Merlin 1998 - How Limitations Bring Out the Best Writing 

I love the movie, Sam Neil was excellent as Merlin, I love a movie that pulls me into the characters to feel their emotions.

The ending is perfect, and tugs at the heartstrings. Merlin and Nimue don't get the 'sad lovers reuniting in old age, when it's too late' ending. F*ck that, Merlin's a wizard! He restores their youth so they can live out the lives they could have had otherwise.

When it was originally aired on television it was a two part mini-series.

Such a dood video for one of my favourite movies. You really gave me food for thought, especially for fostering creativity in my students. Thank you!

I love this - thanks for sharing your thoughts on one of my all-time favorite pieces of media. Sam Neill is the GOAT. I actually learned something about the creative process as well!

They don’t make made for tv movies like they use to.

Great video. Loved Merlin 1998 as a kid. Much preferred it over the 2008 series. Do you take review requests?

I was angry when they retconned this in the sequel series (Merlin's Apprentice). It was awesome to see Sam and Miranda Richardson but Jesus they changed and fucked up other parts. Edit And this included changing the Lady of the Lake herself!

Very good video, man. This was my introduction to King Arthur as a kid, and I don't know many people who even know this miniseries exists.

Saw this as a 3 year old in 1998, and it may sound corny but it stayed with me ever since. I see more of the slightly goofier, quirky aspects as an adult, but I still think it's an extremely emotive and imaginative rendering of the Arthurian legend. The score in particular is fantastic and the whole miniseries just has such an atmosphere of that legendary time about it that you forgive any eccentricities

Still my favorite tv/movie version of Merlin

Martin short gave the last part a lot of gravitas. Helped me to respect him as an actor

This is one of my very favorite depictions of Merlin

This is a movie I try to introduce everyone I can to; it's an often forgotten masterpiece.

If the writing and cast is solid, I can easily forgive/ignore “cheesy” special effects - it’s like theatre, you have to suspend disbelief a little

Haven't seen it, gotta watch it.

Saw this on a channel calle hallmark. Such a cool experience

Can anyone tell me the opening scene location of this movie? The very first scene where Merlin is riding towards Avalon on this flat land towards the hill?

I was 15 when this came out. At 41 now i never forgot it.

This movie has always been in my top 5 movies of all time. The creativity and inspiration is remarkable. The soundtrack and the photography are also extremely inspired. It doesn't have unnecessarily high volumes of violence, as so many shows on Netflix nowadays have. What producers don't realize is that a good story sells. Just like a book that has no special effects but they are all displayed in your minds eye. A movie with a great and inspired story and decent visual elements can be enchanting. Maybe the visual effects in Merlin 1998 were primitive, but the acting, the photography, the music and the writing were not. I never forget how Merlin rides on the flat lake against a magical sunrise at the height of the music.

Always great to see someone review this movie since it's still a favorite of mine. But you should read the books. They provide a lot more detail on Queen Mab. She cannot save people. She has no healing arts. Basically "I only let her die" or "She served her purpose" is Mab being too proud to admit she can't save anyone. Look at Mordred's death. That wasn't just because she was too weak to save him, she literally cannot. The first book makes a big deal of how Mab's powers rely on trickery and illusion for the most part. She really cannot save anyone from mortal wounds, although she herself cannot be mortally wounded, only killed by disbelief. I think she truly did love Merlin, but she'd lost so much of herself to disbelief and war over the years that there wasn't a ton of her heart left. Merlin believed throughout the books that she was too far gone and could never be restored to her former self. But I don't think that is totally true since he was mostly fighting against her for "killing" Ambrosia and his mother, aka personal revenge. Mab did not intend to kill Ambrosia. She lost her temper and Ambrosia was so ill and so spooked by the display of power, that she died. The book makes it clear Ambrosia already knew she was at death's door because of her illness. Nimue being burned absolutely was Mab's fault. I'm not saying Mab is innocent. She isn't at all. But a lot of stuff that Merlin thinks is her fault really isn't. She's just so stone cold about it and too proud to admit the truth that she gets blamed for things that she didn't actually do or couldn't really prevent. Merlin even laughably tries to make peace with Mab at one point in the books. I think some of that is him realizing his choices haven't been much better than Mab's. In conclusion, I find Mab to be the most fascinating and nuanced character and I wish we could get a prequel of her very, very long life before Merlin.

I adore this movie. Like others here, I grew up with them on VHS no less in the very early 2000's, and its one of the movies I've been able to watch my entire life and it still holds up. I especially always liked the battle between Mordred and Arthur, the whole thing was fantastic but Mordred's outfit always struck me as the perfect amount of camp (like Palpatine). And the choice of axe vs sword was splendid

want to team up on RU-vid and make videos together? I know many I interesting books and movies and other topics we could discuss

if i'm not remembering wrong, it's a 2 part miniseries, not 3. Unless you're counting the less popular sequel

Got me wondering how bad that spin off must be for a guy making an appreciation vid on a show specifically add a foot note mentioning how it's nothing special.

Very good video! This miniseries is amazing, I used to watch it nonstop as a kid and still return to it occasionally as a "comfort" program.

Still my favorite all-time adaptation of the Arthur legend and my favorite Merlin.

best film from my childhood

Very good movie! However I can’t help but think it would have worked better as a television series.

Sorry but I read the title and the first thing that came to my mind was Birdemic

Best King Arthur film since Excalibur.

I love that movie. I bet I watch it at least twice a year.

1:55 something you have to understand here is she couldn’t have saved her anyway. When Mordred dies she tells him “don’t die, I can’t save you”. Maybe that’s what makes her a tragic character that even if she was willing to heal and preserve she can’t

2 part or at least it was in the uk

It was a 2 part in the uk

I Still Have This On DVD 🥹