Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

King Arthur Blu-ray Movie Review

This unusual telling of the Arthur legend packs some unfortunate surprises.

Reviewed by Ben Williams September 17, 2007

IF there is one character who has been featured in film more than the legendary King Arthur, I’m certainly not aware of who that might be. Good old Arthur has made his presence in every film form, from animation to live action. While certain portrayals have been less than faithful to the original Arthurian legends of the middle-ages, the basic story generally remains the same. Here, in director Antoine Fuqua’s vision of Arthur and his knights of the round table, Arthur lives in Roman times. This one change alone is worth noting, as it puts the entire story into a new and heretofore unexplored territory.

For those not familiar with the basic premise of King Arthur: Director’s Cut, the story follows the basic premise of the Arthurian legend that has inspired everything from Lord of the Rings to the Star Wars and Harry Potter films. It is a sprawling epic that traces Arthur from youth through his death and tells of a man who is born into his role of king. The power of one man's destiny surrounds Arthur as he grows older and wiser and becomes the very definition of a legend. Perhaps Arthur's everyman qualities have made him such a profound character with nearly universal appeal.

Unfortunately, I’m a bit of a stickler for my Arthurian legends and King Arthur: Director’s Cut takes a few too many liberties with the story. While the performances are quite good and the direction and set design are first rate, the Roman setting of the film really diminishes it for me. I know that quite a few people really enjoyed the film, so I think this really just comes down to my personal tastes for how this story should be told. Not having Arthur in the classic middle ages setting of Thomas Mallory’s “Le Mort d’Arthur” is just too different for me. I’ll give King Arthur: Director’s Cut high points in the technical and acting categories, but I can’t just help thinking that one would be better served by taking in another viewing of Excalibur.

King Arthur Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

I'm really shocked at this video presentation. Multiple compression issues were very apparent in the transfer as I viewed King Arthur: Director's Cut, and I can't help but think that something went horribly wrong during the transfer process. First of all, I can't comment on how this film looked theatrically, as I didn't see it in the theater. I can say, however, that I seriously doubt that the extreme amount of banding that was present during the film's many foggy scenes was intentional. Colors seemed way overblown throughout the entire film. Green fields, in particular, just seemed to almost bloom right off of the screen as though the color settings on both of my displays had been maxed out. As a result of these oversaturated colors, detail seems to suffer throughout. I can accept that the overblown colors and lack of detail could very well be intentional on the part of the filmmakers. I can't, however, accept that they intended to add banding into the mix as well. This was one of Disney's first AVC encodes, and things have improved dramatically since this film was released. In the end, this transfer inspired me to question everything from my picture settings on my displays to the possibility that my Blu-ray player was on the fritz. Fortunately for my wallet, this is just a poor transfer and a rare one from Disney at that.

King Arthur Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

In striking contrast to the video presentation of King Arthur: Director's Cut, the audio side of things is quite strong. Uncompressed PCM 5.1 is again the sound format of choice from Disney. As with their other PCM releases, the sound, in direct comparison between the PCM track and the DD 5.1 track, absolutely leaps to life with PCM. The soundstage immediately opens up and there is an incredible sense of depth and ambience. Surround usage is impressive and highly immersive. Deep bass is also well represented here with an abundance of LFE effects that add to the impact of the film's numberous action sequences. If I could level one complaint at this sound presentation, it would be regarding dialogue. I found that I was having to occasionally back the disc up to try to make out what was being said. Muddy dialogue is pretty hard to forgive in plot driven movies - - especially with all of the technology available to repair these kinds of problems.

King Arthur Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Here's what's included:

-Director's Commentary with Antoine Fuqua
-Cast and Filmmakers Roundtable
-"Blood on the Land: Forging King Arthur"
-Alternate Ending
-"Knight Vision Trivia Track"
-"Producer's Photo Gallery"

First up, is the Antonine Fuqua commentary track. This one is pretty stale, folks. I had a hard time staying engaged as Mr. Fuqua seems particularly disinterested in providing anything of substance, humor or interest during the course of the commentary. What's the point of a commentary if it doesn't do anything for the overall presentation of a film? While the Cast and Filmmaker's Roundtable is also of questionable substance, it is, at least, entertaining. "Blood on the Land: Forging King Arthur" is pretty standard making-of fluff and offers no real insight into the film. The alternate ending, on the other hand, does actually provide an ending I preferred to what was shown in the final cut of the film. It seemed to be quite a bit more faithful to a more classical telling of the Arthur legend.

King Arthur Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Unfortunately, I just can't recommend King Arthur: Director's Cut. A nice PCM soundtrack just can't save a poor video presentation, a flawed film and a lack of substantive extras. With all of that being said, if you are an die-hard King Arthur scholar who has to see anything and everything to do with the legendary king, this film does provide a few suprises in its unique telling of the legend.