Customer Reviews

King Arthur:Young Warlord [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I appreciate the comments of Robert, however I must disagree, this version of Arthur I beleive would be more to the 'real' Arthur. The video cover does give the impression that you are about to watch a Hollywood type film with knights in shinig armour, but for anyone who watch the original series in 1972 would know different. As for the colour going in and out - it was made for PAL television and then converted to NTSC and you will probably be watching it on a NTSC video player that converts the signal bacl to a PAL format, I'm not surpriseed that there is some colour fluctuations.

All said and done the I found the film a joy to watch especially the marriage feast, it was so funny. Anyone who watched the original series maybe be disappointed about the colour, however I'm sure that ardent fans who haven't been able to watch the program for well over 20yrs (last shown in the UK 1983) will be well pleased.

I would hope that sometime in the future HTV the makers and current holders of the rites to the series will by public pressure release the whole series on video in the UK.

OK, technically we can fault this but it was a child of its time. A generation brought up on Star Wars might not understand that this was what we got as entertainment back in the very early 70s. Yes, this is a selection of a TV series and the editing's bad and so are the wigs but this was a low budget series back then. The language is totally too modern but go with the flow, enjoy and we women can admire the lovely Oliver Tobias who to his credit puts in a very believeable performance and the gorgeous Michael Gothard. A lovely momento of a series I wish was available in its entireity - using first generation tapes please!

I was delighted to have (at last) obtained a copy of this. Yes, the quality of colour and sound is poor, but who cares! This was a ground-breaking programme, and it still stands up well after more than two decades. I hope one day it will be available in the original unedited version, and transferred to DVD. It deserves to be seen, just as much as Robin Of Sherwood, which is now available as a complete edition on DVD (also an HTV programme). There are thousands of people in the UK who would buy this fondly remembered series.

This thrilling film throws out every traditional hollywood portrait of Arthur. Gone are the Knights of the Round Table, Guinevere and Lancelot, Mordred, the traditional drawing of the sword in the stone, and (sadly) even Merlin. Gone too are the flamboyant robes, roman armor, and well-lit scenes of previous (actually later) films.
What you get is an impressive attempt to paint life as it was: Camelot is a primitive village and Arthur has plenty to do as a shrewd and determined warrior-king among many such kings with whom he both allies and uses for his own ends (noble of course).
In keeping with history, the story is set during the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain after Rome has withdrawn (500 A.D. or so). In terms of storyline The Young Warlord does not follow a single plot, but is more episodes of Arthur's dealings with his people, the rival kings, and the Saxons.
In short if you want a historical view see this film; if you want hollywood there are plenty other films to pick from.

I actually couldn't decide whether to leave 2 or 3 stars. In the end I went with three because it was either a gift or a didn't fully read the description.

I wasn't expecting much in the realm of cinematics and sound. After all, this was made in 1972-3 - and by the BBC no less - but hey, I'm an Arthurian buff (both the fantasy based as well as the various attempts at the more probable historical Arthurs). This was of the latter sort and sticking fairly close with history while imbuing Arthur with a different sort of magic, i.e. intelligent forethought.

My main grievance with this DVD is, as I mentioned, the fact that this is NOT the entire series, it is an entire series crammed down into two hours. When credits started rolling I thought it signalled the end of the pilot. Again, I'm not sure how I missed this fact except if I had received it as a gift. Regardless, assuming the ending that I did see was essentially the ending of the series in Britain; well, it would seem that I would be doomed nonetheless by that wonderful feeling of, "What do you mean it's been cancelled? I want to know how certain things end up, here!"

I suppose it doesn't matter who I might recommend this to as I noticed that Amazon is no longer stocking these.

A gritty view of a possible 6th century Arthur. Had a good look to it.

This movie is a reduction of the original show made by collecting some episodes and sometimes only screen-shots of episodes, kept together by a narrator who tells the story of Arthur and the Celts.

Maybe it is this puzzle like way chosen to present the show that makes it odd, but in any case it is a movie too much aged (in acting and colors) and the entire story is quite boring.

Some people have said that since Arthur of the Britons has not been released on Region 1 DVD this film is better than nothing. They are wrong. Having never seen the series I decided to check this out to see what it was like. I immediately regretted it. By 20 minutes in they had covered at least five episodes leaving me utterly lost and bored. The episodes were held together through a boring narration which took the place of all the exposition that they didn't have time for. The entire thing featured one thing happening after another with no rhyme or reason to it (which is fine in an episodic TV series). It's just an incomprehensible mess. The video quality is pretty bad as well, although a lot of that is the fault of the original series.

Please don't take any of this as criticism of Arthur of the Britons. That is an excellent show which I finally gave a chance after years of assuming it was like this. But everything good about that show has been abbreviated to the point of incomprehensibility and it just emphasizes much that was unsatisfactory about the original series: specifically the budget and the action. What made the show great were the individual episodes that dealt with one basic plot at a time. This combines them all and removes all of what made the series interesting. That series is available here in Region 2 (European) format. If you have a region free DVD player then there's no reason you shouldn't go with that one. If you don't then all I can say is wait patiently and remember. This film just isn't worth it.

This story is more 'accurate' as far as what a real Arthur would have lived like. However, due to budget constraints I'm sure, the village and battle scenes are beyond subpar. Historically speaking, most battles occurred with HUNDREDS of warriors, whereas in this movie you see battles involving 10-15 per side, if not less, and they're acting like it is their full armies. Their 'villages' have about 15-20 people max- hardly anything like a real 'kingdom' of that time period.

What is also amusing is their use of the word "Scots" because there was no such thing in Arthur's time. There were Gaels and Picts in the north, but there was no "Scotland" and thus no 'Scots' until sometime after the 7th century. So even their attempt at creating a historical piece was not even historically accurate.

I gave it two stars for the attempt, but it would be nicer to see a modern retelling that showed King Arthur in a similar context- just a young prince who became king, and did what he could to protect Britannia from invading hoards of foreigners.

The video is converted to DVD and it is a bit "scratchy" and patchy in parts. Other than this, it is an impressive production. For those who saw it during the 1970's it brings back some nostalgia. For my school students in junior high it will be an excellent resource. There is clearly historical accuracy which is encouraging. For example, in one scene the young Arthur wears a helmet that is a close replica of the Sutton Hoo helmet (not bad considering that the helmet had not been correctly reconstructed until 1968).

King Arthur: The Young Warlord was a very good buy that I can highly recommend.