Top 10 Must-See Fantasy Films: This Classic Still Reigns Supreme 43 Years Later!

Uther Pendragon receives the mythical sword Excalibur from Merlin the Magician. Upon Uther’s death, the sword remains lodged in a granite stone. Only the young Arthur, Uther’s illegitimate son, manages to wield Excalibur and by doing so becomes the King of England. Years later, he marries Guinevere and assembles the Knights of the Round Table. However, his half-sister, the evil Morgana, manages to bear Arthur a son who ultimately leads to his downfall…

The fantasy genre is heavily filled with B-grade and largely forgettable works, most of which were born in the opportunistic wake of the huge success of Conan the Barbarian. Fortunately, some, significantly earlier, have left an indelible mark.

Ironically, it was because he was unable to make his adaptation of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings that the great John Boorman ended up directing Excalibur. Drawing on the famed work Le Morte d’Arthur by Thomas Malory written in 1485, Boorman magnificently resurrects the Arthurian myths in an epic that is both enchanting and dreamlike. But also brutal and very violent, where fates are carved out with the swing of an axe; filled with scenes that have become iconic, like Arthur’s ride to his last battle set to Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana.

Some sets and special effects are now considered kitsch, but they are perfectly showcased by the work of cinematographer Alex Thomson, who was nominated for an Oscar for his work; the film’s only nomination, in fact.

It’s also an opportunity to see a fabulous array of actors: Helen Mirren, Patrick Stewart, Liam Neeson, and Gabriel Byrne, who were then unknown; and of course, an outstanding Nicol Williamson in the role of Merlin. Unfortunately, after this film, Williamson had a very uneven film career, not living up to his talent which he expressed more fully on stage.

There is an industrial quantity of adaptations and variations of the King Arthur legend on both the big and small screens. Very few, in truth, manage to rise to the level of John Boorman’s masterpiece, which remains, 43 years after its release, a benchmark of the genre.