In the fine tradition of schlock fantasy films like the Beastmaster and Deathstalker series comes "First Knight." Like those films, it features bad accents which rapidly fade, sets and matte-paintings that LOOK like sets and matte-paintings, and several machines that obviously run on electricity. It's a shallow retelling of Arthurian legend that eschews the things that make Arthurian legend exciting -- all the magic is trimmed away and it becomes nothing more than a soap-opera in tights. Even the directing is utterly clueless. The battle scenes are filmed in a "Cops" style shaky-cam that is not only jarring but slightly nauseating.
The odd thing about First Knight is that it sports some top-shelf actors doing bottom-shelf acting. Julia Ormond is perpetually dazed as Guinevere, Richard Gere plays Kevin Costner as Lancelot, and in the worst shock of all, Sean Connery can't seem to muster up a single emotion or facial expression. A telling scene is when he interrupts L&G in the act of love, and merely stares blankly at them, looking more bored than anything else, which was basically the audience reaction as well. Even Arthur's death is so poorly acted and terribly filmed that it elicited laughs from the entire audience.
If you're looking for a good retelling of Arthurian legend, see Excalibur. If you're not at all picky, or merely a rabid and indiscriminate Richard Gere fan, First Knight will at least hold you over.
The odd thing about First Knight is that it sports some top-shelf actors doing bottom-shelf acting. Julia Ormond is perpetually dazed as Guinevere, Richard Gere plays Kevin Costner as Lancelot, and in the worst shock of all, Sean Connery can't seem to muster up a single emotion or facial expression. A telling scene is when he interrupts L&G in the act of love, and merely stares blankly at them, looking more bored than anything else, which was basically the audience reaction as well. Even Arthur's death is so poorly acted and terribly filmed that it elicited laughs from the entire audience.
If you're looking for a good retelling of Arthurian legend, see Excalibur. If you're not at all picky, or merely a rabid and indiscriminate Richard Gere fan, First Knight will at least hold you over.