History Film / Excalibur

* TraumaCongaLine: Having to say farewell to Merlin, discovering that Guinevere is indeed cheating on him with Lancelot, and then being raped by his sister a few hours later turns Arthur nearly catatonic.

-->-- '''Arthur''' to '''Guenevere'''

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Find it unusual that Morgana sleeps in the same room as her mother, despite being four or five years old? Up until the 1800s, it was quite usual in Europe for entire families to sleep in the same bedroom, if a house even had divided rooms at all.

--> ''Arthur holds Excalibur to the neck of rebelling knight Sir Uryens, demanding he swear fealty.''
--> '''Sir Uryens:''' A noble knight, swear faith to a ''squire?''
--> '''Sir Lot (not the Lancey kind):''' ''NEEVVVEEEER! NEEVVVEEEER!''

* RelatedDifferentlyInTheAdaptation:Like many Arthurian adaptations it turns Morgana into a CompositeCharacter with Morgause, making her Mordred's mother rather than aunt. ''Excalibur'' helped popularize the version of the legend where Mordred is conceived by BrotherSisterIncest between Morgana and Arthur ([[BedTrick unwitting]] in Arthur's case).

* WorldOfHam: The film aims for the medieval high fantasy/epic feel, which does tend towards haminess and grandioseness, with shouting as the informal language of the land. Uther and Leondegrance are remarkably boisterous, while Merlin provides a more quirky and mixed theatricality.

* CoolSword: "The swooooooord!"
** Later, when Arthur hands it over to Sir Uryens to knight him, the same guy who said the above line also says, "''Keep it Uryeeeeeeens!''"

* CompositeCharacter: Let's see... Arthur takes the role of the FisherKing in Percival's story. Lancelot takes the bit about breaking Excalibur (forcing Arthur to get a new one) from Pellinore. And Morgan takes the roles of Morgause (though that's practically the norm in modern adaptations) and Nimue.
* CoolSword: The eponymous sword is ... well ... Excalibur! It often reflects green light to make it look otherworldly.

* DarkAgeEurope: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] and played straight in the last third of the movie.

* The source material (Sir Thomas Malory's ''Literature/LeMorteDarthur'' is credited, but many other sources are drawn upon) is treated in a [[PragmaticAdaptation very syncretist]] kind of way, merging many [[CompositeCharacter characters]], events and elements. This arguably allows the movie to display many more Arthurian motifs than would have been possible to show in a two-hour movie that stayed truer to the text of a particular author or retelling, all while cleverly avoiding the CompressedAdaptation effect.

* DeliberateInjuryGambit: Arthur does this after getting speared by his bastard son Mordred, sliding on the spear and then giving Mordred what for with the titular sword. This is an inversion of the scene in ''Literature/LeMorteDarthur''.

A 1981 HeroicFantasy film directed by Creator/JohnBoorman, an epic, CultClassic retelling of the [[Myth/KingArthur Arthurian]] [[Myth/ArthurianLegend myths]]. Notable at least for two aspects:

** The sword in the stone/Excalibur (in ''Le Morte d'Arthur'', the two were different swords).
** Myth/KingArthur/[[FisherKing the Fisher King]].

** Arthur's first meeting with Lancelot is based on his meeting with King Pellinore in ''Le Morte d'Arthur''. Leondegrance also takes Pellinore's place as Arthur's main ally in his unification of Britain.

** Mordred runs Arthur through with his spear, but Arthur kills him with his sword. In fact, this is the reverse of what happens in ''Le Morte D'Arthur'', so that Arthur strikes his last blow with Excalibur.

* The source material (Sir Thomas Malory's ''Literature/LeMorteDarthur'' is credited, but many other sources are drawn upon) is treated in a [[PragmaticAdaptation very syncretist]] kind of way, merging many [[CompositeCharacter characters]], events and elements. This arguably allows the movie to display many more Arthurian motifs than would have been possible to show in a two-hour movie staying truer to the text of a particular author or retelling, all while cleverly avoiding the CompressedAdaptation effect.

* DemotedToExtra: Unavoidable due to having to condense the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters of Arthurian legends into a two-hours movie. For example, Sirs Bors and Meliot only gets a single mention each in the movie. Many others are not even named.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Now with its own [[Characters/ExcaliburTheFilm Character Sheet]].

* RetCanon: In order to manage the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters in Arthurian legend, the film merged the characters of Morgause of Orkney and Morgana le Fay into one CompositeCharacter, keeping the latter's name and powers of sorcery, but giving her the former's role of mothering Mordred after an incestuous affair with Arthur. Though he may not have been the first to make this change, his film popularized the incestuous angle between Morgana and Arthur in many adaptations to come.

** A consequence of having LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters in a two-hours movie. Igrayne is a notable example of this, since you could at least assume that many of the knights that go missing were slain in battle. The last we see of Igrayne however, is her screaming: "I want my baby!" and urging Uther to go after Merlin (though she disappears at that point in the legends too).

%%* BadassBoast: %%Quotes aren't context.
%%-->'''Arthur:''' Are you just a dream, Merlin?\\
%%'''Merlin:''' A dream to some... '''''A NIGHTMARE TO OTHERS'''''!

* The movie covers a rather long span of time (60 years, at the very least) and thus, as Boorman put it, focuses on the story rather than on the characters. It can thus roughly be divided into five partially overlapping parts: the first part follows Uther Pendragon, the second follows Arthur, the third follows Lancelot, the fourth follows Perceval, and the last goes back to Arthur.

The cast includes Nigel Terry as Arthur, Creator/HelenMirren as Morgana, Nicholas Clay as Lancelot, Cherie Lunghi as Guenevere, Paul Geoffrey as Perceval, and Creator/NicolWilliamson as Merlin.

* BaldOfAwesome:

* BaldOfAwesome: King Leondegrance, played by Creator/PatrickStewart, is the first to declare for Arthur.

* WorldOfHam: The film aims for the medieval high fantasy/epic feel, which does tend towards haminess and grandioseness, with shouting as the informal language of the land. Uther and Leondegrance are remarkably boisterous, while Merlin provides a more quirky and mixed theatricallity.

* BigDamnHeroes: When Arthur's force is reduced to just him, Percival and Kay, Lancelot rides in and singlehandedly ''annihilates'' Mordred's army before finally succumbing to an old wound inflicted decades prior.

--> '''Guy In Background:''' ''NEEVVVEEEER! NEEVVVEEEER!''

** The first knight Arthur bests in battle — Sir Uryens, who knights him — winds up being Arthur's lifelong ally, and the first to obey Arthur's order to find the Holy Grail. He ultimately ''dies'' on the quest to find it.

* EndOfAnAge: The final minutes drive this home with a hammer, but leave open a glimmer of hope that mankind can once again reach its own Camelot; [[spoiler:Arthur is taken off by three queens into the sunset, Excalibur is lost, and Magic is dying or already dead; however Perceval survives to tell Arthur's legend so as to serve as an example, Arthur makes a prophecy that a new King will come and the sword will rise again, and Merlin still lives in our dreams.]]

* KarmaHoudini: The knights who killed Uther aren't punished for it.

* TheManTheyCouldntHang: Morgana, Mordred, and their minions capture Sir Percival and hang him from a tree where several other knights have already been hanged. Percival hangs from the tree for several hours in agony until his rope is accidentally cut by a hanged knight's spurs.

* SmallRoleBigImpact: When a thief steals Sir Kay's sword, Kay's squire Arthur pursues him and bumps into Excalibur, casually pulling this other sword from the rock.

'''Guinevere:''' You are my husband.\\

** The first had Uther Pendragon, with Merlin's help, using an illusion spell to take on the appearance of his enemy Gorlois and bed Gorlois' wife Igraine, resulting in the conception of Arthur.

* CherryBlossoms: (Actually, in context, apple blossoms).
* ChildByRape: Arthur and Mordred are both examples of this. Arthur was conceived when Uther raped Igraine and Mordred was conceived when Morgana ''raped Arthur!'' Uther and Morgana did so through magical illusions which made them look like someone else so Igraine and Arthur would have sex with their respective spouses.

* ConvectionSchmonvection: Gee, the sex Igraine has with Uther must be pretty damn good for it to be worth the third-degree burns she'd have from banging him in his [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext full armor]] right next to a ''roaring fireplace''.

* InterplayOfSexAndViolence: Truces and friendships are broken, wars and plagues are started because of sex. [[spoiler: The slow death of the Duke of Cornwall, impaled on a row of spears, interspersed with the scene of Uther, disguised as Cornwall, having sex with Igraine, is quite iconic.]]

-->''Igraine attempts to dance''

* ShapeshiftingSeducer: Morgana and Uther ,thanks to Merlin‘s magic, disguised themselves as their targets’ (Arthur/Igraine) spouse (Guinevere/Cornwall) to seduce them.
* ShapeshiftingSquick: As in the standard folklore, King Arthur is son of Igraine and Uther Pendragon. He is shapeshifted by Merlin as Igraine's husband (that, at the moment, is painfully dying on the battlefield for extra drama); because {{Squick}} was not already hitting the eleven, Uther is in full metal plate armor, with the queen laying under him. Ouch. No time to undress?

* TheUnchosenOne: Uther's fling with Ingrane convinces Merlin that he isn't going to be the king England needs.

** A consequence of having LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters in a two-hours movie. Igraine is a notable example of this, since you could at least assume that many of the knights that go missing were slain in battle. The last we see of Igraine however, is her screaming: "I want my baby!" and urging Uther to go after Merlin (though she disappears at that point in the legends too).

** KingArthur/[[FisherKing the Fisher King]].

A 1981 HeroicFantasy film directed by Creator/JohnBoorman, an epic, CultClassic retelling of the [[Myth/KingArthur Arthurian myths]]. Notable at least for two aspects:

* The source material (Sir Thomas Malory's ''Literature/LeMorteDarthur'' is credited, but many other sources are drawn upon) is treated in a very syncretist kind of way, [[CompositeCharacter merging many characters]], events and elements. This arguably allows the movie to display many more Arthurian motifs than would have been possible to show in a two-hour movie staying truer to the text of a particular author or retelling, all while cleverly avoiding the CompressedAdaptation effect.

* RealityEnsues: Despite Arthur validating himself as King by pulling Excalibur from the stone, there are plenty of people who don’t want him there because he isn’t a knight (he’s a mere squire) and a bastard to boot. This causes a rebellion that Arthur has to defeat within hours of pulling Excalibur from the stone.

** The sword in the stone/Excalibur (in ''Le Morte d'Arthur'', the two were different swords)
** KingArthur/[[FisherKing the Fisher King]]
** Morgana/Morgause/Nimue
** Lancelot and Guinevere/Tristram and Isolde

** Perceval/Gareth/Galahad/Bedivere

--> '''Arthur''': I cannot give you the land. Only my love.
--> '''Mordred''': That's the only thing of yours that I don't want.

* BadassBoast:
-->'''Arthur:''' Are you just a dream, Merlin?
-->'''Merlin:''' A dream to some... '''''A NIGHTMARE TO OTHERS'''''!

* {{Pride}}: Arthur gets so mad when he can't seem to beat Lancelot in their fight that he uses the power of Excalibur to knock Lancelot on his ass - which almost costs him the sword when it shatters and nearly gets Lancelot killed. Fortunately the Lady of the Lake hears him admit he was wrong to do this, fixes the sword and all is well. For a while at least.

* ShoutOut: Several, notably (and surprisingly) to ''Franchise/StarWars ''(just watch the first sequence between Arthur and Merlin in the woods, or the fight between Lancelot and his [[spoiler:EnemyWithout]]), and (less surprisingly) to ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' (as Boorman's original project was indeed to adapt the latter, before he switched to Arthurian myths -- for instance, Lancelot's return has him resembling Boern):

*** The final draft of the movie's script reveals that Kay was intended to get a horse ride out to join Lancelot. Arthur and Perceval would have found his body, being born away by squires, just before finding the mortally wounded Lancelot.

* The source material (Sir Thomas Malory's ''Literature/LeMorteDarthur'' is credited, but many other sources are drawn upon) is treated in a very syncretist kind of way, [[CompositeCharacter merging many characters]], events and elements. This arguably allows the movie to display many more Arthurian motifs than would have been possible to show in a two-hour movie instead of staying truer to the text of a particular author or retelling, all while cleverly avoiding the CompressedAdaptation effect.