mark.waltz It takes a bit over an hour to really start getting in this two part TV movie that attempts to take all of the characters of the Arthurian legend and turn it into something truly epic. Take everything you remember of the Lerner and Lowe musical, Disney's "The Sword and the Stone", the magical " Excalibur" and both the movie and stage versions of "The Holy Grail", aka "Spamalot". Sex it up a bit, tossing in some brother and sisterly love, a vindictive aunt, and you've got the makings of an intriguing variation of a most familiar tale, told from the point of view of the often villainized Morgan Le Fey.Other updates of classic fairy tales and legends often become misandrist in their themes, but fortunately this avoids that, giving women equal intelligence, if not equal power. While the men are evil as in brutal in battle, the evil women are calculating, turning deep into the dark arts to achieve their ends, which ends up with Arthur and sister Morgan an unknown night together and information that could lead to the destruction of Arthur's "perfect" kingdom. It also makes insinuations of Arthur allowing wife Guenevere allowance to be with Lancelot, an odd menage a tois that happens over the montage of dark arts occurring at the very same time. Of the cast, Angelica Huston adds another unique characterization to her portfolio as the aging "Lady of the Lake" who isn't evil by nature but puts some shocking plots in motion. Joan Allen is the wicked aunt who uses the information of what she knows to her advantage, the perfect villainess to move the plot forward to her benefit for a while and ultimately a fantastic destruction. This feels perfectly set in the dark ages as the civilized post Roman world tried to expand outward. It's quite a show piece, and if not satisfying consistently with other Arthur Pendragon legends (only moderately acted by the leads), it certainly knows a way of gaining and keeping the viewer's attention.

jveetree Well its not the book at all, so if you are expecting that its better to dream. So much so that I think it should have a different name, like Excalibur II or something. But there were parts that kept to the book and so it goes. But oh man if you watch this and never read the book I feel sad for your loss. The book is a thrilling tale about change and fate. It delves into realms of religion and how one religion overcomes another. There are also sub plots of innocence, trust and the betrayal of trust. This show was more about the men and their lives. I had hoped that maybe someone would have the nerve to show a differing viewpoint but I suppose not yet. I am sad and so I lament. Please someone have the nerve to make this book as a movie as it is, not for the forwarding of a differing perception but because it is a beautiful book.

LionGirl2k If whomever was in charge of the script & casting had actually followed the original story, this could have been fantastic. Sadly, this is another story altogether and not one that made a lot of sense. Julianna Margulies is a great Morgaine, Ian Duncan as Accolon Michael was a almost perfect fit, Michael Byrne made a good Merlin, and Klára Issová was a convincing Raven; aside from these actors, everyone else seemed either horrid & prone to overacting, sorry Ms Houston, or just wrong. Edward Atterton and Michael Vartan did well with the script that was given, but didn't pull off the roles convincingly, in my opinion that is. They both did the wimpy male thing that MZB originally wrote well, so in that sense they were true to character.Great Music, Cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond is AMAZING, the costumes by James Acheson & Carlo Poggioli were pretty fantastic and Julianna Margulies are the reasons I would give for watching this film. But if you, like me, were hoping for a version of the MZB book, don't bother. Again, this is a completely different story, and not the best one either.

redlippedqueen I'll admit readily that I am a bit of a purist when it comes to books and their film counterparts. However, this film was in my opinion a horrible mishmash that left out enormous chunks of crucial information from the book. I also thought that the casting was off. Morgaine is supposed to be short and of dark complexion. It is frequently noted in Marion Zimmer Bradley's excellent novel that Morgaine is taunted for being short and dark, "Like one of the faeries." Viviane is also supposed to be short and dark. I think that Angelica Huston is a wonderful actress, but she's simply too tall and pale to be Viviane. Story and casting aside, the costumes were all wrong as well. In the book the priestesses only wear three colors: black, blue, and white. It was just too colorful. Overall, I thought that this mini-series did the book no justice and was a horrible botch of what was such an amazing and enchanting novel.