Excalibur 4K 1981 Ultra HD 2160p

Excalibur is the sword of the legendary King Arthur, celebrated by troubadours and minstrels, who ruled England in those glorious days when worthy knights sat at their places at the Round Table, raising their cups to the health of His Majesty and the final victory over evil. In those ancient times, people relied more on the predictions of magicians and the spells of sorcerers, believing less in the power of reason and their own experience. However, it was then that spells and prophecies gave way to what we call common sense...

User Review

Even several days after watching it, the film still has me in its iron grip. If you judge it superficially, what you see is a real adult fairy tale that tries with all its might to transcend its time. And indeed, when you look at the screen, it's sometimes hard to believe that the film is about to turn 30! What is commonly referred to as the magic of cinema permeates everything here, every frame and every set, immersing the viewer in a world of ancient magic, and the atmosphere of a dark medieval legend blends perfectly with the classic spirit of fantasy.

But before singing the praises of this adaptation, it is worth mentioning its shortcomings. The most significant one is the presentation of the plot, which constantly jumps from place to place, making it difficult to grasp the logical connection, and as a result, some episodes seem disjointed and raw. The choice of actors also raises doubts: Patrick Stewart and Liam Neeson are barely noticeable, but Gabriel Byrne (see ‘The Suspects’) fits perfectly into the image of the cruel Uther Pendragon, and Helen Mirren is very good in the role of the cunning Morgana. The most controversial character is Merlin, who is not at all the canonical wise wizard, but some kind of eccentric “old man”! There are definitely no complaints about King Arthur, and especially Lancelot: he is the very same dazzling knight on a white horse who gave his heart to Guinevere.

Warriors in shining armor, the emerald glint and golden glow of Excalibur, green forests, mountain waterfalls, silver Camelot, a blood-red dawn—everything here captures the imagination of any visionary. And for music lovers, there is an equally stunning musical accompaniment from the epic Wagner, the ominous ‘Carmina Burana’ by Carl Orff, and the magical music of Trevor Jones.

However, behind all this mythical and brutal beauty lies something more than just a fairy tale. The full depth of the themes of fate, progress, and the universal cycle can only be felt at the end, when the metaphorical intent of the film is revealed, the personal philosophy of the director himself, and the symbolic superiority of the mystical and divine over the human and worldly becomes even more apparent, because eternal, pure art always surpasses rapidly changing technology. It is not surprising that Excalibur received an award at the Cannes Film Festival for its artistic contribution and was even nominated for the Palme d'Or. Despite its significant shortcomings, in my opinion, this is the best variation on this theme. Only now have I finally understood the drama of the fates of the familiar characters and why this story had to end this way...

Info Video

Codec: HEVC / H.265 (85.1 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Aspect ratio: 1.67:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1

Info Audio

#English: FLAC 2.0
#English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
#English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Commentary by co-writer & director John Boorman)
#English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Commentary by film historian Brian Hoyle, author of "The Cinema of John Boorman")
#English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Commentary by filmmaker David Kittredge, director of "Boorman and the Devil")

Info Subtitles

English SDH, Arabic, Bulgarian, Cantonese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French (Metropolitan), German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese (European), Romanian, Russian, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin American), Swedish, Thai, Turkish.