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

SWORDS AND SAND(ALS)

THE ODYSSEY (1997, miniseries)

A miniseries following Homer's epic poem. After the Trojan War, the arrogant but honorable Greek hero Odysseus (Armand Assante) and his loyal crew embark on a long homebound voyage. After ten years of adventurous detours, Odysseus finally fights his way back home - only to find his faithful wife Penelope (Greta Scacchi, "Emma", "Rasputin", "Jefferson in Paris" "Broken Trail", "Country Life", "Camille") surrounded by a crowd of suitors, the worst of them the treacherous Eurymachus (Eric Roberts). Isabella Rossellini ("Wyatt Earp", "Merlin", "Napoléon") is Odysseus's patroness goddess Athena, Geraldine Chaplin ("Doctor Zhivago", "Jane Eyre") the housekeeper Eurycleia and Vanessa Williams the seductive nymph Calypso. ♥

Athena: "The gods cannot do for man what man must do for himself."

Ladies, hold your breath for THREE STARS:

* Armand Assante (b. 1949, "Conquest of Paradise", "The Mambo Kings", "Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story")

* Eric Roberts (b. 1956)

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

SWORDS AND SAND(ALS)

THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII (1984 miniseries)

An 80's adaptation of Edgar Bulwer-Lytton's 1834 best-seller The Last Days of Pompeii with (at the time of its making) big budget and spectacular cast (with Sir Laurence Olivier himself as Gaius the Stoic). The series depicts the life and loss of the ancient Roman city and citizens of Pompeii, the decadent coastal playground catering for the rich & famous of imperial Rome, before and during the eruption of volcano Vesuvius 79 A.D.

In Pompeii, cultivated noble Greek Glaucus (Nicholas Clay) falls in love with the noble-born, virtuous and orphaned Ione (Olivia Hussey, "Lonesome Dove"), but the Egyptian Isis-priest and master of deception Arbaces (the handsome, blue-eyed Italian Franco Nero) has other plans for Ione and her fortunes. Meanwhile, the beautiful but blind slave girl Nydia (Linda Purl) falls in love with her kind and noble master, Glaucus, blind to the fact that her master loves Ione - and blind to the fact that the mighty gladiator Lydon (Duncan Regehr) is the one who loves Nydia. Other romantic pairings include Malcolm Jamieson as the persecuted Christian slave Petrus and Lesley-Anne Down ("North and South") as his true love, the belly-dancing courtesan Chloe; Gerry Sundqvist as the noble Roman Clodius and Catriona MacColl as his true love, Julia, the common-born, strong-willed if spoiled daughter of a rich merchant. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Lydon: "You're a fool. Blinder in your heart than in your eyes!"

Ladies, hold your breaths for SIX STARS:

* Malcolm Jamieson ("The Scarlet Pimpernel", "Sharpe's Rifles") as Petrus the slave who loves Chloe

* Benedict Taylor (b. 1960, "Zorro", "The Duel of Hearts") as Antonius, Ione's noble-born brother, fighting to save his sister from Arbaces

* Franco Nero (b. 1941, of the spaghettiwesterns fame) as the evil Arbaces who covets Ione's and Antonius's wealth and prestige

* Gerry Sundqvist (b. 1955) as the noble Clodius in love with Julia

* Nicholas Clay (b. 1946, "Lady Chatterley's Lover", "Excalibur", "Lionheart", "The Odyssey") as the noble Glaucus in love with Ione and loved by Nydia

* Gladiator Lydon/Regehr (b. 1952, "Zorro") loving Nydia

Missed the series?

Check the dedicated fansite

Or read the original 1834 novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, "The Last Days of Pompeii," free download at Gutenberg