Review of Excalibur (1981) by Popcorn55 — 05 May 2018

One of the greatest films of all time. John Boorman has brought extraordinary, magical and tender beauty to this tale, and brought it alive as never before or since. This is a theatrical work of great genius, crafted with passion and profound insight, on a tiny budget. Though the budget clearly constrained some of the sets and effects, so that some of the lesser, connecting scenes present essentially like stage theater, we don't care, because interspersed with those scenes, are spellbinding, gorgeous episodes -- the most visually enthralling, mesmerizing sword-and-sorcery scenes in the history of cinema.

It's that alternation of minimal dreaminess, which evokes an aura of fantasy and theatrical storytelling, with these dramatic eruptions of photo-realistic, vividly immersive beauty, magic, and drama, that build the power of this film like a steadily chanted spell.

IF ONLY Boorman could have been the one to direct Lord of the Rings! IF ONLY! He has the precise eye, heart and vision, style, and craft for it -- and no one else even comes close. The irony is, he WAS on deck to do just that, back in the 70s, but something went wrong, it never happened. "Excalibur" gives us just a glimpse at the utter glory that could have been LOTR, if they had given him the green light and a big budget. Instead we got the tacky bluetone CGI and Peter whatisname directing a shameful shadow of Tolkien's vision.