First Knight (1995)

Director:

Jerry Zucker

Writers (WGA):

Lorne Cameron (story) &
David Hoselton (story) ...

Release Date:

7 July 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Their greatest battle would be for her love.

Plot:

Lancelot falls in love with Guinevere, who is due to be married to King Arthur. Meanwhile, a violent warlord tries to seize power from Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

Plot Keywords:

Box Office Flop | King Arthur | Legend | Sword Fight | Adultery

Cast

Sean Connery	...	King Arthur
Richard Gere	...	Lancelot
Julia Ormond	...	Guinevere
Ben Cross	...	Prince Malagant
Liam Cunningham	...	Agravaine
Christopher Villiers	...	Sir Kay
Valentine Pelka	...	Sir Patrise
Colin McCormack	...	Sir Mador
Ralph Ineson	...	Ralf
John Gielgud	...	Oswald
Stuart Bunce	...	Peter, King's Stableman
Jane Robbins	...	Elise
Jean Marie Coffey	...	Petronella
Paul Kynman	...	Mark
Tom Lucy	...	Sir Sagramore

Also Known As:

Erste Ritter, Der (Austria) (Germany) [de]
Elsö lovag, Az (Hungary) [hu]
Förste riddaren, Den (Sweden) [sv]
First Knight (Denmark) [da]
Ilk sövalye (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Lancelot (France) [fr]
Lancelot - ensimmäinen ritari (Finland) [fi]
Lancelot, el primer caballero (Argentina) [es]
Lancelot, o Primeiro Cavaleiro (Brazil) [pt]
Lancelot, o protos ippotis (Greece) [el]
Premier chevalier, Le (Canada: French title) [fr]
Primeiro Cavaleiro, O (Portugal) [pt]
Primer caballero, El (Spain) [es]
Primo cavaliere, Il (Italy) [it]
Prvi vitez (Slovenia) [sl]
True Knight (Japan: English title) [en]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some brutal medieval battles.

Runtime:

134 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Netherlands:12 | France:Unrated | Philippines:PG-13 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #33590) | Iceland:12 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | South Korea:12 (DVD rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Finland:K-14 | Germany:12 (w) | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Ashridge Park, Little Gaddesden, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Former James Bond director Terence Young was supposed to direct this film but died during early pre-production. It would have reunited him with his James Bond actor Sean Connery after 30 years. Their last movie together was Thunderball (1965) in 1965.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Evidence of lawnmowers visible when Arthur's knights charge Maligant's forces after they attack the fake camp.

Quotes:

Lancelot: Do you know how to win a sword fight?
John: How?
Lancelot: Be the only one with a sword!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Game K N B: (2006-11-28)" (2006)

King Arthur's tale made into uninteresting film.

This is a painfully bad retelling of the Arthurian Legend. The bad guys use crossbow pistols and wear black leather ala Road Warrior, The good guys look like a high school production of Camelot. Camelot itself looks like part of Disneyland.

The story centers around Richard Gere as an unappealing Lancelot, Sean Connery as a doddering Arthur and Julia Ormond (Guenevere) who, despite being the high point of the film, is completely unable to convince us that she has any affection for the wizened Arthur.

Bad guys grimace, music sweeps heroically, rousing speaches and predictability ensue, followed by a forgettable conclusion.

Not worth it even for fans of the genre.