Why did director John Boorman make Excaliber?
From his childhood, director John Boorman had always been fascinated by the King Arthur legend, Excaliber, Merlin et al and ad as an adult he had garnered a reputation as a film director of some note. Point Blank (1967), Hell in the Pacific (1968) and especially Deliverance (1972) saw him Oscar nominated and showed that Burt Reynolds could actually act before he squandered his talent on rubbish later in the decade and into the 1980’s. But Boorman had stumbled with the bizarre Zardoz starring Sean Connery wandering around in his pants and then the catastrophically awful sequel to The Exorcist that was often laughably awful so he took some time out. Excaliber was the film he wanted to make though it was Lord of the Rings that the studios wanted him to make and having refused but would draw on as an influence.
The Excaliber superstar cast…
He gathered what is now a quit stunning cast that included Helen Mirren, Cherie Lunghi, Gabriel Byrne, Liam Neeson, Corin Redgrave, Patrick Stewart, Ciaran Hinds and Nicol Williamson. It was only Williamson who really had notable experience in films whilst the rest had plenty of theatre work but for many Excaliber was their first film and were heavily reliant on Boorman whilst a gentleman in life outside of film was quite the autocrat on set.
The film saw a world that was young. Bird, beast and flower were as one with man and death was but a dream. The sword Excaliber is given by Merlin to Uther Pendragon to unite the land in peace but wasted on lust. Driven into stone by Uther’s dying hand, there to await the coming of a true King. A journey into the wonders and horrors of the imagination, this is the story of Arthur, the knights of the round table, the golden age of Camelot, the quest for the Holy Grail and of course, the wizard, Merlin.
Behind the scenes
Shot entirely in Ireland the sets, costumes and lighting are terrific. The production designer Anthony Pratt had worked with Boorman on ‘Zardoz’ (1974) previously and after Excaliber would go on to work on films for Barry Sonnenfeld (The Addams family) and Spielberg (Hook) and Neil Jordan (Michael Collins). The costumes were stunning principally the armour that the cast wore was pristine and was eye catchingly gleaming throughout the film. Originally only 14 suits of armour were needed but it quickly shot up to over one hundred needing to be made in six weeks. But it was only cinematographer Alex Thomson’s lighting that was rightly nominated for the films only Oscar consideration. Released in1981 the film earned $34m off a purported $15m budget and is now released on a limited edition 3 disc 4K UHD with a stunning array of bonus features that includes:
- Brand new 4K restoration from the original 35mm negative by Arrow Films presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1 for the first time on home video
• Contains both the 141-minute Theatrical Cut and the 120-minute TV Version of the film
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Reversible sleeve featuring two original artwork options
• Collectors’ perfect-bound booklet containing writing by Charlie Brigden, K.A. Laity, Kimberly Lindbergs, Josh Nelson, Philip Kemp, John Reppion, Icy Sedgwick and Jez Winship
• Double-sided fold-out poster featuring two original artwork options
• Six postcard-sized reproduction art cards
DISC 1 – FEATURE (4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY)
- 4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation of the 141min Theatrical Cut of the film in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• Restored original lossless mono and DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio options
• Brand new audio commentary by Brian Hoyle, author of The Cinema of John Boorman
• Brand new audio commentary by filmmaker David Kittredge, director of Boorman and the Devil
• Archive audio commentary by director John Boorman
DISC 2 – EXTRAS (BLU-RAY)
- The Making of Excalibur: Myth into Movie, a never before released 48-minute documentary directed by Neil Jordan during the production of Excalibur
• To Be a Knight and Follow a King, a newly filmed interview with director John Boorman and actor Charley Boorman
• When Death Was but a Dream, a newly filmed interview with creative associate Neil Jordan
• The Charm of Making, a newly filmed interview with production designer Anthony Pratt
• Confessions of a Professional “Pain-in-the-ass”, a newly filmed interview with 2nd unit director Peter MacDonald
• Anam Cara, a new featurette on the working friendship of John Boorman and co-writer Rospo Pallenberg featuring a newly filmed interview with Pallenberg
• Divided Nature, a brand new featurette by film historians Howard S. Berger and Kevin Marr
• Trailers
• Image galleries
DISC 3 – BONUS (LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE BLU-RAY)
- High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation of the 120-minute TV Version of the film, previously unavailable on home video
• Original lossless mono audio
• Excalibur: Behind the Movie, a 50-minute retrospective documentary in which cast and crew look back on the making of the film
The Best of the behind the scenes features…..
The archive commentary with Boorman is certainly the one to listen to and the theatrical cut is the one to watch although a comparison with the TV version which is 21 minutes shorter makes for an interesting compare and contrast exercise for Excaliber enthusiasts. Of the featurettes those filmed for this release are best that includes ‘To Be a Knight and Follow a King’ that is slightly upsetting seeing the now 93 year old Boorman now a frail old man and a shadow of his former self as seen in the behind the set featurettes of him directing on set.
The making of Excaliber by Neil Jordan in 1981, himself a fledgling director at the time, and made at the 1981 time of the production is a slightly laborious compared to the ‘Behind the Movie retrospective that sees Neeson, Byrne, Mirren and others reminisce about the film some forty years later and each with a pedigree of films and awards under their belt. But the most fun is the featurette ‘Confessions of a Professional “Pain-in-the-ass”, a newly filmed interview with 2nd unit director Peter MacDonald. Now MacDonald is man who worked his way up through the ranks starting as a clapper loader back in 1957 and working on a huge range of films on the camera unit that have included A Night to Remember, 2001, Cabaret, Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Superman, Labyrinth, Batman (1989). But also worked as a 2nd unit director on The Empire Strikes Back, Rambo Part Two, Batman & Robin, several of the Harry Potter films and Guardians of the Galaxy and has also helmed films as director of Rambo III and The Never Ending Story III. At 87 years of age he is unrelentingly frank and gleefully unfiltered about everything he’s worked on. Often potty mouthed and deliriously entertaining fun to watch as he reveals what went on behind the scenes of many of the films he worked on. He is a documentary in himself and probably the highlight of the bonus features.
What we think….
After the big screen spectacle of Excaliber Boorman’s films became increasingly smaller in scale ending in career in 2014 with ‘Queen and Country’. But Excaliber remains probably the best of the films about the Arthurian legend (although we’d argue that Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the best) and much of the imagery is memorable bearing in mind that this was in a pre-CGI era. But for faithful adaptations of the legend Excaliber excels.
related feature : Guy Ritchie’s ‘King Arthur: Legend of the Sword’ – Reviewed here
related feature : Director NeilMarshall & actress Charlotte Kirk tell us about The Reckoning
Here’s the Excaliber trailer ….
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