King Arthur DVD > Reviews > The Dark Ages.

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Outstanding
Soundtrack	Outstanding

Advantages:	Keeps the man's mind on the film !  !  !  !
Disadvantages:	I had to sit through it !  !  !  !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

We thought that we had to have a night off from the kid's so we got a babysitter in got the ferry into Portsmouth and went to the pictures. When we got there there was not much on the big screen that I wanted to see. So I let him pick because I really wasn't that fussy. So we paid £4.95 each for our tickets to go and see King Arthur. Then stood in a line for our popcorn and two cokes that cost £5.75 what a ripe off. But well at least it was a night out.

We went in to the picture house and sat down in the middle so we would get a good view and get the full impact of the sound. After nearly fifteen minutes of reviews the film began........

Now the film is set in the dark ages, were a group of duty bound knights are serving out their last days of service to the Roman Empire. We are introduced to these knight on the opening scene where they are fighting off a group of rebels with perfect military precision.(which is very effective and gets your full attention)
But these are no ordinary knights they are the famous Knights Of The Round Table led by the only legendary Arther(Clive Owen). Arthur is the commander under the Roman Empire with his group of very loyal yet non-Roman knights that have no choice and have been forced to serve the Empire till they have all settled their family's depts to the Empire. But just as the knights reach the agreed time of service that would clear there dept Rome calls on them once again to complete one final mission, this is to save a young Roman boy and his family from the invading Saxons.

They have no choice so reluctantly the weary knights agree and then proceed to complete their final journey so that they can finally get their freedom back from the Romans and get back to there own lifes. Arther is moved by the suffering of the British workers that he finds at the home of the Roman family that he is rescuing. So he proceeds to save them and in the process a girl named Guinevere(Keira Knightley) is also recued from there horrible fate. But as the Saxons start to close in, Guinevere begins to question Arthur's loyalties and whether he actually care for them and when it comes down to it will he kill them. Guinevere has a ferocious encounter between the Saxons and the Knight Of The Round Table on a lake of ice. Lancelot(loan Gruffudd) is Arthur's best friend and a fellow knight and he feels that it would be pointless to battle with the Saxons. Arthur finds himself torn between siding with the knights and all their dreams of leaving it all behind and fighting but then there is Guinevere who has awakened alot of passions he had long forgotten that existed within him.

This really is a great action movie with plenty of battle scenes and a very convincing leading man, Clive Owen, who really drives this film along with an unwavering commanding presents. The supporting actors do also a great job and with some great needed humour from Ray Winstone. Loan Gruffudd plays a great Lancelot who himself is sufficiently dark and brooding and very womanising. This film also has a great villain who is played by Stellan Skarsgard,who is like all villains cold and unrelenting....

I was truly surprised that I enjoyed the film but still wish that I had waited intill it came out on DVD as the cost of the night it would have been alot cheapier. Also I would be able to hear it alot better without the annoying people eating sweets and slurping there juice. And trying to see over heads or maybe am just turning into a female Victor Meldrew............

All the best Kat xxxxxxxxxx