Excalibur (1981)
77%RT Audience Score:
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
2 wins & 10 nominations total
John Boorman’s operatic, opulent take on the legend of King Arthur is visually remarkable, and features strong performances from an all-star lineup of British thespians
Excalibur is a movie that’s like a medieval Star Wars, but with more flames and mist. Some critics think it’s too much, while others think it’s just right. Personally, I loved the magic spells and the cinematography that made the Dark Ages look modern. It’s like Monty Python meets a stainless steel stunner. If you’re into knights and swords and stuff, you’ll definitely want to check it out.
Production Company(ies)
American Zoetrope Zoetrope Studios,
Distributor
Orion Pictures, Warner Home Vídeo, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros.
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Powerscourt Estate, Enniskerry, County Wicklow, Ireland
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1981
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Mono
-
Aspect ratio:1.66 : 1
-
Runtime:1h 59m
-
Language(s):English
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Apr 10, 1981 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 16, 2007
Genre(s)
Adventure/Fantasy
Keyword(s)
Loading…
Worldwide gross: $34,971,136
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $117,827,842
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 946
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 12,849,274
US/Canada gross: $34,967,437
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $117,815,379
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 649
US/Canada opening weekend: $4,519,706
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $15,228,193
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 781
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $11,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $37,062,172
Production budget ranking: 1,013
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $19,957,980
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $60,807,690
ROI to date (est.): 107%
ROI ranking: 911
Geoffrey Rush – John
Barbara Hershey – Valerie
Kerry Armstrong – Sonja
Rachael Blake – Jane
Vince Colosimo – Nik
Director – Ray Lawrence
Producer – Jan Chapman
Writer – Andrew Bovell
Director(s)
John Boorman
Writer(s)
Thomas Malory, Rospo Pallenberg, John Boorman
Producer(s)
John Boorman
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
2 wins & 10 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (90) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (66) | Rotten (24)
Excalibur is full of visual fustian — flames in the night, mist rising ominously from the ground, bits of klutzy magic. Yet, despite all the rhetoric, the movie never takes off.
June 17, 2022
David Denby
New York Magazine/Vulture
TOP CRITIC
Boorman reveals a wonderfully individual gift for embodying the mystical and the magical.
January 3, 2022
David Robinson
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Excalibur is brilliant but ponderous, sincere but overwrought — a medieval Star Wars foundering somewhere between play and prophecy.
January 3, 2022
Jack Kroll
Newsweek
TOP CRITIC
Despite its visionary imagery, the movie lacks the archetypal resonance that is a main ingredient of satisfying myth-making… In Excalibur, there’s plenty to look at, but nothing to believe in.
January 3, 2022
Owen Gleiberman
Boston Phoenix
TOP CRITIC
This stilted reenactment of the Arthurian saga finds Boorman evolving into a modernist parody of Cecil B. De Mille, whipping up a kitschy custume spectacle.
December 30, 2021
Gary Arnold
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
Some of the more exquisite intellects among us may find it excessive. The rest of us can call it wonderful.
December 30, 2021
Henry Allen
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
Although Boorman was not afraid of weighty images, none of his excesses is really excessive. His images reveal an aesthetic of the supernatural that is necessary to the story of Excalibur.
May 3, 2022
Jean-Philippe Domecq
Positif
Excalibur is a miracle of pacing and seductive rhythm.
January 3, 2022
Lawrence O’Toole
Maclean’s Magazine
The film is held together by Boorman’s singular eye — he and his cameraman, Alex Thomson, are sensitive to the mood of season, to the endless ways light can fall in the forest.
December 30, 2021
Philip French
Observer (UK)
While Boorman’s wide-ranging selection of stories makes sense, his switches in mood and style do not. Mockery and gore seem too closely inter-spliced for either to be effective.
December 29, 2021 | Rating: 2/4
Robert Alan Ross
Tampa Bay Times
The film dazzles and scintillates on-screen, marrying the magic spells of Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur with the equally spellbinding cinematography of Alex Thomson to retell these beloved tales from the Dark Ages in a manner most modern.
December 29, 2021
Rick Chatenever
Santa Cruz Sentinel
Part Star Wars, part Monty Python, the film adds up to a whole sharper than its point. On any battleground, Excalibur is a stainless steel stunner.
December 29, 2021
Bruce R. Miller
Sioux City Journal…
Plot
The myth of King Arthur (Nigel Terry) brought once again to the screen. Uthur Pendragon (Gabriel Byrne) is given the mystical sword Excalibur by the wizard Merlin. At his death, Uthur buries the sword into a stone, and the next man that can pull it out will be King of England. Several years later, Arthur, Uthur’s bastard son, draws Excalibur and becomes King. Guided by Merlin, Arthur marries Guenevere (Cherie Lunghi) and gathers the Knights of the Round Table. Arthur’s evil half-sister Morgana (Dame Helen Mirren) sires a son with him, who may prove to be his downfall.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
NA
John-Boorman.jpg
