6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 3.9 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
With no ties, no enemies and no fear, Lancelot is the perfect warrior. He comes to Camelot not for glory or knighthood, although he finds both, but for the love of the one woman he cannot have, the beautiful and honorable Lady Guinevere of Leonesse. Guinevere has promised to marry King Arthur not only because his army will protect her country, but because she truly loves him for his wise and gentle ways. As she prepares to enter Camelot as its new queen, a chance encounter with Lancelot awakens conflicting and powerful emotions within her. For Arthur, she represents a once-in-a-lifetime chance at true love and a beloved queen for his kingdom. Likewise, the king comes to see Lancelot as possessing the honor and bravery of a true Knight. He welcomes them both into his city and into his heart, never foreseeing how his great capacity for love and trust opens the doors for his betrayal.
Starring: Sean Connery, Richard Gere, Julia Ormond, Ben Cross, Liam CunninghamRomance | 100% |
Adventure | 78% |
History | 57% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
French: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Portuguese: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1
Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0
English, English SDH, French, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Cantonese, Korean, Thai
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Times were hard. A man made his living any way he could. And Lancelot had always been
good
with a sword...
I have a copy of First Knight on VHS. It's buried somewhere in a box deep inside a
closet
I
never venture into, and about all I remember of the movie is that I own it and never had any
desire
to watch it whenever I used to actually dig through my VHS tapes in search of something to
watch.
That and it stars Sean Connery (A Bridge Too Far) and Richard Gere (Shall We Dance?) and has some swords
and
armor and horses and castles and other random medieval things in it, and is based on the legend
of
King Arthur. In other words, only the most basic of memories stuck with me when it came to
this
picture, so my expectations coming into this screening were rather low, but the excitement of
seeing the movie sorta-kinda like the first time all over again proved an interesting one. It turns
out that a few scenes sparked some far-recessed memories, but as the credits rolled I realized
that
I truly had forgotten just about everything seen in the movie. My "ho-hum" feeling remains.
First Knight is certainly good enough to watch, but mediocre enough to forget until it is
released on another format in 13 years. If I review it then, I am certain the memory of having
watched it today on Blu-ray will be only a clouded one, making the experience once again
sorta-kinda like watching it for the first time all over again (again).
That table's in a world of trouble.
Mostly impressive is the 1080p, 1.85:1 transfer Sony has produced for this Blu-ray edition of First Knight. The overall quality is quite good; certainly no great shakes next to the latest and greatest Blu-ray releases, this transfer nevertheless holds up very well. Detail is impressive, as is depth, the result a sometimes breathtaking, cinematic, big-feeling image that suits the subject material very well. There is quite a bit of grain to be seen throughout, and it gets downright heavy in some long distance shots, but that's all part of the natural charm of the look of the movie. Colors are impressive, the blues of Camelot and the greens of the locales both vibrant and alive, starkly contrasting to the dank, lifeless abandoned castle/dungeon where Malagant and his men hold Guinevere captive. The more vibrant hues are often dramatic and exciting to look at; they can be, however, somewhat muted in appearance in some shots, losing some luster but for the most part, they remain both bold and pleasing. A scene near the beginning of the movie showing a primitive version of soccer looks especially good and is demonstrative of how this disc looks at its very best, showcasing excellent color reproduction, tremendous depth, fine detail, and excellent clarity, though only a bit soft. The print does demonstrate a few flaws now and again, notably a long, black vertical line in one spot, but for a 13+ year old film, the results are about as good as can be expected. Black levels are excellent; a nighttime battle scene near the end of the movie standing out as the best example. Overall, the image is definitely not pristine or 5-star material, but gosh darn it if I didn't adore the look of the movie. Before the age of crystal-clear digital cinema, IMAX, or DLP projection, I saw many a film projected onto the big screen, replete with a few flaws on the print and consistent grain, and I love that look. It takes me back to my childhood, and this film, perhaps more than any other I've seen on Blu-ray, perfectly represents the typical look of a theatrical movie I so vividly remember from that time.
Presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless surround, First Knight sounds good on Blu-ray, but this track ultimately finds itself a bit lacking. The first thing I noticed was that dialogue sounded a bit off, as if it increases and decreases in volume, ever so slightly, in certain scenes, noted first at the beginning of the movie as Lancelot fights for money. Jerry Goldsmith's (Hollow Man) score is both engaging and loud, providing an excellent theatrical reproduction quality, similar to the sound you would expect to hear in a high-end movie house with a quality sound system. It does get a bit too loud at times, and I had to resist the urge to turn the volume down on occasion from my normal reviewing volume. The music does emanate from every speaker and is wholly engaging and fun to listen to. Ambience is present, with just as much, if not more, coming from the front channels that the rears. Bass is often utilized but never wears out its welcome or leaves your eardrums bleeding. The combat scenes, some replete with the pounding hooves of charging horses, bring out the lows. The .1 channel is well-represented here, but as an older mix, it's just not as thorough and deep as we're used to experiencing on newer mixes. Nevertheless, this is a fine effort from Sony, and I have no doubt that fans of the movie, those most familiar with the nuances of the First Knight sonic experience, will be more than pleased with the end result of this lossless offering.
First Knight gallops onto Blu-ray with a fairly good array of extra materials. The
primaries
are two commentary tracks, the first with director Jerry Zucker and producer Hunt Lowry. Even
these participants admit this could have been a better movie, and generally poke fun at it and
their
involvement therein. Definitely not MST3K-esque, but not a serious track either, this
duo
offers up interesting nuggets of background information, broken up by various moments of dead
air,
with a levity and humor generally not heard in commentary tracks. The second track features
Arthurian historian Corey James Rushton. He examines the history of the film from a literary
and
historical perspective, speaking as if lecturing on the subject rather than chatting with us.
Generally, I enjoy the "lecture hall" style commentary, but this one proved rather dull and
uninteresting. I'd recommend listening to the first track, but only King Arthur historians and
die-hard fans of this movie will probably appreciate the second one.
Next up are three featurettes. The first, The Quest For Camelot (480p, 18:51, complete
with some unbalanced, "harsh" sounding dialogue from Jerry Zucker) looks at the film from a
more philosophical perspective. The Creation of a Kingdom (480p, 18:11) examines the
construction of the impressive sets built for the film, from ideas for design to construction. The
off-sounding Zucker is back in this feature. In Shining Armor: Knights in Training
(1080i, 18:52), as the title suggests, takes us behind-the-scenes to witness the physical training
of the cast for their roles as medieval warriors. Concluding the supplements are several deleted
and extended scenes (1080p, 7:16, listen for audio drop-outs) and 1080p trailers for The Water Horse: Legend of
the Deep and A Knight's Tale.
First Knight ranks as a very average motion picture, one that won't leave you completely angry or disappointed for having watched it, but it's a movie that is completely forgettable nevertheless, one that won't wow or leave you in awe. I envision the perfect screening of First Knight to be when you're channel surfing at 2:00 AM, lying on your couch, only half awake, and your choices are a rerun of SportsCenter, an infomercial for the latest and greatest in pots and pans, or First Knight. It may or may not put you to sleep, but it's just good enough to hold your interest should you choose to pay attention. Presented here for the first time on Blu-ray, First Knight looks and sounds rather good; both audio and video qualities above average but not spectacular, although the video quality has a fine cinematic look and feel to it. The supplements are about average, and listening to the film's director and producer take jabs at their own film is definitely worth the time. Not a bad disc at all, I'm comfortable recommending First Knight as a Blu-ray purchase only for fans of the film.
1938
1935
2006
Extended Cut
1991
1999
2010
1976
1922
2007
2002
1969
Limited Edition to 3000
1972
Director's Cut
2004
2013
1935
1954
Warner Archive Collection
1985
2008
Lady Hamilton
1941
1932