King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)

Details: By Loron Hays; 13 August 2017

{jatabs type="content" position="top" height="auto" skipAnim="true" mouseType="click" animType="animFade"}

[tab title="Movie Review"]

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword - Blu-ray Review

2 stars

He wields a magical sword and a stylized sense of swagger. He’s King Arthur for the hipsters and he’s hoping to make a big splash on blu-ray. Fingers crossed or whatever.

Okay, okay, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword isn’t as awful as most of the reviews suggest it is. It is; however, quite different in its approach to the legend we know of oh so well. Excalibur. Arthur. Lancelot. And so on. Tweaked a bit to be more modern and fit into Guy Ritchie’s wheelhouse of erratic and specialized skills, this is a rapid fire editor’s wet dream of information and discourse and, of course, shady dealings.

The movie is just not as coherent as, say, his spin on Sherlock Holmes. Truthfully, it does not deserve an entire franchise. Six films? Nah. I don’t think so.

Yet, there’s no denying that King Arthur is empty-headed fun. And that’s worth a bit when it comes to stoic legends. Arthur, who was getting a bit musty, needed a little freshening.

Swift and hip, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword stars Charlie Hunnam as Arthur, a boy who grew up a street urchin after the death of his parents. He has no idea of his true identity as the future King of England, yet he suspects he was born for something far greater than watching of prostitutes alongside his pals Tristan (Kingsley Ben-Adir) and Backlack (Neil Maskell). Leave it to the forces of evil to bring him to his true fate.

Jude Law plays Vortigern, Arthur’s double-crossing uncle, and he currently sits with the crown of England upon his head. He wants Arthur dead, especially after he successfully ripped his father’s sword from a once watery stone. You see, Vortigern made a deal with some slithering witch moats, killed his brother Uther Pendragon (Eric Bana), king of the Britons and Arthur’s dad, and now feels threatened by the offspring he couldn’t kill so very long ago.

And the power of Mordred means that Arthur must have help from other mystical forces in order to find his way to the throne. Merlin, the Lady of the Lake, and Mage (Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey) align themselves with a resistance group led by Sir Bedivere (Djimon Hounsou), and they all work to make sure that Arthur and his round table Knights assemble in time to guard against the intrusive Vikings.

Punchy and violent, there is no doubt this is Richie’s vision of how epic fantasies ought to go down. It clocks in at just over 2 hours, but its engine definitely purrs. It’s not perfect, mind you, but it’s capable of maintaining a satisfying finish; it’s just not worthy of the projected SIX films that were planned. Of course, that was before it bombed.

So, tune in and turn off the brain for a couple of hours. It’s all harmless and fun as Richie goes round the cape of revision with the legend of King Arthur. Just don’t go in expecting any sense of real magic.

[/tab]

[tab title="Details"]

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, some suggestive content and brief strong language.
Runtime: 126 mins
Director: Guy Ritchie
Writer: Joby Harold, Guy Ritchie
Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Jude Law
Genre: Adventure | Fantasy
Tagline: From myth to legend.
Memorable Movie Quote: "I'm not getting drawn into this mess! There's an army of you, there's only one of me! I'll talk, I'm happy to talk. But there is NO WAY that I am fighting."
Theatrical Distributor: Warner Bros.
Official Site: http://kingarthurmovie.com/
Release Date: May 12, 2017
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: Own King Arthur: Legend of the Sword on Blu-ray and DVD on August 8 or Own it Now on Digital HD!
Synopsis: When the child Arthur’s father is murdered, Vortigern (Jude Law), Arthur’s uncle, seizes the crown. Robbed of his birthright and with no idea who he truly is, Arthur comes up the hard way in the back alleys of the city. But once he pulls the sword from the stone, his life is turned upside down and he is forced to acknowledge his true legacy...whether he likes it or not.

[/tab]

[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword - Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray Details:

Home Video Distributor: Warner Bros.
Available on Blu-ray - August 8, 2017
Screen Formats: 2.40:1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos; English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1; French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1; Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1; English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set; UV digital copy; Digital copy; DVD copy
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A

Warner Bros presents King Arthur: Legend of the Sword on 1080p with an Ultra HD Blu-Ray Combo Pack that stuns with its visuals. It’s a stylized affair, of course. Gray rules the day, but details are fierce and black levels never disappoint. There’s a lot of dark magic involved and visuals are sharp. Details in the location are sharp and locations are triggered with a crispness that only 1080p can provide. Dolby Atmos provides the surround sound and adds a definite kick to the visuals.

Supplements:

Commentary:

Ain’t nobody got time to talk about this erratic film.

Special Features:

We get nothing specific about the film itself. It’s all gloss, refusing to discuss the narrative. That’s okay. This is light, light, light stuff. A DVD copy and Digital version is included with the release.