Looking Back at King Arthur 2004 

I don't give a damn if it's inaccurate. This movie has a special place in my heart.

Are we not going to talk about the wonderful score ? It adds so much to the epicness of the movie, even if it has deep vibes with Pirates of the Caribbean.

This is objectively a great movie. We watch it every year in my house.

I bought this on DVD, it was so damn epic, and beautifully shot… watched it hundreds of times.

I love this movie, I always have, and it went a long way in engendering a passion for British history that I still have today.

"Come along my other bastards!" *Kids cheering* Not gonna lie, that got me

Favorite movie of my childhood.. especially the extended/unrated version

The score from Hans Zimmer was not even mentioned!?!?...😅 I still listen to the ost for this to this day, it is stellar.

In my book Charlie hunnam is best known for green street hooligans, him and frodo watching soccer and beating people up. Great movie When bishop germanus says "no doubt" I always expected him to start bobbing his head to a no doubt song

And there’s the pendragon cycle by daily wire but I don’t know how good it is.

Excalibur was great, except for the armor and the Cornwall castle.

A wonderfully underrated movie, glad for the focus on it!

I remember being captured by this scene where Vanora sings a song to everyone while holding her youngest. Singing about missing their land. They all became silent, and all looked deep in thought, and sad. Incredible scene ❤ And i agree, what a great cast!

Two best moments of the movie for me: 1. Arthur's announcement of the last mission for him and his knights. And then everyone's reaction to it. It's so realistic and shows you, that even though knights wanted freedom, their loyalty to Arthur was still far greater than their quest for freedom. Which brings me nicely to 2. The moment knights return to Arthur on the battlefield. I like how all of them realized that through all of their struggles, sacrifices and dids, they did manage to find themselves a freedom and home. A new home. A home with their leader. A home that needed their protection. And the final shot of all of them standing together is so powerful. The definition of comradery and loyalty.

I have a lot of fondness for this one, but probably my favourite Arthurian adaptation is Sam Neil as Merlin.

Can we talk just for a second about the scene where Hugh Dancy says "I don't kill for pleasure, unlike some," looking at Mads, when they went on star together in Hannibal where Mads played Hannibal freakin Lecter"?

"How do you do that?" - " I aim for the middle" So many great little moments like this has kept it as a favorite of mine for years.

It took a few watches for this to really sink in, but Ray Stevenson's Dagonet is far and away my favourite character. It's hard really to explain why. He speaks something like twenty words in the whole movie, but the performance is *_powerful._* He's absolutely loyal, unhesitatingly courageous, utterly selfless, but still with a warmth that leads the released slave boy Lucan to trust him instinctively. It's one of the simplest and most direct roles in the movie, but it's done perfectly. Straight to the point. So little screen time, but portraying a lot of depth. Ray Stevenson is sadly missed. "Goodbye old friend. We'll be along soon."

Ah man, I LOVE King Arthur 2004. I was but a wee lad working at a small-town movie theater when it came out. I built the reel (most were still analog back then - *all* of them, in my rinkadink theater), and watched it at like 2AM to make sure I hadn't made any mistakes in the splicing, and instantly fell in love with it. Between shows, when things would get slow, I'd take a break, and go in and sit in the theater and watch 20 minutes of it before going back to work. Every time I watch this movie it takes me back to the smell of theater popcorn and butter, and Sprite that tasted vaguely of paper (since we weren't allowed to get free drinks - we did so anyway, but often had to reuse our cups so as not to throw off inventory counting). Good times, good movie.

Tristan's fight with Cedric at the end and his death scene live rent fee in my head since my teenage days. Still the coolest character in this movie

“King Arthur” legend was a mix of various Late Roman and Romano-British warlords. Lucius Artorius Castus was a 2nd century commander so he was more of just a name inspiration. The most obvious inspiration was Ambrosius Aurelianus, a 5th century Romano-British warlord. However, Western Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus (383-388) also served as the inspiration because he married a local princess and usurped Emperor Gratian with his Romano-British legions. According to Notitia Dignitatum, there were 500 Sarmatian cataphracts in London in 4th-5th century. They may serve as the inspiration of Arthur’s “knights”. The official state religion of the Late Roman Empire was Nicene/Chalcedonian Christianity. The “Pelagius” character in the movie was a reference to the minor Pelagian heresy. It denied Original Sin and emphasised human free will. However, no one cared about it and it quickly died out. My major issue of this film is that none of the main characters dressed up like proper Late Roman soldiers and all Anglo-Saxons just looked like generic Hollywood barbarians.

This was and still is my favorite King Arthur movie

the year of three great underrated epic movies: King Arthur (Extended), Troy (Director's Cut) and Alexander (Final Cut only) 🥰🥰🥰

Ray has such a presence in this film even without many lines. RIP! THIRTEEN!

Mads Mikkelsen, need I say more... I loved his portrayal of Tristan, kinda like a ninja or something. It's also fun, as a dane, to see how much praise Mads gets from internationals, when I find his international roles (besides Hannibal) to be a bit lacklustre. The roles, not the actor. Mads' acting in danish movies is titanic and it helps a lot that his characters are interesting and full of conflict!

The scene where Lenora sings is by far my favorite in the entire film. Hugh Dancy closing his eyes and briefly mouthing the words along with her makes every single one of the others instantly feel real. You can see the longing for home in their eyes as the song she sings just rings out into the cold, empty air of a land not their own. They just want to go home. And by the end, they make it home. One way or another… Also, when Lancelot tells Arthur, “Don’t bury me in some small, sad, little cemetery. Burn me. And cast my body to a strong east wind.” it just drives that longing even further. He’s so desperate to escape this life that he refuses to even be buried in the soil. “At least let my ashes go home.” is a sentiment that has stayed with me for 20 years. “Land of bear and land of eagle… Land that gave us birth and blessing… Land that calls us ever homeward… We will go home across the mountains…”

I loved Kiriya Knightly too. Another actor I really like iis Ioen Gruffed (apologies for the spelling) who is Lancelot in this. He also played Horacio Hornblower. I've always thought it was a shame he didn't get more major roles. I haven't seen this particular movie in quite a long time but I remember liking it.

So regarding the female warriors in Pictish society, I think Antone Fuqua drew inspiration from the real-world ICeni queen Buoddicca when creating the character of Gwenivere for this particular film. Further given the Western Empire withdrew from Britain 200 years before that law was passed it seems likely everyone would be needed to defend the island.

Bro this movie was SOO GOOD loved the brotherhood that was shown And it was soo good

It has been some time since I last saw this, but one thing that sticks with me is the characterization of Arthur and the knights.

My introduction to the Arthurian myth was also the Sam Neil Merlin from 1998. Damn I love that film, recentlu rewatched it in its entirety on RU-vid of all places. The music still gets me.

I adore this movie, hated it at first viewing though. Skarsgard is marvelous.

I think with shows like GoT, the 2004 King Arthur movie would have done better if it was made in 2016. The battle scenes would have been better, and it would be able to fully commit to it's grittier tone and colouring. It's a childhood favourite of mine, it perfectly scratches the eternal itch i have for big battles and sword fights. I don't think it's an issue of people not liking an edgier or darker take on King Arthur, it's just all those attempts have been poor, from writing, casting, production, budget and music. It's hard to imagine a positive or good version because we've never seen it before. Clive Owen was good in this but I feel like he was directed badly, or maybe it's just the writing, but it seems like they were trying to go for some sort of Shakespearian or Theatre-esque dialogue/acting, especially during the scene where Arthur wallows over Lancelot and the other knights that died, it feels a bit over the top? or out of place. I remember a point where Medieval/Fantasy movies couldn't escape that kind of trope in the early 2000's

The Arthurian Chronicles from Bernard Cornwell are my favorite read on the Arthurian legend, recommend to everyone the read.

I really liked this movie, need to watch it again soon.

Always thought this movie was special!

Excalibur by John Boorman (1981) will always be my favourite

I adore this film, almost perfect. Owen was super good and so was everyone 🎉❤

I absolutely love this movie. It definitely has some cringe moments watching it as an adult but boy does it deserve more praise than it gets

Of all the “real Arthur” theories out there they had to go with the worst one 😂 Garbled version of historical events spanning ~100 years condensed into about a week, absolutely zero inspiration from the earliest legends, comically anachronistic social attitudes, and yet somehow I still like it.

It feels great to rewatch old favorites with new perspectives, & it’s that much sweeter when they still hold up. 👌

My brother from another mother 🔥🔥

This movie always make me think of the Thirteenth Warrior.

No mention of Mists of Avalon from early 2000's? You were probably just a toddler then😂 Love your movie analysis!

I like it, despite it flaws but I'd say the soundtrack is too good for this movie. I particularly like the piece that starts when the Picts take on the Saxons.

This movie has a special place in my heart. I do love the monumental film genre, medieval films and epics. I watched it with my friends back in the day on a sleepover and we were hooked. Some time later we discovered that there was a video game from that film aaaaaaand ohh boy did i love this game. Back in the day where coop games were awesome! Simpler days with better films (and games) ;) Thanks for the reminder Bob (excellent work as always), gonna watch this gem on the weekend again!

My favourite version of the Arthurian legends is Mary Stewart's trilogy of four books. The first three centre around Merlin: The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, and The Last Enchantment. They are followed by a forth book that finishes up Arthur's story. She keeps Merlin's magical side minimal, with just a touch of visions, while most of his advice comes from a knowledge of engineering, astronomy, and other things, which he explains in mystical terms (good for appearances) Because of this the books are more grounded in reality than most Arthurian stories. I have a soft spot of the 80s Excalibur. Mainly due to their portrayal of Merlin. Though including Oh Fortuna helps too. I also enjoy Sam Neil's Merlin from '98. I'm sensing a theme here :D

I like it because it show the world how our (we Hungarians consider ourselves to be the relatives of the Scythians and Huns) legends traveled with the Sarmatian mercenaries to the West. The sword in the ground is a Scythian myth, it's the same story as how Atilla found his sword. The Red Dragon banner is also a Sarmatian one. Edit: This also explains the presence of quality recurve bows, that were made and used only by the nomadic people of the steppes at this time. You could make a review of The Last Kingdom, that was shot mainly here in Hungary and was my favorite series in the last few years.

Once upon a time in 2004 they made a movie. It sucked. The end.

i loved, and still love, this movie.

I remember this movie as being one I enjoyed a lot as a teenager, I will probably never rewatch it to maintain that feeling just incase.

I can't stand Troy, its disdain for the Greek Myths is obvious! King Arthur however, despite the historical inaccuracies in its attempt to be a faux-historical version of the legends feels like the writers, director and actors cared about the Legends and just wanted to bring them all together into a coherent origin.

Personally my favourite adaptation of the Arthurian Legend is the Mist of Avalon mini series. I remember King Arthur movie when it came out

My favorite video medias for Arthurian tales are the Avalon TV movie and Kaamelott, the French comedic TV show. But there are no definitive versions of these legends anyway, since they're just myths.

Indeed thopugh some interpretations like the ones with Arthur being the king of ENGLAND are simply ridiculous as if anything the Angles and the Saxons would have been the enemies of the Britons.. And were almost a millennia off! This movie in my view is the best interpretation and I refuse to even mention that one with those ridiculous Mumakils. The most romantically best Arthurian movie are Excalibur. But in the end this movie is utterly underrated indeed. ah, critics allways think they know best especially when it is clear they don't is when they should either approve or just SHUT the **** up. Best actor choice in this movie in my opinion would be Ioan Grufudd as he is the only actual descendant of the Britons in it... = Celtic. 16:28 Yes "Yikes" indeed but if you remember Pirates of the Caribbean 2 (OR 3) Kiera seems to have this "Older men" fetish... 6:08 THIS guy though would among the best actors to portray Arthur! Though I loved Once upon a time but... 6:39 DOOOOOON'T get me started!

It's not too bad, most are kinda silly. The Best is, of course, Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

My favorite Arthur retelling from the early 2000s is the Mists of Avalon. I’m sure my regard is heavily colored by nostalgia glasses but it hits the notes of mysticism in a satisfying way for me. Plus I love the colors and textures of the costuming!

No mention of the music? The score in this movie is absolutely phenomenal. The song Knight's March, in particular, lives rent free in my head on a regular basis.

It was great the cast of knights were all heavy hitters today and Tristan was my favorite

I've always loved LOVED this movie and had never heard the discourse around it. Genuinely shocked by the Rotten Tomatoes score :O My favorite King Arthur adaptation is Kaamelott, a french TV series that ran six seasons (all easily available and subtitled on RU-vid). The comedy is mostly based on the power dynamics between a Rome-educated Arthur and the comparatively clueless Celts that join him at the round table. The humor turns to tragedy in the later seasons as Arthur feels more and more lonely and hopeless in his Quest, and the lore is rich and doled out carefully, right up until the end. It is so precisely screenwritten and researched, and adds so much to the Arthurian cannon. Check it out!

I did have an "eh" reaction to King Arthur when I first saw it in 2004, mostly because in the early 2000s it was difficult to not see a lot of thes historical epics as just cashing in The Lord Of The Rings popularity, though a later watching does make me see it as a good story in its own right, but my enjoyment of it is mainly in comparison to what we are getting modern cinema. Modern fantasy has taken the 'grim and gritty realisim' far too far in my opinion and is not so much realism anymore as ultra-violance. King Aruther's characters are self-admitted not great people but are at last self-aware enough to have to grapple a bit with their morality. I've also been a historical researcher for 12 years specializing in The Migration Peroid through to the Middles Ages and while my gripes with the film aren't so much with the costumes or armor but more how the modern ideas of 2004 were projected into the Dark Ages. The religious views especially, the early 2000s when the atheist internet forms really started to take off. Full disclaimer I'm not here to shoot down anyone's beliefs or lack there of, just the historical context. The film is set in and around 467 AD and while the English officially converted in 597 with St. Augustine, Christianity had already been in Sub-Roman Britian since the 4th century. As far as friction between the pagans and the early Christians, there as certainly plenty but I really don't think it was anything like the modern idea that the pagans were ultra-cool freedom fighters struggling heroically against the invading missionaries. As I like to say, Christianity became popular for a reason, and it was rather unique in its early years at least that people were spreading it through more social and peaceable means rather than conquest which was the Roman MO.

My Dad used to read the Arthurian legends to me when I was little so I'm a sucker for just about any iteration of it (aside from that most recent movie). This one we watched a good many times together, glad to see it get some love!

4:40 You are supposed to meet the film halfway. It's a supposition of "What if all the myths and legends came from this Roman guy?" Exact dates don't matter. It's all fiction

it's fun to watch a King Arthur movie that doesn't revolve around the Love Triangle, that said, you can finally see where that story comes from.....if nothing else, you can see the bond between Arthur and Lancelot

Idk why,but Stellan skarsgard's villian came across overly Cruel and just made me not like him. Maybe its cuz he killed one of his own men to stop a rape,and then kills the Rape Victim because "we dont mix" Idk i just didnt like his character alot and for the most part i just found the movie boring as hell.

I like this movie when I was younger too! I haven't seen it in a while, but now I honestly kind of want to re-watch it, si thank you for covering it.

Even though that movie wasn’t that accurate, because King Arthur took place in sub Roman Britain, after the Roman’s left Britannia, and let the Celtic Britons fend for themselves from the Picts and Scots, and then the Anglo-Saxons, but that was a great movie! I loved the tone, and especially the soundtrack, it’s so dark and epic, and it’s one of the best soundtrack ever, along with the lord of the rings soundtrack!

Oh BTW the best film version of King Arthur is OBVIOUSLY Monty python and the holy Grail !!!!

I adored this movie when I was younger, and it still remains the best King Arthur movie for me. The BBC Merlin is definitely the definitive Arthur, and easily the best tv show. So I agree with you on that! Loved this and the Troy video, and I hope you're planning on covering Kingdom of Heaven sometime soon!

I distinctly remember watching this just before I played Skyrim for the first time. I though Mads Mikkelsen looked cool and based my first character on him, good times.

I’m shocked that Richard Gear, Sean Connery and Julia ormond got forgotten about in the popular First Night.

I love this movie. This is much better than Troy. I do like Kingdom of Heaven better, but this is better than it got credit for.

Love your analysis of King Arther and the comparison to other Arthurian movies. I do miss First Knight in your comparison. Yes it focusses more on Lancelot, but it heavely features the love triangle and the death of Arther. And it is set more in the high middle-ages than the end of the Roman era. I do want to give it a shout-out and it's perhaps missed-opportunity.

The thing about Roman names is that there were an insane amount of people with the exact same name... it was common to even give your children your full name. Not just first name and last name but middle names etc. too. So even though a guy with that name wasn't a warrior and lived 200 years earlier, another guy with all the same names could easily have existed later.

I was about 18 when this came out and hungry for any film with historical backdrop regardless of anachronistic or flat out falsehoods because it often gave me a place to start if they introduced a concept I had never heard, or something I might have disagreed with. Anyway, this one is an absolute pleasure and Stellan Skarsgard's(sp) portrayal is a huge boon to this film. King Arthur has it's problems, but many do, especially when based on sketch "histories."

I get this movie confused with the Last Legion, which is ALSO about the end of Rome in Britain. At the end, there is an obvious reference to Arthur, which had never been mentioned before. The movie was pretty bad as I remember it.

I'm sorry but I've watched this movie so many times where did it ever stated in the movie that Guinevere is Merlin's daughter I never catched that I just thought two Britains who saw a bigger picture for their peoples survival

I saw this in theaters on my 25th birthday and loved it. I have it on DVD and still love it. I'll probably buy it digitally at some point. I thought it was a fun twist on the Artuhurian legends and a great summer movie that wasn't too heavy and dramatic.

Very underrated movie. I think the big problem was the weird editing.

People are idiots. It´s a great movie. A classic. And probably the most historically accurate. Artorius, or Ambrosius, was a romanized british auxiliary general in the roman army. When the romans withdrew, he and his men barricaded themselves in Wales. The very name Wales comes from old germanic welch (stranger). That´s what they called all non-germanics and there are variations of that all over Europe. People saw him defending them from the rampaging saxons, and the legend of the good king was born. The magic and romance crap were added late because it was more interesting to the masses. And that´s why they´re bitching about the movie. There´s no magic and romance there.

Do Stardust next. Underrated masterpiece as far as I’m concerned, and from this same era.

As someone who knows nothing about the Authorian legend, and only saw the sword and the stone Disney movie before seeing this around the age of 12, I agree with your child self and current day self. I think it’s only gotten better for me upon rewatch. I had no preconceptions of Arthur and his men, so seeing this take on them seemed grounded and awesome. The combat was well choreographed, the writing and story was good, and the acting I thought was good as well. Also as a Christian myself there was something attractive about this story, basing his actions on his drive for individualistic freedom, and the feud between him and the main bad guy is classic awesome bad guy motivation. The bad guy being driven by his desire for a challenge, a challenge he didn’t think would ever come again, only to die happy at the hand of his enemy, yeah that’s tropy but good every time.

I remember seeing this in theaters and unlike Troy, actually didn't hate it while watching. But I never really feel the need to go back to this like I do my favorite King Arthur interpretation, Merlin 1998. I think it because the gimmick of it being the "real" story that was used in the market just didn't land with me after watching it. Still, it was a fun watch with a lot of good moments and performances.

One of my favorites as a teen 🤘🏻🤘🏻 still enjoy watching it

I've always liked this movie. Though First Knight has always been the best Arthur movie to me.

For all its problems, this opened me up to the world of Dark Age action and honestly, compared to some recent stories set in and around there or in worlds inspired by it like a good chunk of heroic fantasy, a good chunk of it actually holds up well.

Fantastic video! Let me also add that the music was amazing, and I listen to the soundtrack frequently

Watched this for the first time on a ferry that everyone got sea sick on and our parents needed to just get us away for a while whilst they were ill themselves. Watched this after prison of Azkaban so you can understand I thought it was terrible at the time but so worth a rewatch after which I’m glad I did!

RIP Ray Stevenson

You are forgetting one, Marlin 1998, with Sam Neill, Helena Boham Carter, James Earl Jones and Miranda Richardson, that is still viable to see in RU-vid if you want.

Im actually working on a fantasy series inspired by Arthurian legend taking place entirely in the fae realm. In it, I had Guinevere be the main antagonist who sided with Mordrwd and Morgan le Fay be Arthur's true love and queen And no, no incest.

"I aim for the middle"

I really enjoyed this one

The only thing I didn’t love LOVE about this film was Keira Knightlys pouting face 👀 I adore the knights!

I love this film i was amazed in cinema its still good

You didn’t mention the Richard Gere/Sean Connery movie The First Knight in your list of Arthurian media! A childhood classic of mine simply because it was one of the very few VHS my parents had that wasn’t an animated Disney movies 😆

7:23 Netflix race swapped king Arthur, aka Black King Arthur. Why am I not surprised.

When Rome left the Romano-Britan's had to defend themselves against The Saxons for a period anyways AND Arthur half Roman Half Breten was able to defend against them and that period is CAMELOT and is brief BUT My Friends eventually The Anglo, Saxons and others made the place Anglo-Saxon Land.

Another great Arthurian film is Knights of the Round Table from 1953. It stars Mel Ferrer as Arthur and Robert Taylor as Lancelot (with Stanley Baker's Mordred as antagonist). While there is lots of cliche, with a high medieval style, it is very dear to my heart. Filmed in England and Ireland. Many of cast and crew had just done the (likewise excellent) Ivanhoe the year before. Btw. did also see the 2004 version in cinema back in the day. While it did some odd choices in there I always liked them setting it properly in the Sub-Roman period.

This was such a bad King Arthur movie, rightfully mostly forgotten. Thankfully King Arthur: Legend of the Sword showed us how a good popcorn King Arthur movie of our time looks like.