King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)

May 10, 2017 (US) • Action, Drama, Fantasy • 126m

Overview

When the child Arthur’s father is murdered, Vortigern, Arthur’s uncle, seizes the crown. Robbed of his birthright and with no idea who he truly is, Arthur comes up the hard way in the back alleys of the city. But once he pulls the sword Excalibur from the stone, his life is turned upside down and he is forced to acknowledge his true legacy... whether he likes it or not.

Director

Guy Ritchie

Writers

Joby Harold, Lionel Wigram, Joby Harold, David Dobkin, Guy Ritchie

Top Billed

Charlie Hunnam

Keywords

sword legend camelot knight king arthur king excalibur sword and sorcery arthur

Where to watch

Free / Included

Rent

Buy

Top Billed Cast

Charlie Hunnam

Arthur

Jude Law

Vortigern

Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey

The Mage

Djimon Hounsou

Bedivere

Eric Bana

Uther Pendragon

Aidan Gillen

William "Goosefat Bill"

Freddie Fox

Rubio

Craig McGinlay

Percival "Percy"

Tom Wu

"Kung Fu" George

Kingsley Ben-Adir

Tristan "Wet Stick"

Neil Maskell

Back Lack

Annabelle Wallis

Maggie

Zac Barker

Young Arthur 2 Yrs

Oliver Barker

Young Arthur 2 Yrs

Geoff Bell

Mischief John

Poppy Delevingne

Igraine

Millie Brady

Catia

Nicola Wren

Lucy

Wil Coban

Brother Blackleg

Bleu Landau

Blue

Jacqui Ainsley

Lady of the Lake

Georgina Campbell

Kay

Lorraine Bruce

Syren 1

Eline Powell

Syren 2

Hermione Corfield

Syren 3

Rob Knighton

Mordred

Michael Hadley

Mage King

David Beckham

Trigger

Katie McGrath

Elsa

Alan Turkington

General 1

Peter Ferdinando

Earl of Mercia

Michael McElhatton

Jack's Eye

Mikael Persbrandt

Greybeard

Max Rogers

Man In Line

Charlie Rawes

Axeman

James Warren

Mike

Ellie Graham

Maria

Kalle Hennie

Viking

Peter Guinness

Baron 1

Mark Umbers

Baron 2

Adrian Bouchet

Baron 3

Florence Bell

Woman 1

Anna Brooks Beckman

Woman 2

Cordelia Bugeja

Woman 3

Rebecca Calder

Maid 1

Kamil Lemieszewski

Merlin

Lee Nicholas Harris

Dan Clan Mafia (uncredited)

Gintare Beinoraviciute

Noble (uncredited)

Alice E. Mayer

Noble Girl (uncredited)

Claira Watson Parr

Noblewoman (uncredited)

Alphonso Austin

Slave Labourer (uncredited)

Rudy Barrow

Londinium Fighter (uncredited)

Daniel Stisen

SPAC / Londinum Fighter (uncredited)

Joel Bryant

Londinium Fighter (uncredited)

Dacio Caballero

Fighter (uncredited)

Lucy Chappell

Young Mother (uncredited)

Jamie B. Chambers

Knight (uncredited)

Pedro Caxade

Vortigern's Guard (uncredited)

Nick Cornwall

Clan Head 1 (uncredited)

Steve Barnett

Brothel Punter (uncredited)

Guy Ritchie

Inn Owner (uncredited)

Steen Young

Nemesis (uncredited)

Tom Coulston

Pendragon Soldier (uncredited)

Sarah-Jane De Crespigny

Low-Rent Villager (uncredited)

Karl Farrer

Nobleman (uncredited)

Clea Martin

Prostitute (uncredited)

Crew

Andrew Palmer

Art Direction

Guy Ritchie

Director

Joby Harold

Screenplay

Rob Bliss

Concept Artist

Ben Shepherd

Visual Effects

Sarah Lochlan

Stunts

Steve Clark-Hall

Producer

Guy Ritchie

Producer

Joby Harold

Producer

Tory Tunnell

Producer

Akiva Goldsman

Producer

Lionel Wigram

Producer

Simon Hayes

Production Sound Mixer

Christine Blundell

Makeup Designer

Daniel Pemberton

Original Music Composer

Lionel Wigram

Screenplay

Joby Harold

Story

Gemma Jackson

Production Design

David Dobkin

Story

John Mathieson

Director of Photography

Nick Davis

VFX Supervisor

Guy Ritchie

Screenplay

Bruce Berman

Executive Producer

David Dobkin

Executive Producer

James Herbert

Editor

Christine Blundell

Hair Designer

Reg Poerscout-Edgerton

Casting

James Collins

Art Direction

Alastair Don

Location Scout

Denis Schnegg

Supervising Art Director

Max Keene

First Assistant Director

Philip Hedgecock

First Assistant Editor

Oliver Carroll

Art Direction

Anthony Caron-Delion

Art Direction

Sean Barclay

Location Scout

Steven Mnuchin

Executive Producer

Peter Burgis

Foley

Angus Munro

Second Film Editor

Simon Changer

Music Editor

Kevin Penney

Foley Editor

Hayley Easton Street

Art Direction

Donald McInnes

Makeup Artist

Paul Dennis

Set Dresser

Zoe Freed

Foley

Katy Covell

Casting Assistant

Thomas Brown

Art Direction

Brian Donovan

Unit Production Manager

Katrina Mackay

Assistant Art Director

Luigi Marchione

Art Direction

Tina Jones

Set Decoration

Nuria Mbomio

Makeup Artist

Matthew Clarke

Location Manager

Max Keene

Associate Producer

Luke Hull

Art Direction

Katherine Tibbetts

Production Manager

Sue Harding

Foley

Stevee Davies

Casting Assistant

Ollie Gilbert

Casting Assistant

Midge Ferguson

Location Manager

Kevin Daly

Production Manager

Tabitha Quitman

Art Department Coordinator

Lillie Jeffrey

Casting Associate

Malwina Suwinska

Makeup Artist

Matthew Skelding

Dialogue Editor

Zach Marshall

Assistant Editor

Daniel Hillary

Third Assistant Director

Ben Smithers

Assistant Sound Editor

Claire Matthews

Makeup Artist

Karen Elliott

Music Supervisor

Flora Moody

Makeup Artist

Paul Edwards

Steadicam Operator

Sheara Abrahams

Assistant Costume Designer

Linda O'Reilly

Set Costumer

Elizabeth West

Script Supervisor

Lucia Foster Found

Aerial Coordinator

Chris Plevin

Camera Operator

Tessa Phillips

Assistant Costume Designer

Celia Yau

Assistant Costume Designer

Chuck Finch

Gaffer

Mike Valentine

Underwater Camera

Gary Nolan

Rigging Gaffer

Luan Placks

Assistant Costume Designer

Marc Wolff

Pilot

Guy Bennett

Key Grip

Alan Stewart

Second Unit Director of Photography

Wick Finch

Gaffer

Brad Silby

Animation Supervisor

Philippa Wood

Costume Coordinator

Terry Archer

Set Costumer

Greg Corke

Armorer

Amy Lyons

Costume Coordinator

Michael Crusz

Digital Intermediate

William Sumpter

Armorer

John Marzano

Aerial Director of Photography

Steve Ellingworth

Key Grip

Sophie Bugeaud

Assistant Costume Designer

John Gamble

Camera Operator

Courtney McClain

Assistant Costume Designer

Matt Adams

Digital Intermediate

Shawn White

Gaffer

Toby Plaskitt

Russian Arm Operator

Marc Wolff

Aerial Coordinator

Loulou Bontemps

Set Costumer

Tim Perkins

Tailor

Ben Meechan

Sound Effects Editor

Jinnie Pak

Visual Effects Producer

Michael Cliett

Digital Effects Supervisor

Martin Chamney

Pre-Visualization Supervisor

Alex Bicknell

Visual Effects Producer

Darrell Warner

Costume Illustrator

Evelien Kortum

Script Supervisor

Oliver Cubbage

CG Supervisor

Janek Lender

Pre-Visualization Supervisor

Philipp Wolf

Visual Effects Producer

Bernd Angerer

Animation Director

Will Samuelson

Aerial Coordinator

Ciarán Keenan

Visual Effects Producer

Louis Paré

CG Supervisor

Paul Driver

Visual Effects Producer

Chris Burdon

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Dominic Gibbs

Supervising Sound Editor

Jonathan Vaughn

CG Supervisor

Steph Lynn Robinson

Stereoscopic Coordinator

Danny Sheehan

ADR Supervisor

Daniel Smith

Still Photographer

Lisa Shanley

Assistant Costume Designer

Brian Pohl

Pre-Visualization Supervisor

Fiona Foster

Visual Effects Producer

Marco Scotti

Costume Supervisor

Marianne Huet

Script Supervisor

Omar Morsy

Animation Supervisor

Marta Padilla

3D Modeller

Derek Burgess

VFX Editor

Leah Beevers

CG Supervisor

Jason Swanscott

Foley

Paul Worley

Key Grip

Eric Petey

Animation Supervisor

Leah Jones

VFX Editor

Andrew Stirk

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Jennifer Fairweather

Visual Effects Producer

James Boyle

Sound Designer

Daniel Rogers

Health and Safety

Uli Meyer

Storyboard Artist

Viktor Petrov

Director of Previsualization

Jonathan Fawkner

Visual Effects Supervisor

Adam Horley

Dialogue Editor

Michael Schlingmann

Storyboard Artist

Georgia Warner

Art Direction

Michael Eaton

Graphic Designer

Ana McKillop

Special Effects Technician

James Herbert

Executive Producer

Michael Byrch

Stunts

Pete Ford

Stunts

Caterina Boselli

Location Coordinator

Cristian Knight

Stunts

Paul Hayes

Third Assistant Director

George Kirby

Stunts

Elliot Hawkes

Stunts

Annabel Wood

Stunt Double

Stuart Penn

CG Supervisor

Sol Saihati

Lighting Technician

Kiel Figgins

Senior Animator

Cali Nelle

Stunt Double

Luke Scott

Stunts

Christian Kaestner

Visual Effects Supervisor

Darren Tubby

Draughtsman

Olivier Dumont

Visual Effects Supervisor

Annie Symons

Costume Design

Josh Evans

Matte Painter

Andrew Banwell

Other

Chris Lyons

Special Effects Makeup Artist

Nathaniel De'Lineadeus

Special Effects Makeup Artist

Jo Grover

Special Effects Makeup Artist

Natalia Osipova

Makeup Artist

Ray Marston

Wigmaker

Reviews

Gimly

⭐ 5/10

July 25, 2017

It's hard to try and recommend this latest reimagining of the Arthurian legend. It's not very good, but it comes across as the sort of movie that might be a really cool time to see on the big screen. Unfortunately, by now it's finished its theatrical run, and because its not very good, I can't imagine it will ever get another one. So the one way I would like to see it, is a way it can no longer be seen. Because it's not very good.

It's Camelot… read the rest.

Reno

⭐ 7/10

November 29, 2017

**A different take on the sword in the stone!**

This one came with a little surprise. I know it was a Guy Ritchie film and I had enjoyed all his previous flicks. But for some reasons, I felt I'm not that interested in this. Even trailer looked okayish. Watching the film now I realised that I've totally misjudged it. Still not a masterpiece, but a much better entertainer. The graphics were awesome. The settings were totally encouraging to glue … read the rest.

Dark Jedi

⭐ 8/10

December 30, 2017

These days have been a bit of a movie marathon with the kids being here since the 24th so we have made quite a dent in the to-watch shelf of my movie collection.

Yesterday it was time for some rehashing of the Pendragonian legends in the form of King Arthur: The Legend of the Sword. Usually I find it dangerous business to mess with classical and well proven stories. Do not fix what is not broken and all that. I did, however, find this rehash quite entertaining.

The base of the story is of course, and thankfully, the same: Uther is killed, Excalibur ends up in a stone, Arthur pulls Excalibur out of the stone, lots of swordfights, Arthur becomes king. The details of that story is rehashed quite a lot though.

The movie opens up with some fairly cool action where Uther combats Mordred (yes Mordred already in the opening scenes, as I said, rehash…) who attacks Camelot with black magic and king-sized (pun intended) combat elephants. I cannot say too much about what happens without spoiling a lot but the sword ends up in the stone and Arthur ends up…somewhere else.

So already from the start the movie asserted two things, that it is a different take on the Pendragon saga and that it is fairly heavy on action, black magic and special effects. I was a bit worried about the rehashing of the saga bit at this point but, as you have already deduced from the above, overall I quite enjoyed the movie.

The movie proceeds by showing us Arthur growing up in a bit more misery than the traditional stories do but it does so in more or less fast forward mode and we arrive rather quickly to the point were Arthur pulls out the sword from the stone.

This is were I have a bit of a gripe with the movie. This moment felt a bit anticlimactic and even disappointing. There was not big moment of awe just confusion. As the movie blurb hints at, Arthur is neither ready nor willing to become a king. So at this point everyone has to go through the hassle of convincing him. I rarely like this reluctant hero concept. Boring!

Luckily Arthur has a merry band of friends to help him chose the right path and this is were the movie spends quite a bit of time. With Arthur as a bit of a Robin Hood in the woods and him and his compadres nibbling at Vortigern’s heels. Of course every so often Arthur is nudged towards his destiny and the action when he decides, well is forced is perhaps more correct, to pick up Excalibur it becomes a bit of an FX feast.

In terms of acting and characters I would say that they all made a fairly good job of it. Arthur himself is stuck with the reluctant hero role, which I am not too found of as I wrote before, but he is doing a decent enough job of it. Vortigern is not bad as the chief bad guy. I did like the mage although most of the time she was looking into the distance and flapping her eyelids. That is when things were happening though. You do NOT want this gal to flip her eyelids at you!

Naturally everything was slowly building up towards the big bada boum between Arthur and Vortigern and, again, I think this was fairly well done. Lots of action, lots of magic and lots of FX. I really enjoyed how things played out at the end and all the visuals. One thing that I did like more with this version of the story, okay bit of a spoiler ahead, is that it did not end as tragically as the usual King Arthur story.

Bottom line, if you are set in stone as to what the Pendragon saga should be then watch another movie. If not and you’re up for some nice fantasy action adventure in the Pendragon universe you might like this movie. I did!

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fenicka

⭐ 9/10

July 4, 2018

When this movie came up last year, I didn't know Guy Ritchie so I thought like why would people do such stupid movies. Then I learned about Guy Ritchie and his wonderful movies but my thoughts still continued; why would Guy Ritchie make a movie that looks so different from his style. Today, I've finally watched the movie and I regret everything I've thought.
At first 10 minutes you get bored a little bit and wonder why did he left his style. TH… read the rest.

Filipe Manuel Neto

⭐ 5/10

June 19, 2022

**Lots of action, lots of CGI, lots of money, lots of anachronism mistakes, little historical sense and little investment in the characters in a movie made to be forgotten.**

I can't count the films that already exist about the Arthurian legends, or their characters or elements. I could cite several examples, but I believe that each of the readers will be aware of this and will have already seen at least two or three films about it. And the truth is that some of these films are memorable, remarkable. Others not so much. This particular film, I believe, will soon be forgotten. Directed by Guy Ritchie, an ambitious director who gives us satisfying films as easily as he assails us with horrors, it was supposedly the beginning of a sextet of films that will never see the light of day. In fact, this film was so absurdly expensive to produce and release that it had no scope to make a profit for Warner Bros., which, of course, canceled the project.

Let's face it, the movie isn't even bad, and it's reasonably entertaining. However, I got the feeling that it didn't really bet on the Arthurian legends, taking only its core elements, and the characters names, to create a new story where the impressive CGI could shine. In fact, it is in the production values, and in the technical aspects, that the film stands out: the CGI is of high quality, it fills the screen with beautiful visual effects, and the final fight between Arthur and Vortigern is, perhaps, one of the examples more finely finished. The sound effects work wonderfully, and produce an almost immersive effect, especially if you have a good surround system available. The costumes, the design of the sets, everything is excellent and very well done. The film was expensive, but we see the money invested.

Another of the film's strengths is its lavish cast, in which Jude Law shines in a particular way. Indeed, the actor is living an excellent phase in his career, choosing his projects well and showing signs of maturity and commitment to his work. In this film, he is so skilled and good at what he does that he steals all the attention, giving his character an aura of malice and near-insanity befitting someone corrupted by power. I also really liked Djimon Hounsou's work, and even Charlie Hunnam did well, although I don't really like the way he brought Arthur to life. Eric Bana has a decent job, however he doesn't have room to do much, and neither does the rest of the cast. The film is not good for women: Astrid Frisbey is ridiculously underused, while Annabelle Wallis and Poppy Delevingne are almost reduced to extras.

This brings me to the first problem with this film: it is too contemporary to be able to make me feel the atmosphere of the 6th century BC, which is the period where Arthur is believed to have existed. Despite the scenery, the clothes, and even the presence of some elegant architectural elements that we associate with the Roman Empire (destroyed aqueducts, some arcades, some old public baths and even an amphitheatre), the characters are never really people of that time, denouncing the 21st century in the way they behave. And then we still have glaring anachronistic errors like the use of swords (and other weaponry and clothing) from the 13th and 14th century in a movie that was supposed to be set almost 700 years earlier. Another example of anachrony is the presence of the Vikings in the film, when it would be more obvious to have Picts, Angles, Jutes and even some Saxons, which are peoples that have little to do with the Vikings, whose maritime expansion would take place centuries later.

Another problem with this film is Ritchie's erratic direction. So fascinated was he by CGI and visuals that the director forgot about the rest. The filming and cinematography work is quite weak and insecure; the editing, on the other hand, seems to make random cuts and is not very effective or subtle. The soundtrack is banal and doesn't stay in the ear. In addition, the overkill in CGI and effects has led the film to feel contrived and devoid of emotion and heart, yet it still feels like an expensive film.

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