Customer Reviews

Darkest Knight

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Sub-par even by the standards of throw-down direct-to-video B-movies, _Darkest Knight_ will disappoint all but the most ardent fan of truly unwatchable badfilm. A cavalcade of cliched heroes and villains apparently drawn at random from 3000 years of history and myth throw trade-school CG effects at one another, while displaying costumes (and acting) that would get them run out of any drunken SCA weekend outing at spearpoint.

Awful by any standard, _Darkest Knight_ fails to make good on even the modest promises made by the cover graphic and trailer. (I'll admit I was drawn in by the images on the box of flying dragons spouting flame. They appear nowhere in the actual movie. Think I have a case to sue for my four bucks back?)

Sound in plain stereo and a 4:3 aspect ratio make, in this age of DTS and 16:9, for a presentation nearly as lacking as the content. Possibly amusing - albeit unchallenging - fare for MST3K-style mockery, but unrewarding else. Oh, and naturally they're planning a sequel. Imagine my delight.

I'm English and loved this show with a passion when it was on TV. They've just released all 12 episodes over here; I don't know why they only released the first episode here and made it look like a movie. This isn't what Dark Knight was designed to be. The joy of this show was the character development and interactions over the two series (which was far too few).

As the series Dark Knight it is a wonderful mixture of sword, sourcery and romance. I hate the comparisons with Hercules, Xena etc. because Dark Knight was so much more real and complete than such shows. The characters were intriguing and the stories were different and interesting, and far from predictable as I have read elsewhere.

The comments on the acting of the main characters I take offence at. Ivanhoe's character was wonderful, and different from other shows. He was strong, loyal and courageous, but quiet, serious in his mission to return King Richard to the throne, and not a ladies' man. Is this what people are complaining about? Was he not your usual hero? If so, then why should all main characters be the same? What more are you looking for? I loved this character. The way his heart softened over time was extremely endearing. It was a joy to see the moments of comedy or tenderness between the charatcers.

It is the fault of whoever released just the first episode, not the actors or writers.

One final thing, both Charlotte Comer (Rebecca) and Ben Pullen (Ivanhoe) are gorgeous, one beautiful and one ruggedly handsome. I'm happy to return to Dark Knight if only to watch them!!

The terrible reviews of the "movie" Darkest Knight didn't jibe with what my husband and I saw when we watched it, so I thought I'd do a bit of research.

The opening scenes and credits struck us both as more like a TV series than a movie -- and it turns out that it's exactly what this is. "Dark Knight" ran for two seasons in New Zealand and England. "Darkest Knight" is the series premiere, turned into a DVD for North American release.

Looked at as a TV show, it's really not THAT bad, certainly no worse than Xena, Hercules or any of the similar semi-historic fantasy shows that were so popular a few years ago. The special effects are impressive for a television show.

Even as a movie, it's not the worst I've ever seen. The production is beautiful (who cares if there aren't palm trees in England, they look nice), the music is good, etc. I've certainly seen worse acting. Want to see something truly unwatchable, check out "Manos, the Hands of Fate" or "Incredibly Strange Creatures who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies", or any of Coleman Francis' films (e.g., "Red Zone Cuba"). Now THOSE are some TERRIBLE movies.

Having read my husband's review of "Darkest Knight", I see it as necessary that I give a truer and more metaphysical review of this spectacular movie both to avoid divorce preceedings and to speak to the refined and spiritual movie audiance. Ben Pullen gives a remarkable performance as Ivanhoe! He is the idealistic knight that the movie world needs more of. His portrayal is realistic and down to earth - a very believable knight and a man of integrity and honor. Charlotte Comer is both beautiful and realistic as a healer. I would have liked a bit of history on her warrior skills, but they are in harmony with the time period and very well done. Her portrayal of Rebecca is compelling in its sensitivity and a worthy example of all women today who need to know that sensitive is not meant to mean "victimized!" It is Rebecca who holds Ivanhoe back from unnecessary killing and it is also Rebecca who discerned the monster before the cave as an illusion to be walked through. The way that the masculine and feminine work together here is very well done. This is an excellent historical fantasy and a very serious story. Peter O"Farrell as Odo brings what humor there is to this movie but it is neither campy nor tongue-in-cheek. Odo is a gambler and a thief which Ivanhoe overlooks, to his credit. The characters are what they are in this movie and there is no overt criticism even regarding the greedy Prince John or the sorcerer, Mordour. This is a good movie for children, pre-teens and teens. The worst monster is a Frankenstein-like creature that wouldn't raise an eyebrow from TV viewers of BUFFY, The Vampire Slayer and Angel.
The demon from hell resembles our old Velasor-raptor dinosaur friends from Jurassic Park movies. I give this movie 5 stars because of its writer's clearness of characters, realism, lack of vulgar language,and honest dialogue. The writer portrays goodness as an ideal to be lived, not as something for cowards to find refuge in. Here, holy does not mean helpless, overly pious or abusively dogmatic--it just means the plain everyday goodness that is the joy and right and privelege of every human being to live and reflect.

I had no idea what to expect when I picked up a copy of "Darkest Knight," but I'm a big fan of sci-fi and fantasy movies, so I thought I'd give it a look-see. It was apparent to me from the beginning that it was a TV series, and that this must be a couple of episodes cobbled together to form a feature-length DVD release. I wasn't surprised to find out that it was a New Zealand production...it definitely had the look and feel of a "Xena" or "Hercules" clone, right down to the occasional tropical plant in what was supposed to be an English forest.

All in all, it's really not that bad...well, okay, it's that bad. The acting can be WAY over the top, and the special effects are pretty cheesy by most anybody's standards. But that doesn't stop it from being a completely enjoyable romp. It reminds me of Saturday morning TV shows I used to watch when I was a kid. Sometimes it's fun to just kick back and watch the hero save the day, even if Sir Walter Scott is spinning in his grave right now.

So...skip "Darkest Knight" if you're a purist, but if you want to spend a rainy afternoon with a good "bad" movie, you might actually enjoy this one.

This is an amazing show as long as you view it as a TV series, not a movie. Seeing Darkest Knight I, II , and III all in a row is quite entertaining, not to mention that Ben Pullen is very good-looking. The corny graphics, lack of dragons, and other flubs and misfortunes can be taken in good humor and can always be laughed about if the show doesn't appeal to you. Its best to view this as a series, all consecutively and in one day, so it can grow on you.

This is very possilbly the worst written and acted movie made in since "Plan 9". Having watched it I am still a little Numb! It can only be described as Childish Confused Nosense! What a waste, the director should be "SHOT"!

I will say this the DVD 's cover is a work of art but has no relationship with the movie.

In all my years as an Amazon customer, I've never written a review before. This stinker of a movie changed all that. STAY AWAY!! The cover of this DVD, which depicts dragons attacking a castle with the text "In the dark ages, when dragons ruled the skies, one knight was the last hope" is a bunch of cowpucky!! The movie is actually centered around an English or New Zealand television series of the same name. The acting was horrible, the special effects lame and, all in all, this is just a horrible waste of even $10.

This movie is SOOOO horrible! Save it for when you have a girl who won't break up with you for your bad taste in film. Then when the relationship is secure, show this to her. It is such a bad movie that while sitting on the couch..you will just end up making out to save yourself from dying of bordom. Good luck!

The previous review neglected to tell you that (1): you must be a fan of the british show to like this movie. The previous reviews NEVER told anyone that this was the pilot for the show.(THE FIRST TWO EPISODES OF THE SHOW). That information would be helpful to anyone making a decision one way or another to buy this movie. I will admit that as a stand alone movie, "PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE MAY BE BETTER",but then I like "plan 9 from outer space". But when knowing that your getting the British T.V. show, it doesn't look so lame unless your those few who HATED "XENA Warrior Princess". That's ok, PBS runs "MIDSUMMERS NIGHTS DREAM" QUITE OFTEN FOR YOU. For us fan who watched every episode of the British T.V. show having the pilot was not bad to own. What I was yearning to know before I bought the video was if this picked up where the T.V. show left off, I searched the reveiws and none told me this. I bought the DVD and though I didn't get what I was searching for (THE SHOW STARTS FROM THE BEGINNING THE VERY FIRST EPISODE)my wife and I are extremely happy with our purchase. In short, know that Darkest Knight starts at the beginning of the British T.V. series (REGRETABLY) and that if you want to watch something fun, "tounge in cheek" and relaxing you should buy this. If you don't, well Kevin Costner has directed two films for you,"Waterworld and The Postman". Also PBS airs I Claudius and many other high quality,deep thinking shows. Of course they also air shows like "Are You Being Served","Red Dwarf" and "Dr.Who".I guess you people will have to learn to have fun someday.