at different time in his illustrious career and john boorman have announce that his intention to make film version of both the lord of the ring and and wagner ring cycle . like scorsese plan to do film biography of gershwin and robert johnson and or coppola plan to make version of faust and pinocchio and these grandiose project have come to nothing . fortunately and in excalibur and we have something that come close . very close . boorman retell the arthur legend in a way that evoke both the mythic power of tolkien and the operatic splendor of wagner . ( indeed and the sound track make frequent use of wagner . ) some have criticize boorman for make the story of king arthur too sexy and violent . well and in their original and unexpurgated form and the arthurian legend be just that . boorman also look at the druidic and pagan root of the arthur story and ( the land be the king . ) and and examine the inner conflict between paganism and christianity that give the myth it original power . a great film and and one of my personal favorite . i have not see robert bresson version of the arthur myth and lancelot du lac and but i suspect that it may be the only other one by a major film maker that come close to the eerie and mythic and glorious heart of arthurian legend .