the new series on the Starz network "Camelot" recently out, it got me in the King Arthur mood. I like the darkness of this movie as opposed to the happy go lucky King we have come to know. This is a mature Arthur, unlike the boy we all grew up knowing. This is a boy who is orphaned early on and is sent to the school for fighting to learn how to be able to protect the Roman Empire. He and his men are a unit and will always be together until death parts them or 15 years, whichever comes first. He is not the King at all, but a guardian of the land and a protector of the people. When he and his team are to enter retirement and start normal lives they are commissioned one last time. To protect a person who needs to be alive. Some very disturbing revelations come before his eyes on this mission. He must continue forward. He and his men must keep the Saxons from advancing and pillaging everything they know. The Saxons are a Viking type group that will stop at nothing to be in control over everything. On his journey he runs into Merlin, which is written as sort of a mountain man as opposed to a full on sorcerer. He helps Arthur on his journey because of Arthur's will to protect the innocent, one of which is Guinevere (Keira Knightley) who was a prisoner because of her beliefs. Guinevere and Merlin are allies, so Arthur becomes an ally. His knights are the bravest and most loyal of people. Their loyalty is not necessarily to the Roman Empire, but to each other actually. One scene in particular shows the brotherhood and all its glory. It when they must stop the Saxon army from crossing the frozen river. Great battle scene that I love to watch again and again. I also love the characters. Lancelot is not as brave as previously depicted, and the Lancelot/Guinevere affair didn't necessarily happen. The battle scenes are second to none, but the relationships that the story follows is what really makes King Arthur's substance outstanding. This is by far the best adaptation I have seen, and I try to watch them all. This really launched quite a few leading men in Hollywood. Ray Winstone plays Bors, Ioan Gruffud plays Lancelot, Mads Mikkelson as Tristram, and of course Clive Owen as Arthur. This really made me want to see him cast as the new James Bond when Daniel Craig got the job. Craig did a phenomenal job, but I still think Clive has the look to pull off 007. 

NBM rates King Arthur - Phenomenal