Arthur's Quest (1999 TV Movie) User Reviews

Awesome Arthur Dude

[zeppo-2 · 4/10 · 11 October 2005]

If I was still 8 years old, I think I would have enjoyed this film immensely but since it's a long time since I was, it's difficult to try to view this from my present age. And be sure, this is a film for kids around that age, a throwback to the old live-action family films that Disney was churning out in the late sixties and seventies.

Still, there's enough to keep adults interested, for the dads there is the scantily clad Catherine Oxenberg, looking more like a supermodel Xena than a medieval sorceress and for the mums there is the young hero's working mother to empathise with.

For the rest of us, it's spotting all the holes in the plot! For instance, how are all the ancients from another century so familiar with modern age slang? Not to mention the fundamental flaw when the evil Morgana is defeated, if it was that easy, why not just do it from the start?

Then again, that's rather unfair as we adults are not the intended audience and the kids it was aimed at, should like this.

Nice enough

[oceanmyst · 5/10 · 6 October 2002]

Movie for kids actually, it wasn't bad with an afternoon to waste. Nice family values and interaction. Sorry guy but, I think the role of Aurthur should have been given to someone else. This guy is too complacent. Sometimes he even seems to want to be anywhere else but where he is. The final action scene was too much! (actually too little) seemed forced and very "acted".

We Have an APEX beater!

[Jonathan Horner · 2/10 · 24 June 2001]

Yep here we have an APEX beater. For those of you who don't know APEX is the worst movie ever, until I saw this! Arthur's Quest is without a doubt the worst movie I've ever seen. I thought Three Ninja's on Mega Mountain was bad but this is unbelievable!

I'm not too sure what this movie is trying to achieve. The sword fight at the end is so gripping and brilliant...only joking, it's so bad you can tell that the actors have been training for about 5 minutes! It's not exactly Highlander.

This may be a kids movie, but I think even a four year old would be disgusted by this movie!

Bad plot, bad acting, bad movie.

2/10

One of the most terrible movies I've seen to date...

[Flealan · 1/10 · 19 April 2008]

When I bought this at a store for 50p, I expected a cheap giggle, thinking it would be one of them 'It's so bad it's good'. Alas, it was not...

The audio was poor and had to turn up my speakers all the way, and even then I couldn't even understand what was being said from time to time.

I know this is a kid's film, but even they would be disgusted by this. The actors are wooden or just not very good. I felt the story didn't flow very well and there was just no 'magic' you expect for a film that goes by 'Arthur's Quest'.

Put it this way, when me and my mates watched this for a laugh, we didn't even see the end 'cos it was THAT bad. In the end, we all took turns taking a slash on it and then set it on fire.

Low budget but fun kid's movie with good supporting actors.

[dccvc · 7/10 · 29 November 2014]

Many of the reviews here are unfair. Not every movie can be made with a $300 million dollar budget of the modern blockbusters, nor should they. For the type of movie this is, a direct to video comedy made for children, this was very good. It taught morals about duty, honor and kindness, all in a fun setting full of comedy and gags.

Eric Olsen plays Artie, the son of Uther Pendragon, is sent to our time by the clumsy wizard, Merlin, played for comedic value by Arye Gross. Merlin was a fun character to watch. From his inability to focus his magic on the right people (leading to some funny background events: random pedestrians start flying, a kid starts floating in the middle of a restaurant while everybody else continues eating unawares) to his genuine desire to help Artie's mother (Alexandra Paul) stay the course on her optimistic balancing act of mother, waitress and evening school student, Arye Gross was a good pick for main supporting actor. The main actor, Eric Olsen, could have used a little more direction or refocused his acting for more comedy value, but he carried his inner emotional struggle very nicely. His lines did not create good characterization, but were effective enough that I wanted to see how things would end.

Finally, a special shout out has to go to Katie Johnston playing Gwen (Guinevere, I'm guessing), Artie's best friend and potential love interest. It's a pity she wasn't in more movies. Her enthusiasm, facial expressions and genuine warmth were very fun to watch and kept the movie going, especially in the first half. She would make a great co-king/queen in whatever era she's thrown in.

Now onto the bad, starting with the villains. A bikini armor clad Catherine Oxenberg playing the evil Morgana/ Principal Blackheart, is hard to take seriously. Fortunately she knew this, and plays her role very campy and jokingly. Unfortunately the director didn't realize this, and made the movie more serious than it needed to be. Her henchmen are of few words, but what little they have is laid back and fun. They are rarely a real threat, and kids can enjoy their antics and hammy lines.

The battle at the start, with flailing swords, random screaming and, once again, a bikini armor Morgana, display the main weaknesses of the film. Whoever directed the physical swordfights should have watched Rob Roy, Ladyhawke or A Princess Bride to understand how to make cheap budget sword fights look cool. Instead, anytime a battle started I groaned at how silly it looked.

To summarize, the budget of this movie was obviously very low, but several of the actors were very good and made the film worth watching. Just know that this is not a medieval action film like A Knight's Tale or Excalibur: this is a direct to TV teen comedy on par with Disney Channel originals from the early 2000s.

The worst movie of all time!

[hlm129 · 6 July 2010]

Well, I've seen some terrible movies in my life, but this one takes the cake. I was watching it with my family and every single one of us was cracking up at times because of the awfulness of the movie.

Acting: Terrible. Directing: Awful. Writing: Dreadful.

The storyline was choppy and disconnected at times and some parts were just REALLY strange. The writing was so incredibly cheesy that at first I thought that it was a hokey movie meant to be a joke, but it's absolutely serious. The execution of the movie was an absolute joke. Maybe I'm being cynical and critical, but Arthur's Quest was just SO TERRIBLE that I cant help it.

There are so many things that I could say wrong about this movie, but I really don't have the space so I'll just summarize by saying: DO NOT BUY THIS MOVIE! SPARE YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY THE DISGUST!

A good family-friendly adventure story.

[AmyJaneOnline · 7/10 · 8 October 2011]

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. I notice people are split on their reviews of it -- the "you either love it or you hate it" problem. I watched it with my 9 year old and we both really liked it. In order to enjoy this film, I think you have to set your expectations appropriately low and take it on its own terms. This is a somewhat campy approach to an Arthurian tale and its a little quirky. But its easy enough to enjoy if you just relax and let it do what it wants to with the tale. The acting is overall fairly bad, I think, and so is the writing/dialog, but somehow, the larger subject matter: the tale of Arthur as a little boy being stashed in modern times, is compelling enough to make the story work. It is very nice to have a adventure story that contains almost no gore and very little inappropriate matter (with the exception of Morgana's skimpy costume). It reminded me a lot of the Sorcerer's Apprentice, but scaled-down, with lower production values, and far less intense. Suitable for families, with a charming innate understanding of what appeals to children in the simple style of storytelling.

Excellent fun for the whole family!

[liz09 · 10/10 · 18 May 2001]

I really enjoyed this movie! I had seven children over at my house and put Arthur's Quest in the video machine. All the kids enjoyed it and were completely entranced. The action in the movie is great and keeps the kids entertained but without violence. The children ranged in ages 5 thru 10 and all loved it. Their favorite character was the enjoyable "alley thug" who had tremendous comedic timing. Not only does the movie have action but also has tender moments which touch on family values and wholesome ideals. This is one to watch and have at home when you have a crowd of kids and need to keep them all entertained. Buy it, you won't be sorry!!!