ARTHURIAN

THE MISTS OF AVALON (2001 miniseries)

Passion. Mysticism. Adventure. Journey beyond the legend of Camelot.

Official TNT site

Based on a 1983 bestseller by Marion Zimmer Bradley it tells the story of the strong women behind the legend.

Arthur's (Edward Atterton) pagan mother, Igraine (Caroline Goodall), is married to a Christian man, Gorlois (Clive Russell, b. 1945, "Middlemarch", "King Arthur"), but drawn to the rugged pagan Uther Pendragon (Mark Lewis Jones, b. 1964, "Master and Commander", "Troy"), with whom she has a son, Arthur. Morgause (Joan Allen), Igraine's younger sister, Arthur's scheming aunt, falls in love and marries King Lot (Christopher Fulford, b. 1955, "Middlemarch", "King Arthur"). Their son, Gawain (Noah Huntley), is next in line to the throne should Arthur fail to get a son. It's Arthur's half-sister, priestess Morgaine (Julianna Margulies), who secretly gives Arthur that son, Mordred (Hans Matheson), although it's her handsome and brave cousin, Lancelot (Michael Vartan), Morgaine falls in love with. Unfortunately, Lancelot is stricken by Gwenwyfar (Samantha Mathis), the beautiful Christian daughter of a Welsh king, who, unbeknownst to Lancelot, is Arthur's wife-to-be.

Lancelot [farewell words to Gwenhwyfar]: "I pray that there is a heaven. And that when I die, you would be an angel in it, so we can be together at last."

Ladies, hold your breaths for FIVE STARS:

* Edward Atterton (b. 1962, "The Scarlet and the Black", "Sharpe's Honour", "The Hunchback", "The Man in the Iron Mask") as Arthur

* Michael Vartan (b. 1968, "Alias") as Lancelot, Arthur's First Knight

* Hans Matheson (b. 1975, "Les Misérables", "I am Dina", "Doctor Zhivago", "The Virgin Queen", "The Tudors") as Mordred, the illegitimate son of Morgaine and King Arthur

* Ian Duncan (b. 1975, "Julius Caesar") as Sir Accolon, a pagan Knight of the Round Table and Morgaine's lover

* Noah Huntley (b. 1974, "") as Sir Gawain, Morgause's son

ARTHURIAN

KING ARTHUR (2004)

The Untold True Story That Inspired The Legend

Official Buena Vista International site (in the international lingua French)

A decidedly different take on the tale of King Arthur, Guinevere and the Knights of the Round Table. After 15 years of serving and fighting for the Roman Empire, Arthur/Artorious Castus (Clive Owen) and his band of Sarmatian elite knights have one last mission, after which freedom, finally, awaits, if not in this life, in the next then. Their mission, however, is soon called to question when Arthur rescues a Woad warrior maiden, Guinevere (Keira Knightley, "Doctor Zhivago", "Pirates of the Caribbean", "P&P", "Atonement", "The Duchess") from imprisonment and torture.♥

Guinevere: "Arthur and his knights. A leader both Briton and Roman. And yet, you chose your allegiance to Rome, to those who take what does not belong to them. That same Rome that took your men from their homeland."

Arthur: "Listen, lady, do not pretend you know anything about me or my men."

Guinevere: "How many Britons have you killed?"

Athur: "As many as tried to kill me. It's the natural state of any man to want to live."

Guinevere: "Animals live! It's the natural state of any man to want to live free... in their own country. I belong to this land. Where do you belong, Arthur?"

Guinevere [to Athur]: "Is there nothing about my land that appeals to your heart? Your own father married a Briton. Even he must have found something to his liking."

Ladies, hold your breaths for NINE STARS, for quite a handsome brotherhood these men make, Arthur's Knights of the Round Table:


* The tall, dark and suave Clive Owen (b. 1964, "Gosford Park", "Elizabeth: The Golden Age") as Athur, a man in conflict

* Ioan Gruffudd (b. 1973, ("Hornblower", "The Forsyte Saga"), as Arthur's best friend, Lancelot, who in this version has no claim on Guinevere

* The dark handsome Scandinavian Mads Mikkelsen (b. 1965, "I am Dina") as the falconer Tristan

* The quite Hugh Grant-like Hugh Dancy (b. 1975, "Madame Bovary", "Young Blades", "Daniel Deronda", "Elizabeth I") as Galahad

* The German leading man Til Schweiger (b. 1963) as the Saxon Cynric

* Ray Stevenson (b. 1964, "Rome") as the brave, loyal Dagonet

* Ray Winston (b. 1957, "Henry VIII", "Cold Mountain", "Beowulf", "Robin of Sherwood", ) as the mountain of a man, Bors

* Joel Edgerton (b. 1974) as the young and brash Gawain

* The hot couple Arthur and Guinevere

ARTHURIAN

FIRST KNIGHT (1995)

Their greatest battle would be for her love

An unabashedly romantic retelling of the classic love-triangle between aging noble King Arthur (Sean Connery), his beautiful young wife Queen Guinevere (Julia Ormond, "Legends of the Fall"), and the brazen rival knight Sir Lancelot (Richard Gere) which threatened to bring the legendary Camelot to its knees. The story begins when sword-wielding Lancelot rescues his future queen, Lady Guinevere, from an ambush and the two fall in love. Only, the lady is on her very way to marry King Arthur... ♥

Lancelot: "I dare not kiss so lovely a lady. I have but one heart to lose."

Ladies, hold your breaths for TWO STARS:

* The always charmant Grand Old Man Sean Connery (b. 1930, "Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", "The Name of the Rose", "Highlander", "Robin and Marion", "Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves")

* Richare Gere (b. 1949, "Days of Heaven", "Sommersby"), hardly any less charming

ARTHURIAN

EXCALIBUR (1981)

Forged by a god.
Foretold by a wizard.
Found by a king.

To secure peace, wizard Merlin (Nicol Williamson) gives the mystical sword Excalibur to Uther Pendragon (Gabriel Byrne). At his death Uther buries the sword into a stone: the next man to pull it out will be King of England. Years later, Uther's bastard son, Arthur (Nigel Terry) frees the famed sword and thus is destined to be crowned king. Guided by Merlin, Arthur marries Guenevere (Cherie Lunghi), establishes the great court of Camelot and gathers the Knights of the Round Table. But Merlin's designs on power, the destructive Holy Grail Quest, an illegitimate son together with his half-sister, the sorceress Morgana (Helen Mirren), and Guenevere's love affair with Athur's best knight, Sir Lancelot (Nicholas Clay), threaten Arthur's reign. ♥

Ladies, hold your breaths for THREE STARS:

* Nigel Terry (b. 1945, "Troy") as King Arthur

* Gabriel Byrne (b. 1960, "Lionheart", "The Man in the Iron Mask") as Uther Pendragon

* Nicholas Clay (b. 1946, "Lady Chatterley's Lover", "The Last Days of Pompeii", "Lionheart", "The Odyssey") as Sir Lancelot

* Young Liam Neeson (b. 1952, "The Bounty", "Rob Roy", "Les Misérables", "Kingdom of Heaven", Arthur the King") as Gawain the one who betrays Guenevere and Lancelot

* Young Robert Addie (b. 1960, "Robin of Sherwood") as Mordred the bastard son of Arthur and Morgana

ARTHURIAN

CAMELOT (1967)

The Most Beautiful Love Story Ever!

A film version of a Broadway musical.

King Arthur's (Richard Harris) Camelot is the perfect kingdom, his knights at the Round Table the best in the world, his wife and Queen Guenevere (Vanessa Redgrave, "Mary, Queen of Scots", "Peter the Great", "Young Catherine", "Howards End", "The House of the Spirits", "The White Countess") the most beautiful and loving. Then, along comes the French knight Lancelot (Franco Nero), whose love for the Queen threatens to destroy the famous fellowship. ♥



Ladies hold your breaths for TWO STARS:

* Richard Harris (b. 1930, "Mutiny on the Bounty", "A Man Called Horse", "Robin and Marian", "Gladiator") as the King in love with his Queen

* Franco Nero (b. 1941, "The Last Days of Pompeii") as the Knight in love with the King's Queen