FAQ

In mythological medieval England, the arrogant knight Uther Pendragon becomes a king when he retrieves the magic sword Excalibur from the enchantress The Lady of Lake. After Uther forms an alliance with the Duke of Cornwall, the alliance is broken when Uther desires and lusts for the Duke of Cornwall's beautiful wife Igrayne. After Uther's mentor, the wizard Merlin uses his magic and transforms Uther into the Duke which he rapes and impregnates Igrayne and the Duke is killed. Igrayne gives birth to their son Arthur, but Arthur is taken away from them by Merlin and Uther is betrayed and assassinated by his loyal knights. Years later, Arthur, a idiotic squire and adopted son of the knight Sir Ector learns from Sir Ector and Merlin that he is Uther's son when Arthur draws Excalibur from a stone and becomes the new king. Arthur grows and becomes a wise and great king and he forms the Knights of the Round Table and marries Guinevere, daughter of the knight Leodegrance. However, Arthur's reign as king and the land is soon threatened when an unfaithful Guinevere betrays Arthur and falls for the brave knight Sir Lancelot and Arthur's evil half sister the sorceress Morgana seeks to avenge her father and freezes Merlin for all eternity and Morgana uses her dark sorcery and disguises herself as Guinevere and seduces Arthur and gives birth to his evil son Mordred as part of her plot to overthrow Arthur. As Arthur falls weak, unwell and vulnerable, he sends out the Knights of the Round Table on a quest to search for the holy cup the Grail believing the Grail which will restore the land and that the Grail is the key in defeating Morgana, Mordred and their evil forces.

The R-rated version runs 140 minutes. Approximately 20 minutes of sexual and violent scenes were removed for the PG-rated version that is sometimes screened on television.

The story comes from Le Morte d'Arthur, written by Sir Thomas Mallory. The "book" is actually a collection of stories or books about Arthur & the Round Table knights' exploits and was first published in 1485.

All the forests shown in this movie are a mile away from director John Boorman's home in Ireland.

John Boorman wanted Merlin to be bald, but Nicol Williamson did not want to shave his head. Boorman then decided to make Merlin hairy, but then used the plate of armor to cover his hair, which gives the impression of Merlin being bald.

This film being shot in a 1.85:1 ratio made for easier special effects than anamorphic.