Knights of the Round Table Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Knights of the Round Table Blu-ray Movie Review

In Color Magnificence!

Reviewed by Randy Miller III August 11, 2025

The second film in an unofficial trilogy of medieval dramas directed by Richard Thorpe, produced by Pandro Berman, and starring Robert Taylor (preceded by Ivanhoe and followed by The Adventures of Quentin Durward), 1953's Knights of the Round Table certainly at least sounds like the most accessible entry of the bunch. Historically noted as MGM and Britain's first film shot in CinemaScope, the ultra-wide backdrop is a natural fit for this colorful period piece.

Flanked by an ensemble cast (some being noted British stage performers) including Ava Gardner, Mel Ferrer, Anne Crawford, Stanley Baker, Felix Aylmer, and others, Robert Taylor once again leads the charge in Knights of the Round Table, this time portraying none other than Sir Lancelot himself. The most trusted knight of King Arthur (Mel Ferrer), who had himself pulled the sacred sword Excalibur from its resting place to take his rightful place as heir to England's throne, the Frenchman Lancelot’s love for Arthur's soon-to-be fiancée and Queen Guinevere (Ava Gardner) threatens the kingdom’s stability. Exterior threats arise as well; mainly in the form of Modred (Stanley Baker), son of Arthur’s half-sister Morgan LeFay (Anne Crawford) and one of many who failed to pull Excalibur, while Lancelot vainly tries to bury his love for Guinevere by marrying a young woman named Elaine (Maureen Swanson) at her request.

It's all fairly melodramatic and the end result clearly remains a product of its time, as the uneven juxtaposition of “thees” and “thous” with modern English -- not to mention the less-than-impressive costume design -- renders certain scenes a bit more silly than serious. The performers do what they can with the script but Richard Thorpe’s direction is also fairly stiff and lacks continuous momentum, making Knights of the Round Table one of the lesser Arthurian big-screen epics in hindsight. Yet it turned a decent profit back in 1953 and 1954, with one of its primary draws being the studio’s use of ultra-wide Cinemascope to lure viewers away from their boxy new television sets at home. Filmed in part by British cinematographer Freddie Young, who had recently paired with Thorpe for Ivanhoe but would be best known for his future work with David Lean on both Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago, the film’s visual scale and bold, primary-loaded color palette help to fill in some of the interest gaps where its narrative falls a little short.

For those reasons, Knights of the Round Table is best remembered more as a technical achievement than a seamless historical quasi-epic, but anyone keenly drawn towards Arthurian drama will nonetheless find some enjoyment here; even in its least impressive moments, this is watchable stuff. The end result is more than capably supported by Warner Archive’s new Blu-ray; it contains one of their best 4K-sourced restorations in recent memory (especially compared to the older DVD)... which is quite the accomplishment, considering the boutique label's track record to date.

Knights of the Round Table Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Long-time owners of Warner Archive's 2012 DVD won't have a hard time deciding to upgrade here: though at least framed correctly at 2.55:1, that old disc was reportedly sourced from muddy, fourth-generation source materials and thus couldn't properly convey the considerable strengths of is vibrant color palette. In contrast, WAC's new Blu-ray is sourced from a recent 4K scan of the original camera negative; as seen in this set of direct-from-disc screenshots, it's an impressive presentation indeed and, for die-hard fans, the next best thing to an actual film print in great condition. As usual, this pristine 1080p transfer maintains an authentic veneer of film grain while being more or less entirely free from age-related wear-and-tear, allowing its excellent production design and, yes, those eye-catching colors to shine through. Fine detail is of course outstanding, and its bold primaries (particularly seen in the costumes) virtually jump off the screen. Encoded on a dual-layered disc, the film runs at an extremely supportive bit rate that, as usual for the boutique label, hovers in the mid to upper-30Mbps range during most of its runtime. It's yet another outstanding effort from Warner Archive and, again for long time fans, will be like seeing this film for the first time.

NOTE: As was common for films made decades before the modern digital and "seamless green screen" period, many scenes in Knights of the Round Table were composed optically; this meant that actors (and sometimes key foreground and background elements) were first filmed against a solid black or white backdrop and then superimposed on top of a separately-filmed "deep" background image, and the end result was cut into the original negative. Occasionally and for various reasons, seams were left showing in the form of outlines and other imperfect edges, which are of course a bit more visible when high-resolution 4K scans of the negative are involved. Though many are virtually undetectable, the opening "Excalibur" scene (as seen in screenshot #7) features fairly visible edge imperfections, as do a few others along the way. Since these elements are "baked in", they don't affect the Blu-ray's well-earned 5/5 score.

Knights of the Round Table Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

According to the June 9th edition of The Extras podcast with Tim Millard and WAC's George Feltenstein, Knights of the Round Table's original Cinemascope four-track magnetic master did not survive due to deterioration (a common fate for magnetic soundtracks from this period); luckily, a 2.0 stereo protection track was created in the 1980s and that's what you'll hear on the Blu-ray. Those who wish to upmix this track to emulate four-track surround are free to experiment, but even as-is it's a more than satisfying effort that pairs nicely with the visuals. Trace amounts of hiss can be heard along the way, which were presumably left intact so as not to affect the dynamic range, while dialogue and foreground effects are otherwise clean and well-balanced. The epic original score by Hungarian-American composer Miklós Rózsa sounds impressive as well; it may not be as well-known as his work on films like Ben-Hur, Spellbound, and of course Double Indemnity, but it's no less outstanding than those scores and provides a solid sonic backdrop here.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature, not the extras listed below.

Knights of the Round Table Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with vintage poster-themed cover art. Several extras are included.

• Mel Ferrer Introduction (1:35) - A brief DVD-era filmed video introduction by the late actor (d. 2008).

• Gala Premier Newsreel Footage (8:20) - Always appreciated, this collection of vintage black-and-white footage celebrating the film's gala premiere does a good job setting the stage for movie night.

• MGM Jubilee Overture (9:45) - The first of two (at least partially) unrelated extras included here, this is footage of MGM's Symphony Orchestra performing the Overture from The Merry Wives of Windsor.

• One Droopy Knight (6:50) - Directed by Michael Lah, this Oscar-nominated 1957 Droopy cartoon obviously makes for another decent piece of themed pre-show entertainment. Essentially a remake of 1949's Señor Droopy transposed to medieval times (and in Cinemascope), it looks to be in nicely restored condition here.

• Theatrical Trailer (4:22) - This extra-long vintage promotional piece can also be seen here.

Knights of the Round Table Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Richard Thorpe's Knights of the Round Table may be best remembered for its early use of Cinemascope and colorful visuals, which are supported by a solid cast and yet another standout original score by the great Miklós Rózsa. It makes for another notable Blu-ray release from Warner Archive, who as usual provide ample support for the film with another terrific A/V restoration and a handful of solid bonus features too. Recommended to the right crowd.