excalibur and star nigel terry and nicol williamson and helen mirren and cheri lunghi and nicholas clay and liam neeson and patrick stewart and gabriel byrne and robert addie and katrine boorman and paul geoffrey and clive swift director john boorman and 1981 director john boorman and screenwriter rospo pallenberg work on adapt the century old thomas malory epic le morte darthur into a stunning and intensely dramatic movie masterpiece the like of which have never be see before . this be and for me and the most definitive version of the arthurian saga . there be so much to admire about this film and so much to analyze but for lack of time on imdb i can only offer portion of my praise . boorman masterfully capture the grandiosity as well a the humanity of the fantasy legend about a young innocent who draw a sword from a stone and inherit the right of kingship and establish the beautiful city of camelot and the knight of the round table and who protect the innocent and rid the world of evil and and search endlessly for that most elusive religious artifact the holy grail . first of all and we must look beyond the fantasy element and the special effect which everyone enjoy the magic sword excalibur and itself a symbol of strength and kingship ( in the film the lady of the lake who give the sword to arthur and who receive it again in the finale be play by one of boorman daughter telsche boorman ) and the elaborate detail of the medieval and celtic christian england from the clothing and to the fortress and to the armor and weapon and and we must see into the heart of the long epic . first off and nigel terry and nicol williamson a arthur and merlin carry the movie . their relationship a mentor and protégé have never be most wonderfully portray and their friendship a two men who try desperately to fulfill the ideal of brotherhood and who fail have never be more poignantly capture . the most moving part for me be still the climatic finale and in which and after the death of arthur and and the world seem to have end and excalibur be bring back to the lake and three mysterious queen take arthur away on a barge and all this while the dramatic music to wagner siegfried funeral march blare triumphantly . boorman use the music of wagner opera most effectively in the relevant spot in the film the sensual prelude to tristan and isolde play a lancelot and guenevere have their tryst in the forest and the spiritual and ethereal strain of the good friday or holy grail music from parsifal play a parsifal himself encounter the holy grail and siegfried funeral march from gotterdammerung open and close the film a both the sword theme and the tragic motif of arthur heroic death . the relationship between king arthur and queen guenevere ( cherie lunghi ) and lancelot ( nick clay ) be also well develop . for once and we realize how the queen love her husband a a king and but because he be so consume by his duty and she could not love him a a husband . instead and she find romantic sexual gratification in an affair with lancelot . the quest for the holy grail could have be far elaborate but this be a minor quibble . the film build up to a fiery finale . the character of the wicked sorceress morgana ( helen mirren ) be also a strong point and and one everyone miss . she be only a small child ( play by barbara byrne ) when she witness the rape of her mother igrayne ( play by boormans daughter katrine ) by uther . this single moment of deception and witchcraft trigger her mistrust of all men and ruin her innocence . she become a corrupt and greedy and power hungry witch who even manage to trap merlin in an icy cave . her vengeance against arthur brings about the final destruction a her evil son mordred and arthur fight to their own death . well known british actor live up to their own possible arthurian or brittanic heritage . patrick stewart ( captain of the enterprise on star trek ) be do a superb performance a be liam neeson even though their role be minor a knight of the table . clive swift and sir kay and be well know a a comic actor in the british series keep up appearance he play hyancinth husband richard . the look of the film be a tapestry of mood . green be magic and silver metallic be mankind power and the forest be a place where lancelo and guenvere revel in their primitive essence . it a world of dark and light and spring and winter and happiness and despair and illusion and but other than it good versus evil theme there be many layer . humanity be flaw and the end of the world be come and but the world may still be renew again . there be no great truth than this .