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Clive Owen, Keira Knightley, Ioan Gruffudd, Stephen Dillane, Stellan Skarsgård ... see more see more... , Ray Winstone , Hugh Dancy , Til Schweiger , Mads Mikkelsen , Ray Stevenson , Ken Stott , Charlie Creed-Miles , Joel Edgerton , Sean Gilder , Ivano Marescotti , Lorenzo De Angelis , Valeria Cavalli , Pat Kinevane

An ambitious attempt to wed the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table with known historical facts of the era, this action adventure drama begins with the fall of the Roman Empire in... read more read more... 450 A.D. as Roman armies flee the British Isles. Arthur (Clive Owen), a heroic knight and devoted Christian, is torn between his desire to travel to Rome to serve his faith and his loyalty to the land of his birth. As England falls into lawlessness, Arthur throws in his lot with a band of knights who hope to restore order to their fair and pleasant land and hopes to win freedom for his comrades, among them Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd), Galahad (Hugh Dancy), Tristan (Mads Mikkelsen), Gawain (Joel Edgerton), Bors (Ray Winstone), and Dagonet (Ray Stevenson). In time, Arthur and his men join forces with Merlin (Stephen Dillane), a shaman whose band of renegade knights were often pitched in battle against Roman forces. Forming a united front as loyal Englishmen against the invading Saxon armies, Arthur, Merlin, and the brave and beautiful Guinevere (Keira Knightley) are determined to unite a sovereign Britain under one army and one king. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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63% liked it

364,315 ratings

Critics

32% liked it

184 critics

PG-13, 2 hr. 6 min.

Directed by: Antoine Fuqua

Release Date: July 7, 2004

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DVD Release Date: December 21, 2004

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Flixster Reviews (17,447)

  • TheDudeLebowski65
    September 29, 2011
    TheDudeLebowski65
    King Arthur is another mediocre action film by director Antoine Fuqua, who isn't that skilled as a director to begin with. I felt that the films action scenes were well done, but unfortunately that's about it going for it. The plot is under developed, and never really interesting... read more. I think it's a great shame because King Arthur could have been quite an epic film, unfortunately, it isn't. Fuqua's direction is clumsy and unfocused, and the film suffers because of it. Under a different director, the film could have succeeded, but the film is a mediocre attempt at a historical epic, and the end result is a film that doesn't really make you satisfied. The casting choices for this film are very questionable as well. Aside from Sin City and Shoot Em' Up, I'm not a fan of Clive Owen, and in this film he's pretty bad. So is Keira Knightleey, who usually is a good choice for period pieces, but this isn't a period piece film that she should've starred in. Most of the cast are not right for the part, and Fuqua doesn't know how to craft an action epic, and the flaws are apparent on-screen. The film could have been much better; unfortunately the result is a film that is a badly acted and plot mess that will make you lose interest halfway through the end of the film. King Arthur could almost be seen as a guilty pleasure; however, I think the mediocrity of this film is too much for me to see it that way. I don't view King Arthur as an awful film, but almost. The film could have been much better with a better, much developed storyline and a better cast. Oh well, don't get overly excited before watching this film, you may end up disappointed, I was.
  • gor41
    February 6, 2011
    gor41
    Overblown bastardisation of the King Arthur legend, knee deep in earnest hammy performances, only redeemed by some cracking battle scenes.
  • ythelastman89
    December 11, 2010
    ythelastman89
    I always forget how intense Clive Owen is in this movie, that alone makes it a semi-classic. He is the best Arthur, hands down. The character has never been portrayed so noble ans selfless, truly being worthy of the name King. In fact, the rest of the cast is pretty incredible an... read mored for the most part deliver extremely good performances. The only person lacking personality was Merlin, but that was more the character being in there for no good reason. The action is pretty brutal and well done, but I still wish this was given a bigger scale and an epic narrative. What it ends up being is one chapter in a much larger and grander King Arthur story that was never continued. For what it is though, it's very well done and everything is put together in order.
  • RossCollinsUK
    November 19, 2010
    RossCollinsUK
    A wasted opportunity to put the legend of King Arthur into a true historical setting rather than making a fantasy film. Lacking any depth, the story is forgone for yet another battle-athon that tries to imitate the success of the recent Lord of the Rings trilogy with large elabor... read moreate battle scenes, which are every bit as boring. To make matters worse it offers some interesting historical rationalisations for the legend, which it then tears to shreds with a bunch of awful inaccuracies such as Saxons invading from north of Hadrian's Wall and a completely unnecessary Harris Hawk. The only interesting plot line is that of the teachings of Pelagius which tied into the story nicely. It may have an all star cast but given such poor dialogue they end up looking like a bunch of amateurs!
  • MeetMeinMontauk
    November 13, 2010
    MeetMeinMontauk
    If you want history, go to a museum. I've always judged films by what they present, not they represent. Besides, I liked the different approach of the story.
    I'm also a sucker for guy bonding stories and Keira Knightley. And on that and the bloody battle scenes, I *actually* like... read mored it. So there.
    And Keira rocks the blue people so much better than Na'vi. And this was made 6 years before Avatar... stealing ideas much, Cameron?
    Plus, while the Arthurian aspect is wrong, the actual historical details of Rome's occupation of Briton is not far off. All the details with the Celts and such.
    AC rating: Well you can always tell when a director is a tad bitter. However, hearing all historical detail and research was perfect for me (it's why I was watching it to begin with!) He skimmed over some stuff I wished he went into, but ah well. Still worth another listen at some point.
  • SirPant
    January 7, 2010
    SirPant
    Historically incorrect version of events, even though the story of Arthur is based on myth/legend etc, the history of the Saxons and the Romans is well known and ignored in this version. To it's credit it's got balls to tell an altogether different version of a much loved tale bu... read moret to be more than fair, it's a really dull version. This is just a poor excuse to cash in on the popularity of the epic battle movies of the last decade. Money badly spent when the best fight scenes look like nothing more than a load of fat men fighting in a garden centre that's on fire. As for the script, don't get me started....
  • neverteaseaweasel
    December 19, 2009
    neverteaseaweasel
    Very, very mixed feelings on this one. Overall, I liked it; but I really have no idea why. Clive Owen and Keira Knightley were perfect for their roles and gave good performances, but that is really the only compliment I had. The script was terrible and there was way too much juni... read moreor high humor for my liking. I'm also not totally sure if there was a plot in there somewhere or not. Still, its compelling and entertaining enough to watch once; but I was still disappointed. I guess I'll just go back to The Return of the King when I want to watch an epic.
  • bbcfloridabound
    June 21, 2009
    bbcfloridabound
    Seldom does a Movie come along that just over powers me to stay glued to the edge of my chair, put that?s what Clive Owen and Keira Knighley did with this movie. I remember seeing it when it first came to the screen, but I didn't enjoy it as much then as I did last night, maybe b... read moreecause I saw the extended Unrated Version. I usually don't enjoy these Dark Ages, Knights, Kingdom, type movies but this one was just short of 5 stars. All the knights of the Round Table were played by Excellent actors. You could feel the tension of that era coming out of the screen. The last battle with the sounds and the special effects were outstanding, though the last battle went on a little long. Its time for another episode of chivalry era, but to be done on this level and not the level that would impress 13-14 year old girls. Well Done, worth buying, should be able to be found on any pawn shop rack for $3.00 or Wally's World for $5.00.
  • StarCrossedVoyager
    May 21, 2009
    StarCrossedVoyager
    this was an ok movie. it had the great cast, great costumes and great story but somehow it was just lacking in the oompf needed for this to be a fantastic movie.
  • jlewis07
    February 10, 2009
    jlewis07
    Enjoyable even though its cliched and generic to the core.

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Critic Reviews

Richard Schickel
July 15, 2004
Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine

A title card says this King Arthur, grimly directed by Antoine Fuqua, is based on the latest research into the mythic past. Maybe so. But one can't help thinking the research that really counted was t... Full Review

Peter Travers
July 15, 2004
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Gladiator lite.

Richard Roeper
July 12, 2004
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper

I loved the notion of the Dark Ages as the Wild West with swords. Thumbs up. Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
July 10, 2004
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

If this is history demystified, give me myth. Full Review

Stephanie Zacharek
July 10, 2004
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com

It's hard to care about a valiant groping for accuracy when a story is so badly told you can't tell what the devil is going on. Full Review

Michael O'Sullivan
July 9, 2004
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post

By going back to its origins and dusting itself off, the King Arthur story has proved itself to have a very contemporary resonance. Full Review

David Edelstein
July 8, 2004
David Edelstein, Slate

Profoundly stupid and inept, but it's an endless source of giggles. Full Review

Bill Muller
July 8, 2004
Bill Muller, Arizona Republic

Though King Arthur is set in ancient times, there's not much difference between this movie and Fuqua's recent film Tears of the Sun. Full Review

Ty Burr
July 7, 2004
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

It's a solid, somber, rousing piece of studio zirconium: cobbled together from Gladiator, Braveheart, Lord of the Rings, The Magnificent Seven, and five tons of Hollywood hooey. Full Review

Roger Ebert
July 7, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

That the movie works is because of the considerable production qualities and the charisma of the actors, who bring more interest to the characters than they deserve. Full Review

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Facts

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    • Artorious Castus: Deeds in themselves are meaningless unless they're for some higher purpose.
    • Artorious Castus: There is no destiny. There is only free will.
    • Artorious Castus: No man fears to kneel before the god he trusts.
  • Have you seen the film's teaser trailer? That's Laurence Fishburne narrating the events.
  • Keira Knightley (who plays Guinevere) almost killed a horse while practicing her archery skills for the film.
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  • This actor played a pivotal character in Sin City, a cheating husband in Closer and the title role in King Arthur.  Answer »
  • Who played Arthur in the movie King Arthur?  Answer »
  • Clive Owen, Sean Connery, Nigel Terry, and Graham Chapman have all played this royal character. Who is it?  Answer »
  • Which movie starred Clive Owen & Keira Knightly?  Answer »
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