Excalibur, 1981.
Directed by John Boorman.
Starring Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren, Nicholas Clay, Cherie Lunghi, Paul Geoffrey, and Nicol Williamson.
SYNOPSIS:
If you love John Boorman’s Excalibur as much as I do, despite the many criticisms lobbed its way over the years (and, yes, it’s not a perfect film), then you’ll want to grab this new Limited Edition 4K Ultra HD edition from Arrow. You get restored picture quality, a bunch of physical extras, including a nice booklet, and tons of new bonus features. Arrow even threw in a fun curiosity: the TV-friendly version of the film. Highly recommended.
I love this movie. In fact, I love it so much that I had to pre-order the Limited Edition from Arrow Video, since I only receive QA discs from them for reviews. I haven’t received it yet, but I do have the QA discs in hand, so that’s the basis for this review.
Released in 1981, John Boorman’s Excalibur is a lavish telling of the epic Arthurian legend, beginning with Merlin (Nicol Williamson) obtaining the fabled sword from the Lady of the Lake and giving it to Uther Pendragon (Gabriel Byrne).
He helps Uther seduce the Duke of Cornwall’s wife, Igrayne (Katrine Boorman, the director’s daughter), in exchange for his first-born child, Arthur (Nigel Terry). Even if you haven’t seen this film, you probably know the broad strokes of the story from there: a dying Uther impales Excalibur in a stone and declares that whoever pulls it out will be King of England.
Arthur grows up as a simple squire who frees Excalibur and allies himself with Leodegrance (Patrick Stewart), defeating Uryens (Keith Buckley) and eventually forming the Knights of the Round Table with Guenevere (Cherie Lunghi) by his side. Lancelot (Nicholas Clay) shows up to challenge Arthur and eventually becomes his closest ally, only to betray him.
Helen Mirren plays the grown-up version of Morgana le Fay, Arthur’s half-sister who is revealed to have magical powers that rival Merlin’s, and Robert Addie is Arthur’s son, Mordred, who eventually turns on his father. Liam Neeson has a small but mighty role as the knight Gawain.
I know, Excalibur has its detractors and I realize it’s not a perfect movie, but I’ve always loved it as a great example of 1980s-era swrod-and-sorcery done right. Arrow commissioned a restoration of the film that’s pretty much the pinnacle of its presentation on home video. I don’t see how any future editions could improve on its picture quality.
The 4K Ultra HD platter features the film and a trio of commentary tracks: an archival one by Boorman and two new ones by author Brian Hoyle (The Cinema of John Boorman) and documentary filmmaker David Kittredge (Boorman and the Devil). The Boorman track is actually a bit dull, unfortunately, but the other two more than make up for that with discussions full of information and insights. Amazingly, there’s very little repetition between them.
You also get a pair of Blu-rays. The first one is packed with a ton of great extras:
• The Making of Excalibur: Myth into Movie (48:19): Neil Jordan directed this excellent documentary that apparently hasn’t been included in any prior home video releases of the film. It’s from 1981, but it’s a great making-of that showcases many of the issues that beset the production.
• To Be a Knight and Follow a King (28:12): Boorman, who’s still with us at the ripe old age of 93, sat down for this new interview about the film. Looks like he’ll still be around for a while. His son Charley makes a cameo appearance.
• When Death Was But a Dream (25:07): Working on the documentary about Excalibur helped launched Neil Jordan’s career, and he looks back on that time in his life in this new interview.
• The Charm of Making (26:11): Production designer Anthony Pratt is the focus of this new interview.
• Confession of a Professional “Pain in the Arse” (75 minutes): Filmmaker Howard S. Berger conducted this interview with second unit director Peter MacDonald, which is full of great stories. Amazingly, this was cut down from a four-and-a-half-hour dicussion. The only drawback is that it was recorded via Zoom, so the video quality isn’t great, but who cares?
• Anam Cara (37:34): Berger pops in again to talk about the film and give co-writer Rospo Pallenberg the props he deserves.
• Divided Nature (30:07): Berger shows up for the final time with his collaborator Kevin Marr to discuss Boorman’s filmography and some of the themes that run through many of his films.
Finally, we have a pair of trailers and five image galleries, including one that contains the screenplay.
That would probably be enough for fans, but Arrow went the extra mile with a third disc that contains another home video first: the TV-friendly version of the film. While Excalibur doesn’t go crazy with sex and violence, there is enough of it, plus some nudity, that it was rated R in theaters. Nothing new was added for TV broadcast, aside from some new voice-over from Merlin here and there.
Also included on the third disc is the 52-minute Excalibur: Behind the Movie, which hails from 2016 and serves up archival footage along with interviews with Boorman, Mirren, Neeson, Stewart, and others.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
Originally published February 23, 2026. Updated February 24, 2026.
