Parents' Guide to

Excalibur

By Charles Cassady Jr., Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Epic King Arthur saga with illicit affairs and brutality.

Movie R 1981 143 minutes
Excalibur Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 15+

Based on 2 parent reviews

JR01
JR01 Adult
November 13, 2017
age 16+

Explicit, violent, visually stunning film

Parents should know that one of the early scenes in this movie is a violent rape. There is a great deal of violence and gore. There are appealing characters in this film, but no role models — Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot are all famously unsympathetic, and their selfishness undoes Camelot. Merlin and Morgan are the most watchable characters in the story, but Morgan is evil and Merlin is ultimately ineffectual. It is a visually impressive and interesting film, but not for kids.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Mattmchugh
Mattmchugh Parent of 8 and 11-year-old
March 26, 2012
age 14+

Excellent Arthurian version, but full of violence and sex

The Arthurian legend is packed with violence and peppered with sex, and this film skimps on neither. Still, there is really only one scene that is completely inappropriate for older pre-teens: a sex scene, very early on, that's pretty much rape. Makes perfect sense in the story, but it is definitely too intense for under-13. If you can fast forward past that, there's just some discreetly obscured nudity and implied coupling. However, there is still lots of bloodly, limb-hacking combat. Again, it fits the story and subject matter perfectly -- and it's light-years from the gratuitous sadism of moden horror movies -- but it's unflinchingly realistic, so be warned. This is, by far, the best version of the Arthurian legend ever put on film, but it is meant for adults. Mature mid-teens, maybe, but I'd go no younger.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
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What's the Story?

In the Dark-Age British Isles, ageless wizard Merlin (Nicol Williamson) gives warlord Uther Pendragon (Gabriel Byrne) the invincible sword EXCALIBUR, forged at the dawn of time, a weapon-symbol to unite the squabbling fiefdoms. Pendragon makes peace with his main rival, only to grow obsessed with the man's wife, and he resumes fighting -- over her. The wizard casts a spell that grants Pendragon's lusts, on the condition Merlin take custody of the child that results. He is Arthur (Nigel Terry), raised ignorant of his royalty, a humble squire in a noble knight's family. Arthur accidentally proves his right to the throne by pulling Excalibur from the stone in which a dying Pendragon embedded it. Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table build a kingdom and of peace and prosperity, until his treacherous half-sister Morgana (Helen Mirren) and a forbidden love affair between Queen Guinevere (Cherie Lunghi) and champion knight Lancelot (Nicolas Clay) bring evil and unrest upon the land.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2):
Kids say (3):

Don't expect this to be a modern "thrill ride" action epic crowd pleaser, but what such a saga would look like if some bard from 1100 A.D. or so hopped into a time machine to go to film school. The story of Arthur, Guinevere, Merlin and Lancelot has been done so often, in print and on film (even as a Broadway musical and a devastating spoof) that Excalibur filmmaker John Boorman must have decided not to waste time/dialogue evoking the iconic characters as real people. Only Merlin, a capering, trickster-like creature (providing the lone comic relief) has a personality; the rest of the cast (such distinctive actors as Liam Neeson, Patrick Stewart, and Gabriel Byrne, anonymously encased in armor) are as flat as figures in a tapestry, perhaps intentionally so. Emphasis is instead on the Celtic natural-world backdrop -- the mythic, emerald-green Irish shooting locations -- and a medieval mindset of brutal violence, might making right, and paganism (just barely) surrendering to Christianity.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the centuries-old appeal of the story of King Arthur. How does Excalibur compare to other versions?

  • How does the violence in this movie compare to more modern movies? Is it less intense because it's less sophisticated?

  • How does the period clothing and setting affect the way the sex is depicted, if at all? Does it seem less realistic than if it were depicted in a modern setting? Or more shocking? Romantic?

Movie Details

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