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In Short: Very well-done (and inexpensive!) DVD for John Boorman's 1981 telling of the Excalibur tale.
The film:
Although I had never seen John Boorman's telling of the legend of Excalibur before this DVD viewing, I found it immensely enjoyable. The film begins by telling the tale of Uther, who(with the help of the wizzard Merlin) retrieves the sword Excalibur. Uther(played by Gabriel Byrne) finds himself proclaimed King as a result.
After Uther does have a child through adultery(named Arthur), the wizzard takes the child as well as the sword, convinced that he is not "the one" after all. The son soon gains control of the sword after becoming an adolescent, and soon Arthur becomes King Arthur, joined by the knights of the round table. Soon, Sir Lancelot joins the group, and after awhile, things begin to turn stale and go seriously south. The band begins the search for the Holy Grail, the object they think can restore their kingdom to it's original state.
The direction and cinematography are certainly excellent, and the production design is quite good as well. Some of the supporting performances are slightly goofy, but for the most part both dialogue and performances are quite good. Definitely an enjoyable film.
The DVD
VIDEO: Although this isn't a problem-free transfer, I was really very pleasantly suprised with how enjoyably well-defined this picture was. More specifically, how smooth and "film-like" the picture is. Images are not always razor sharp and quite often have a slightly "soft" tone, but with how clear the picture is, it has a very pleasing overall appearance. The colors on the 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer are very well-presented and natural here, with no instances of color bleeding.
What impressed me even more was how good the night scenes looked. Fire looks great day or night in the film, with deep oranges and reds. The forests look fine as well, with wonderful deep greens. Even the smoky scenes don't look harsh; they look completely smooth and clean. Occasionally, some of the dark scenes that didn't contain fire or other forms of similar light did look a little dim and slightly lacking detail, but for the most part(especially the daylight scenes), the image does bring forth a very strong amount of detail. The only slightly distracting problems really seem to be with the print that was used- there looks to be some instances of scratches every so often. This isn't the worse case of scratches by far, but they are occasionally noticable.
SOUND: There's not too much in the way of effects, but the score does sound excellent and a lot of the time, it does rise up across the sound stage, filling the room. There are some small ambient effects in the surrounds, but they're not anything major. Dialogue is often a little harsh and unnatural, although not to the point where I found it too hard to listen to.
MENUS: Fairly basic main menus based around scenes from the film.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a really enjoyable commentary by director John Boorman. He may not contain the commentary energy that most younger contributors have when they record their tracks, but what Boorman says here is far more interesting than most tracks that I've heard lately. He talks wonderfully about tales from the set, such as when a cinematographer left the picture after not being able to get a key scene on film. There's also quite a bit of talk about working with the actors involved. A very good mix of technical details and storytelling. This is definitely a recommended track and I certainly hope that Boorman will record more commentaries in the future.
Also: There is a cast and crew bio section, but the only name that seems to contain a detailed biography is for director Boorman. There's also a theatrical trailer(at 1.85:1) that is in fairly good condition.
Final Thoughts: The retail price is $19.95, which means that most stores will probably have this disc for around $14.95. This is a great film and at that price, it's certainly worth picking up. A very good job by Warner. The delays that caused this title to be short-shipped to retailers seems to be finally clearing up, so I highly recommend a purchase.
The Film: 90/A- = (450/500 possible points)
Video: 85/B = (340/400 possible points)
Audio: 78/C = (312/400 possible points)
Extras: 89/B+ = (267/300 possible points)
Menus: 75/C = (150/200 possible points)
Value: 92/A = (276/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1795/2100
Average:85%/B
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