First Knight Blu-ray offers solid video and audio in this fan-pleasing Blu-ray release
With no ties, no enemies and no fear, Lancelot is the perfect warrior. He comes to Camelot not for glory or knighthood, although he finds both, but for the love of the one woman he cannot have, the beautiful and honorable Lady Guinevere of Leonesse. Guinevere has promised to marry King Arthur not only because his army will protect her country, but because she truly loves him for his wise and gentle ways. As she prepares to enter Camelot as its new queen, a chance encounter with Lancelot awakens conflicting and powerful emotions within her. For Arthur, she represents a once-in-a-lifetime chance at true love and a beloved queen for his kingdom. Likewise, the king comes to see Lancelot as possessing the honor and bravery of a true Knight. He welcomes them both into his city and into his heart, never foreseeing how his great capacity for love and trust opens the doors for his betrayal.
Times were hard. A man made his living any way he could. And Lancelot had always been
good
with a sword...
I have a copy of First Knight on VHS. It's buried somewhere in a box deep inside a
closet
I
never venture into, and about all I remember of the movie is that I own it and never had any
desire
to watch it whenever I used to actually dig through my VHS tapes in search of something to
watch.
That and it stars Sean Connery (A Bridge Too Far) and Richard Gere (Shall We Dance?) and has some swords
and
armor and horses and castles and other random medieval things in it, and is based on the legend
of
King Arthur. In other words, only the most basic of memories stuck with me when it came to
this
picture, so my expectations coming into this screening were rather low, but the excitement of
seeing the movie sorta-kinda like the first time all over again proved an interesting one. It turns
out that a few scenes sparked some far-recessed memories, but as the credits rolled I realized
that
I truly had forgotten just about everything seen in the movie. My "ho-hum" feeling remains.
First Knight is certainly good enough to watch, but mediocre enough to forget until it is
released on another format in 13 years. If I review it then, I am certain the memory of having
watched it today on Blu-ray will be only a clouded one, making the experience once again
sorta-kinda like watching it for the first time all over again (again).
That table's in a world of trouble.
A love story at its core, First Knight is the filmed legend of a common man and
extraordinary
sword
fighter Lancelot (Gere) and his newfound and undeniable love for Lady Guinevere (Julia Ormond,
I Know Who Killed
Me).
She's to be married to King Arthur (Connery); they have been in love since childhood and she is
only now prepared to wed him. She loves him not for his power or position but for his heart,
although
the recent attack on her village by a band of rebel thugs led by former knight of the Round Table
Prince Malagant (Ben Cross, When Nietzsche Wept) has led her to marry him now to
garner
protection for her town by the forces of Camelot. When she is ambushed by Malagant's men,
Lancelot (no
surprise) comes to Lady Guinevere's rescue. Although she has proclaimed her love for Arthur,
Lancelot now desires the lady for himself, and goes to great lengths to win her affection. He
earns
Arthur's trust in the process, and when he rescues Guinevere yet again from the clutches of
Malagant and his men, he is Knighted by Arthur, joining the forces of the Round Table and
replacing the vacant spot left by Malagant. Having finally found a position of responsibility in life,
the once-aimless
Lancelot must defend the kingdom while suppressing any public display of his love for Guinevere,
proclaiming
it repeatedly to the lady but never letting his intentions be known to the King.
First Knight is one of those movies that's best watched and forgotten a few weeks later.
Certainly not a terrible movie by any stretch, its predictable nature, mostly boring action
sequences, and lack of the magical elements associated with Camelot nevertheless make it one
of
the lesser
tales I've encountered pertaining to the famous legend, and a mostly average movie on the
whole. Hokey to the core, First Knight
gives a valiant effort to entertain, but the formulaic plot, generic dialogue, and overlong runtime
are but even more obstacles that this Jerry Zucker (Ghost) directed film
can't quite overcome. Despite these shortcomings, the movie does carry with it a decent pace
despite a length that could have definitely been trimmed a bit. The first hour of the movie
moved
noticeably fast; I was shocked when I glanced at the time and saw the movie was about 55
minutes in. The movie as a whole is definitely watchable, it just doesn't live up to the
expectations of an Arthurian-themed motion picture, especially one starring two of the
then-biggest names in the movie business.
It is indeed perhaps the cast that proves to be one of the film's greatest strengths (perhaps
behind
only the set design and sometimes visually exciting cinematography) yet also most
noticeable flaw. Julia Ormond is fine as Guinevere; she plays her part appropriately scared,
angered, awestruck, shamed, shocked, or in love right on cue, always ready for whatever
emotion her next scene calls for her to emote.
Ben Cross is also fine as Malagant, though I can't help but think that an actor such as Jeremy
Irons could have done a bit more with the part, or what Cross could have done with it, for that
matter, under the guise of a more strongly developed character. Sean Connery makes for an
excellent "aged"
Arthur, bringing a presence, authority, and charisma to the part, although Connery is such a
fine
and well-known actor that despite his best effort, I could never completely lose myself in the
performance and become convinced that he was King Arthur through and through. That leads
us
to Richard Gere, a fine actor, but wholly out of place. He brings a somewhat comical and
less-than-believable wit and childlike persona to the character of Lancelot, one that has the
audience
believing his "love" to be more of a boyish crush, a "hey I rescued you, the least you can do is
give this dashing young man a thank-you kiss" attitude that's certainly never really befitting the
tale. Gere's best movies are when he can play a more refined, dignified, tailored hero (see the
character Edward Lewis in Pretty Woman); he just doesn't do well as the unkempt,
boyish, almost obnoxious character he plays here. I must admit, however, to enjoying his
performance at the beginning of the movie when he played "common-man" Lancelot, a
wandering entertainer, of sorts, who fought (but never injured) locals for money. I believe that
had the character of Lancelot
been cast more for the role rather than looks (after all, how could any woman resist a film with
both Gere and Connery in it, the studio execs must have been thinking), the film would have
turned out much better than it did.
Mostly impressive is the 1080p, 1.85:1 transfer Sony has produced for this Blu-ray edition of
First Knight. The overall quality is quite good; certainly no great shakes next to the
latest and greatest Blu-ray releases, this transfer nevertheless holds up very well. Detail is
impressive, as is depth, the result a sometimes breathtaking, cinematic, big-feeling image that
suits the subject material very well. There is quite a bit of grain to be seen throughout, and it
gets downright heavy in some long distance shots, but that's all part of the natural charm of the
look of the movie. Colors are impressive, the blues of Camelot and the greens of the locales both
vibrant and alive, starkly contrasting to the dank, lifeless abandoned castle/dungeon where
Malagant and his men hold Guinevere captive. The more vibrant hues are often dramatic and
exciting to look at; they can be, however, somewhat muted in appearance in some shots, losing
some luster but for the most part, they remain both bold and pleasing. A scene near the
beginning of the movie showing a primitive version of soccer looks especially good and is
demonstrative of how this disc looks at its very best, showcasing excellent color reproduction,
tremendous depth, fine detail, and excellent clarity, though only a bit soft. The print does
demonstrate a few flaws now and again, notably a long, black vertical line in one spot, but for a
13+ year old film, the results are about as good as can be expected. Black levels are excellent; a
nighttime battle scene near the end of the movie standing out as the best example. Overall, the
image is definitely not pristine or 5-star material, but gosh darn it if I didn't adore the look of the
movie. Before the age of crystal-clear digital cinema, IMAX, or DLP projection, I saw many a film
projected onto the big screen, replete with a few flaws on the print and consistent grain, and I
love that look. It takes me back to my childhood, and this film, perhaps more than any other
I've
seen on Blu-ray, perfectly represents the typical look of a theatrical movie I so vividly remember
from that time.
Presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless surround, First Knight sounds good on Blu-ray,
but
this track ultimately finds itself a bit lacking. The first thing I noticed was that dialogue sounded
a
bit off, as if it increases and decreases in volume, ever so slightly, in certain scenes, noted first at
the beginning of the movie as Lancelot fights for money. Jerry Goldsmith's (Hollow Man) score is
both engaging and loud, providing an excellent theatrical reproduction quality, similar to the
sound you would expect to hear in a high-end movie house with a quality sound system. It does
get a
bit too loud at times, and I had to resist the urge to turn the volume down on occasion from my
normal reviewing volume. The music does emanate from every speaker and is wholly engaging
and fun to listen to. Ambience is present, with just as much, if not more, coming from the front
channels that the rears. Bass is often utilized but never wears out
its welcome or leaves your eardrums bleeding. The combat scenes, some replete with the
pounding hooves of charging horses, bring out the lows. The .1 channel is well-represented here,
but as an older mix, it's just not as thorough and deep as we're used to experiencing on newer
mixes. Nevertheless, this is a fine effort from Sony, and I have no doubt that fans of the movie,
those most familiar with the nuances of the First Knight sonic experience, will be more
than pleased with the end
result of this lossless offering.
First Knight gallops onto Blu-ray with a fairly good array of extra materials. The
primaries
are two commentary tracks, the first with director Jerry Zucker and producer Hunt Lowry. Even
these participants admit this could have been a better movie, and generally poke fun at it and
their
involvement therein. Definitely not MST3K-esque, but not a serious track either, this
duo
offers up interesting nuggets of background information, broken up by various moments of dead
air,
with a levity and humor generally not heard in commentary tracks. The second track features
Arthurian historian Corey James Rushton. He examines the history of the film from a literary
and
historical perspective, speaking as if lecturing on the subject rather than chatting with us.
Generally, I enjoy the "lecture hall" style commentary, but this one proved rather dull and
uninteresting. I'd recommend listening to the first track, but only King Arthur historians and
die-hard fans of this movie will probably appreciate the second one.
Next up are three featurettes. The first, The Quest For Camelot (480p, 18:51, complete
with some unbalanced, "harsh" sounding dialogue from Jerry Zucker) looks at the film from a
more philosophical perspective. The Creation of a Kingdom (480p, 18:11) examines the
construction of the impressive sets built for the film, from ideas for design to construction. The
off-sounding Zucker is back in this feature. In Shining Armor: Knights in Training
(1080i, 18:52), as the title suggests, takes us behind-the-scenes to witness the physical training
of the cast for their roles as medieval warriors. Concluding the supplements are several deleted
and extended scenes (1080p, 7:16, listen for audio drop-outs) and 1080p trailers for The Water Horse: Legend of
the Deep and A Knight's Tale.
First Knight ranks as a very average motion picture, one that won't leave you completely
angry or disappointed for having watched it, but it's a movie that is completely forgettable
nevertheless,
one that won't wow or leave you in awe. I envision the perfect screening of First Knight to
be when you're channel surfing at 2:00 AM, lying on your couch, only half awake, and your choices
are a rerun of SportsCenter, an infomercial for the latest and greatest in pots and pans, or
First Knight. It may or may not put you to sleep, but it's just good enough to hold your
interest should you choose to pay attention. Presented here for the first time on Blu-ray, First
Knight looks and sounds rather good; both audio and video qualities above average but not
spectacular, although the video quality has a fine cinematic look and feel to it. The supplements are
about average, and listening to the film's director and producer take jabs at their own film is
definitely worth the time. Not a bad disc at all, I'm comfortable recommending First Knight
as a Blu-ray purchase only for fans of the film.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced that they will bring the Jerry Zucker film 'First Knight' to Blu-ray on April 29th, day-and-date with the Special Edition DVD release. Video will be presented in 1.85:1 1080p AVC accompanied by a Dolby TrueHD sountrack. ...
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