First Knight (1995)

Director:

Jerry Zucker

Writers (WGA):

Lorne Cameron (story) &
David Hoselton (story) ...

Release Date:

7 July 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Their greatest battle would be for her love.

Plot:

Lancelot falls in love with Guinevere, who is due to be married to King Arthur. Meanwhile, a violent warlord tries to seize power from Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

Plot Keywords:

Box Office Flop | King Arthur | Legend | Sword Fight | Adultery

Cast

Sean Connery	...	King Arthur
Richard Gere	...	Lancelot
Julia Ormond	...	Guinevere
Ben Cross	...	Prince Malagant
Liam Cunningham	...	Agravaine
Christopher Villiers	...	Sir Kay
Valentine Pelka	...	Sir Patrise
Colin McCormack	...	Sir Mador
Ralph Ineson	...	Ralf
John Gielgud	...	Oswald
Stuart Bunce	...	Peter, King's Stableman
Jane Robbins	...	Elise
Jean Marie Coffey	...	Petronella
Paul Kynman	...	Mark
Tom Lucy	...	Sir Sagramore

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some brutal medieval battles.

Runtime:

134 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | SDDS

Certification:

France:Unrated | USA:PG-13 (certificate #33590) | Netherlands:12 | Philippines:PG-13 | South Korea:12 (DVD rating) | South Korea:15 | Iceland:12 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Finland:K-14 | Germany:12 (w) | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Ashridge Park, Little Gaddesden, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

In a making-of feature in which Richard Gere was preparing for the first rescue of Gweneviere (Julia Ormond), Gere stated that this would be the last film in which he performed an action oriented role. So far, it has.

Goofs:

Continuity: Maligant still has his sword after Lancelot knocks it into the air.

Quotes:

King Arthur: May God grant us the wisdom to discover right, the will to choose it, and the strength to make it endure.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Game K N B: (2006-11-28)" (2006)

Swords, sorcery, and some really bad acting.

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.