History Film / FirstKnight

* NominalImportance: Tying into the above, besides Lancelot and Malagant, Agravaine is the one in charge of escorting Guinevere until she's kidnapped, and Mador is one of the more older-looking knights with the most vocal misgivings about Lancelot being knighted, speaking for the rest (though the one who also speaks for the rest in showing Lancelot respect after he shows his mettle in battle is unnamed; Patrise going by the actor and credits). [[spoiler:Mador is also the only other Round Table knight [[SacrificialLion who seems to die onscreen]] during the final battle]].

* AdaptedOut:
** Usual Arthurian villains Mordred and Morgan le Fay. The villain Prince Malagant is derived from Creator/ChretienDeTroyes' Maleagant.
** The cast list reveals that ''all'' of Agravaine's brothers except Mordred are included in the Round Table line-up, but there's no indication anyone's related to each other. That includes Arthur, their uncle.

* AdaptedOut: Usual Arthurian villains Mordred and Morgan le Fay. The villain Prince Malagant is derived from Creator/ChretienDeTroyes' Maleagant.

* AgeLift: King Arthur is a lot older than Guinevere and Lancelot when they are all usually portrayed as around the same age.

* NoNameGiven: Besides Lancelot, Malagant and Agravaine, the other Round Table knights aren't named in dialogue, only in the credits: Kay, Patrise, Mador, Sagramore, Tor, Gawaine, Carados, Gaheris, Amant and Gareth.

-->But the peace was not to last. The most powerful of Arthur's knights, Prince Malagant, had long been jealous of the King's glory. Now he found cause to quarrel with Arthur and left Camelot with hearted in his heart.

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Malagant's army is defeated on the field by Arthur and he loses a one-on-one swordfight by Lancelot.

* AnnoyingArrows: Averted. Malagant's mini-crossbows are quite fatal.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The political games played between Arthur and Malagant is a not subtle reference to the conflicting role of the United States' status as the world's only superpower in the mid-1990s, and Camelot is depicted as a literal "shining city on a hill", particularly at Guinevere's first sight of it, calling to mind the idiom (derived from the Bible) used by several US politicians and presidents before and since to describe their nation's role in the world.

* StandardHeroReward: The end has [[spoiler:the mortally wounded]] King Arthur hand over the royal sword and rulership of Camelot to Sir Lancelot who, before then, was a roving entertainer who fought people in town squares for money (TruthInTelevision by the way; in the middle ages entertainer was considered one of the lowest professions, no better than prostitutes or beggars). Earlier on, Arthur had knighted Lancelot for rescuing Guinevere over Lancelot's (and the Round Table Knights') protestations. So he gives his Kingdom and Queen [[spoiler:(and his soon-to-be widow)]] over to somebody who he barely knows, whom he'd raised from RagsToRiches singlehandedly, and who had fallen in love with his wife, all in a span of weeks at most.

* VikingFuneral: Given to Arthur at the end, but his body is first set adrift as a nod to the traditional legend.

** And when Malagant's army is defeated by King Arthur's forces in a setpiece battle, he still has more then enough men to take [[spoiler:Camelot itself with even the civilian population being nearly equaled in number.]]

** Although in this film King Arthur dies even earlier than in the original stories, Lancelot eventually remains alive and gets his happy ending with Guinevere.

* StandardHeroReward: The end has [[spoiler:the mortally wounded King Arthur hand over the royal sword and rulership of Camelot to Sir Lancelot who, before then, was a roving entertainer who fought people in town squares for money (TruthInTelevision by the way; in the middle ages entertainer was considered one of the lowest professions, no better than prostitutes or beggars). Earlier on, Arthur had knighted Lancelot for rescuing Guinevere over Lancelot's (and the Round Table Knights') protestations. So he gives his Kingdom (and his soon-to-be widow) over to somebody who he barely knows, whom he'd raised from RagsToRiches singlehandedly, and who had fallen in love with his wife, all in a span of weeks at most]].

* AdaptationalProtagonist: The titular "first knight" is Lancelot (played by Richard Gere). The film establishes Camelot as a medieval kingdom ruled by a fair King Arthur. The story, however, focus on the infamous Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot love triangle, by placing ''Lancelot'' on the spotlight. The film is ''his'' journey, and, at the ending, [[spoiler:a dying Arthur passes on the crown and the kingdom to him, and allows Guinevere to be with him.]] In the original Arthuriana, Lancelot is a character inserted into the Arthurian mythos by the French wing of medieval authors.

A 1995 film that reinterprets the Myth/ArthurianLegend, written by William Nicholson (''Literature/WindOnFire'') and directed by [[Creator/ZuckerAbrahamsAndZucker Jerry Zucker]] (''Film/Ghost1990''). The music score is by Music/JerryGoldsmith.

** Averted with Lancelot, who was the most famous example of chivalry in European literature, but in the film is depicted as a wandering warrior without armor or any majestic purpose in life.
* AdaptationalProtagonist: The titular "first knight" is Lancelot (played by Richard Gere). The film does away with the magical elements of the [[Myth/ArthurianLegend Arthurian mythos]] (e.g., Morgan Le Fay, Merlin, Lady of the Lake), and establishes Camelot as a medieval kingdom ruled by a fair King Arthur. The story, however, focus on the infamous Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot love triangle, by placing ''Lancelot'' on the spotlight. The film is ''his'' journey, and, at the ending, [[spoiler:a dying Arthur passes on the crown and the kingdom to him, and allows Guinevere to be with him.]] In the original Arthuriana, Lancelot is a character inserted into the Arthurian mythos by the French wing of medieval authors.

* BadBoss: Deconstructed with Prince Malagant. His treatment of his men makes it easy for his moves to be predicted by Arthur
* TheBigDamnKiss: Arthur and Guinevere after she's rescued from Malagant [[spoiler: and just before he dies]] and Lancelot and Guinevere as he prepares to leave Camelot.
* BigNo: Lancelot when he sees the barricaded church and fears the inhabitants have been murdered, Guinevere as Arthur is fatally wounded during the battle with Malagant.
* BittersweetEnding: Arthur dies, but not before forgiving Lancelot and Guinevere and giving them his blessing, knowing that she and Camelot will be safe in his care.

* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: Guinevere spends the entire film resisting her attraction to Lancelot. The moment she gives in to give him a passionate goodbye kiss, assuming that she'll never see him again, Arthur walks in on them and everything falls apart--they're arrested and tried for treason, Malagant stages an invasion, and Arthur is killed.

* CharacterDevelopment: Lancelot, as cited below. Goes from being a devil-may-care drifter to someone willing to give up the woman he loves rather than destroy her marriage in order to have her, then willing to give his life for her several times (rescuing her from kidnappers, taking the full blame for their betrayal of Arthur).

* DamselInDistress: Guinevere, pretty much for the entirety of the film.
* DeathByIrony: Malagant covets Arthur's throne and dies sitting on it.

* DeathOfTheHypotenuse: Arthur dies in the end, leaving Guinevere and Lancelot free to be together.
* {{Demythification}}: While it's still very much a medieval-style fantasy and no real-world places are ever mentioned, there is no Merlin, Morgan le Fay or any other magic elements from the legends. Arthur's sword, while shiny, is not said to be "{{Excalibur}}".
* DiesWideOpen: Malagant and Arthur.
** Subverted: [[spoiler: Malagant's eyes close at the moment of death.]]
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The political games played between Arthur and Malagant is a not subtle reference to the conflicting role of the United States' status as the world's only superpower.
* TheDragon: Ralf is Malagant's most prominent henchman and gives orders whenever Malagant isn't around, such as to burn down a barn full of villagers. At the end, he is among the henchmen who shoot and kill Arthur.

** Ralf, Malagant's main henchman, is stabbed to death with his own sword during the FinalBattle.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Downplayed. Arthur says that the round table has no head nor foot, but he takes action against the advice of the knights because, well, he ''is'' the king. He makes Lancelot a knight, and later he has Lancelot and Guinevere face a public trial. Both actions end up working against him, becoming LaserGuidedKarma.

* LimitedAdvancementOpportunities: Apparently the round table doesn't promote from within; Lancelot gets the top spot for no other reason than it's the only opening they have for a new knight, despite the others having served for decades.

** Although to be fair, "Maleagant" has appeared in Arthurian legend since the late 12th century, and even earlier as "Melwas".

* PunBasedTitle: In-universe, "First Knight" seems to be at least a title of honor if not also status or rank within the Round Table, but it also calls to mind the couples' euphemism "first night", especially due to the romance emphasis. But ironically the Lancelot/Guinevere affair here never escalates to that level.

-->'''Maligant:''' This is called an oubliette. That's French for "a place of forgetting." Your quarters, My Lady. No gates, no bars, no locks. Just walls of air.
* SlashedThroat: How Malagant goes out.

* SparedByTheAdaptation: Although in this film King Arthur dies even earlier than in the original novels, Lancelot eventually remains alive and gets his happy ending with Guinevere.

* StandardHeroReward: The end has the mortally wounded King Arthur inexplicably hand over the royal sword and rulership of Camelot to Sir Lancelot who, before then, was a roving entertainer who fought people in town squares for money (TruthInTelevision by the way; in the middle ages entertainer was considered one of the lowest professions, no better than prostitutes or beggars). Earlier on, Arthur had knighted Lancelot for rescuing Guinevere over Lancelot's (and the Round Table Knights') protestations. So he gives his Kingdom (and his soon-to-be widow) over to somebody who he barely knows, who had fallen in love with his wife, and who has no desire or ability to rule.
** As the film progresses, we see Lancelot's development. Towards the end, after a major battle, he decides to leave Camelot because he finally understands what it means and does not wish to destroy it by continuing to pursue Arthur's wife. Additionally, his insistence on taking the blame and willingness to sacrifice himself for Guinevere's sake demonstrates to Arthur how much he genuinely loves and respects all three, despite his previous actions.

* TakeUpMySword: As Arthur is mortally wounded, he drops his sword. Lancelot uses it to defeat Malagant at the climax of the final battle. Later Arthur does pass on his sword, Camelot and Guinevere to Lancelot.

* TitleDrop: Done directly by Arthur to Lancelot, calling him "my first knight", and indirectly by Malagant reminding Arthur that he was once the first among his knights.

* NoNameGiven: Besides Lancelot, Malagant and Agravaine, the other Round Table knights aren't named in dialogue, only in the credits: Kay, Patrise, Mador, Sagramore, Tor, Gawaine, Gaheris, Amant and Gareth.

A 1995 film that reinterprets the Myth/ArthurianLegend, written by William Nicholson (''Literature/WindOnFire'') and directed by [[Film/Ghost1990 Jerry Zucker]]. The music score is by Music/JerryGoldsmith.

** Although to be fair, "Maleagant" has appeared in Arthurian legend since the late 12th century.

* OneLastKiss: Guinevere and Lancelot before he leaves Camelot (or it was intended to be before they got caught), then Guinevere and Arthur before he dies.

* TheStarscream: It is indicated that Malagant has always coveted the throne of Camelot even when he was one of Arhut's knights.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The political games played between Arthur and Malagant is a not subtle reference to the United States' status as the world's only superpower.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Malagant ripping off Guinevere's dress. He doesn't rape her--only seconds earlier, he was blasting one of his men for her disheveled state, saying, "I gave orders the lady was not to be harmed!"--but he clearly wants to degrade her and put the fear of that possibility into her.

'''Malagant''': The strong rule the weak! That is how your God made the world.