Talk:Excalibur (film)

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Contents 1 POV 2 Serious error in my opinion 3 Photography 4 Orff 5 Surgical insertion of a prop 6 Jackson influence? 7 Charm (chant) of making 8 Ditto about homework

[edit] POV

There are so many POV problems with this article, especially on the "reputation" area.

It's a nice essay, about as good as a 9th grade English homework.--76.21.81.118 00:09, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Serious error in my opinion

I came very close to simply editing this section to (in my view) correct it, but I'll put the issue up here for discussion first:

"Also, in both films Arthur takes a gamble by challenging his rival lord to strike him down with Excalibur, but his enemy relents — implicitly in Excalibur, where Uryens refuses to surrender to Arthur, a mere squire, so Arthur makes Uryens knight him on the spot with his own sword - and Uryens does so, impressed by his courage; and explicitly in Merlin, where Arthur tells Lot to kill him with Excalibur if he thinks he is the true king - but Lot relents, influenced by the magic of the sword."

This is completely incorrect, as to what happened in Excalibur. Uryens is VERY clearly being forced, by the magic of the sword, to knight Arthur, to the extent that his face contorts as he tries to resist it and strike Arthur down. — SMcCandlish [talk] [contrib] - 11:59, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

I think it is all POV as to what is making Uryens do it (his concious or the magic of the sword). Just MHO. — Frecklefoot | Talk 21:30, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

Agreed: until now I'd never considered that magic from the sword made him knight Arthur, though that interpretation makes some sense. I wonder what John Boorman says on the DVD commentary about that scene, it's a long time since I listened to it. Mark Grant

I've always thought it was the power of the sword that convinced Uryens (in mid-swing) to knight, rather than strike Arthur. The music adds to what is a very powerful scene. ComaDivine 13:13, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Photography

The article only talks of "garish colors", but I guess I am not the only one that sees in the indoor scenes and the bright armors a visual quality similar to that of Superman II and Playboy pictures. Probably there is a technical name for the style or technique but I don't know it. Do you know what I am talking about? --Error 23:37, 29 October 2005 (UTC)

I don't know the technical terms but in the director's commentary he talks about shining coloured lighting on the actors. E.g. when they're in the forest you can see bright green lights glinting off the armour to make the colours even more vivid. The Singing Badger 01:13, 30 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Orff

The theme was used in ads for Old Spice from the early seventies and The Doors had used it in a post Morrison album so no credit to this film for the use.

An ad virtually no one remembers, and an album even hardcore Doors fans didn't buy. Please. Excalibur most certainly did introduce more people to that piece of music than anything before its time, and most certainly did seed its popularity, which remains high even today (I've heard at least 8 different techno/trance, gothic and industrial tracks that make heavy use of it, in the last 5-6 years, including a new one this year.) — SMcCandlish [talk] [contrib] - 11:55, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Surgical insertion of a prop

Just where did THAT rumour come from? Bizarre and really in need of a definite cite! Alastairward 09:48, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

I agree, I wish I could find one (I added it). I read about it in high school in an article in a movie magazine (forget the name). It also questioned whether Robert Shaw should've had one of his teeth removed (for real) for a scene in Jaws. I wish I could find something to back this up, as it impressed me at the time. — Frecklefoot | Talk 14:04, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Jackson influence?

I have some doubts about Jackson really being influenced by "Excalibur". Excalibur had no qualms portraying characters as mythological archetypes. Jackson, on the other hand, considered it necessary to make such archetypes "more realistic". And where Boorman created a gripping final battle with just a handful of actors, Jackson needed huge computer-generated armies and monsters. Jackson, as he himself put it once, retold LotR as a modern "fantasy adventure story". Boorman retold Arthurian myth as just that: myth, with no holds barred and no watering down of mythological elements for the sake of a "modern audience". If Jackson felt indeed influenced by Excalibur, in my eyes he understood as little about the movie as he did about Tolkien who had far more in common with Romanticism than with his own modern imitators. --OliverH 10:57, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Charm (chant) of making

I don't know if this means anything, or whether there are any references to it, but when played backwards, the last few syllables of Merlin's Charm of Making (which are the first syllables of the chant, "Anál nathrach") sounds a lot like "hearth and home", which is a phrase spoken by Merlin elsewhere in the movie. Has anyone else heard of this? — Loadmaster 00:11, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Ditto about homework

Less like an encyclopedia article than somebody's film studies term paper.