Excalibur: Knights of Camelot

https://ibb.co/yBhWqTGb
This is a companion peice for my Arthur Legend of the Sword and First Knight edits.

I consider Boorman’s Excalibur to be the high watermark for Arthurian Myth adaptations. No one has done it better. However, with such a huge story covering so much material, I think it could use a little breathing room to focus on specific elements more. So I’ve turned Excalibur into a miniseries that chronicles Arthur’s birth to his death. It can be viewed on its own with just the Excalibur parts or you can include other Arthurian adaptations if you’d like.

1 EXCALIBUR - MERLIN & UTHER PENDRAGON

This is the opening act of Boorman’s Excalibur, untouched. I think this is just about the perfect introduction to who both Merlin and Uther are while also setting up Morgana as the villain of the tale.

2a LEGEND of the SWORD - ARTHUR

Guy Ritchie’s decidedly non-traditional take on Arthur’s upbringing is not very kindly regarded, but I think it does the best job of depicting how powerful Excalibur is and the battles he fought to earn his place as king.

2b DISNEY’S THE SWORD IN THE STONE

You can also go the more Harry Potter-esque route with Walt Disney’s final film, the family-friendly adaptation of the first book of W.H. White’s Once and Future King.

3 EXCALIBUR - SWORD in the STONE / ARTHUR & GUINEVERE

We return to Excalibur again to see a more traditional version of Arthur’s first moments as king and his courtship of Guinevere. No cuts here. I think Boorman nails this bit as well as he can given how fast he has to rush through it all.

4 FIRST KNIGHT - LANCELOT & GUINEVERE

I think Richard Gere & Julia Ormond gave us the best modern retelling of the doomed Lancelot/Guinevere romance, even if the film utterly fumbles the love triangle by casting Arthur as a much, much older man and making his marriage a political alliance rather than a true romance.

5 EXCALIBUR - MORGANA

Coming back to Boorman, we are introduced to Helen Miren’s masterful turn as Morgana, her seduction of Merlin, her manipulation of Arthur, Guinevere & Lancelot, and the birth of her unholy child Mordred. I’ve cut Arthur’s first scene with Lancelot and the Lancelot/Gawain fight as I want to keep both men as squeeky clean as I can until they both fall and we don’t really need to see Percival get knighted.

6 EXCALIBUR - THE QUEST FOR THE HOLY GRAIL

This is Boorman’s version of the Fisher King/Grail myth, uncut. I think he nails it.

6a MONTY PYTHON & THE QUEST FOR THE HOLY GRAIL (Theatrical cut available to buy or rent everywhere)

If you want to lighten things up, this is a perfectly valid alternative.

6b THE GREEN KNIGHT (Theatrical cut available to buy or rent everywhere)

You could also slot David Lowery’s beautiful adaptation of Gawain and the Green Knight here.

7 EXCALIBUR - MORDRED

The epic conclusion in which father and son face one another for the final time. Not cuts here. Again, Boorman absolutely nails it.

This is for my ESL students, so hardcoded English subtitles are included on all of them. In addtion, there is an ESL reader adaptation that incorporates elements used by Boorman, T.H. White, Ritchie, and many more.

This is available in the same folder as all my other edits. If you don’t already have the link and want one, please send me a PM. As always, suggestions are welcome.

I’ve made some significant changes to this series of edits to better sync up with the Knights of Camelot ESL reader my students are using. The general story remains unchanged, but the order has been rearranged slightly and new cuts of the sections involving the Legend of the Sword edit and the Morgana section have been completely redone.

The new breakdown is now this:

1 Excalibur - Merlin & Uther (23 min) No changes here. This is the first 20ish minutes of Boorman’s film.

1b Camelot - Uther & Morgana (6 min) Eva Green’s debut as Morgan.

2a Legend of the Sword (25 min) This is a quick snapshot of Arthur’s upbringing in a Londinium brothel from Ritchie’s more non-traditional take.

2b Disney’s Sword in the Stone (45 min) You could also use Disney’s family friendly adaptation of T.H. White’s Sword and the Stone here if Ritchie’s approach isn’t to your taste.

3 Excalbur - The Sword in the Stone (11 min) Boorman’s version of Arthur pulling the sword from the stone and his first meeting with Merlin.

4 Legend of the Sword - Vortigern (37 min) This covers Arthur’s mastery of the sword’s magic and his final battle with his uncle Vortigern.

5 Excalibur - Arthur & Guinevere (11 min) Boorman’s version of Arthur earning the respect of Sir Uryens and his courtship of Guinevere.

6 First Knight - Lancelot & Guinevere (45 min) Gere & Ormond’s modern retelling of the doomed romance.

7 Excalibur - Morgana (10 min) Arthur & Guinevere’s wedding, Morgana’s arrival in Camelot, and the birth of her unholy child Mordred.

(optional) You could slot Lowery’s The Green Knight here if you’d like.

8 Excalibur - Arthur, Guinevere & Lancelot (23 min) The fall of Camelot begins here

(optional) Monty Python’s Quest for the Holy Grail would be fun here.

9 Excalibur - The Quest for the Holy Grail (25 min) No changes here.

10 Excalibur - Mordred (21 min) The final battle.

The link is the same. Or you can contact me through Private Message. Don’t just ask for links publicly.

I’ve added a quick 6 minute short with Eva Green’s Morgana poisoning Uther from Starz’s Camelot. The show wasn’t great, but Green is always fun to watch.

After showing my First Knight edit to one of my classes, I was pleasantly surprised to find that nearly all the students assumed Connery was playing Guinevere’s father, Leondegrance, in his quick cameo at the end. So I’ve added another short scene between them which can also be viewed as a chat between father and daughter about her upcoming marriage.