Merlin (1998/II) (TV)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Steve Barron

Writers (WGA):

David Stevens (teleplay) and
Peter Barnes (teleplay) ...

Release Date:

26 April 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Action | Romance

Tagline:

The most magical adventure of all time.

Plot:

The legendary wizard tells his story of his war against Queen Mab of the Sidhe and his creation of Camelot.

Plot Keywords:

Magic | Wizard | King | Lake | Arthurian Legend

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Golden Globes. Another 7 wins & 15 nominations

Cast

Sam Neill	...	Merlin
Helena Bonham Carter	...	Morgan Le Fey
John Gielgud	...	King Constant
Rutger Hauer	...	King Vortigern
James Earl Jones	...	Mountain King (voice)
Miranda Richardson	...	Mab, Queen of the Old Ways / The Lady of the Lake
Isabella Rossellini	...	Nimue
Martin Short	...	Frik
Paul Curran	...	Arthur
Lena Headey	...	Guinevere
Jeremy Sheffield	...	Lancelot
Mark Jax	...	Uther
John McEnery	...	Lord Ardente
Thomas Lockyer	...	Cornwall
Jason Done	...	Mordred

Runtime:

182 min | 60 min (3 episodes)

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:Not Rated | Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Anglesey, Wales, UK

Company:

Hallmark Entertainment

Trivia:

Dyson Lovell, the producer, is the uncredited person who voices Sir Rupert, the horse.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Merlin defeats Queen Mab by telling the people to forget her, as she is entirely a legend. However, he proceeds to retell the story for years afterward, ensuring that she is remembered and preserving her legend. However, it is also possible that the story old Merlin retells actually doesn't contain Mab character at all - as Frik noticed, Merlin altered the true story when he retold it for children. So, we cannot be sure the story we saw during the movie and the story Merlin retells are the same.

Quotes:

Vortigern: It's easy to die knowing you'll die for your country.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Matthew Broderick/Natalie Merchant (#23.19)" (1998)

One of the Best Mini-Series of All Time

Remember all those other movies about King Arthur? Forget them, they're all garbage compared to this. Let me start out with the story, told from the perspective of the Wizard Merlin, he talks about his childhood and how he became a wizard. Then later the story develops into Excalibur, and later on Arthur joins in. The mini-series is strikingly similar to the actual legends of Camelot, it doesn't leave a single thing out whereas most stories focus on Arthur or Excalibur this goes all the way through the legends the way they were originally written so many years ago. Most movies exclude Mordred, and a recent King Arthur flick was way off with accuracy, making Queen Guinevere an archer in the middle of a war.

The Old Ways refers to the Lady of the Lake and her sister Queen Mab, supreme beings who fear that Christianity will be the end of them. The story continues on that theme, as one of them tries anything in their power to prevent being forgotten. The script is beautifully done, kudos to whoever wrote that. It has plenty of emotions, betrayal and death. Trevor Jones' music is simply wonderful as well, his slow and powerful melodies are beautiful. He is truly an under-apreciated composer. Sam Neil was a perfect choice for Merlin with those deep eyes and stern voice. The special effects can be deemed cheesy, but I think they fit very well into the film-- too much razzle dazzle can take away from the film (there's even two scenes where they use bullet time, that camera technique used in the Matrix).

It's easy for me to write bad reviews, but trying to review a masterpiece like this is always hard to do. There's so little to complain about aside from how they seemed to rush the story along at points, but that helps keep interest. You are a fool not to see this film, as it is probably the best adaptation to the legend of Camelot ever made.