...romantic and brutal, lyrically beautiful yet grittily realistic.
fter seeing "Excalibur" in a theater in 1981, I remember looking forward to owning it on tape. It was a long time coming, and when it did arrive it was disappointing. The VHS version was in pan-and-scan, blurred and grainy, with monaural sound that was loud and brash. By contrast, the 480-resolution, standard-definition DVD restored the film to something near its original widescreen dimensions. The colors were more neutral than before, skin tones less dark in appearance, although, overall, the hues were still somewhat softly focused. One could notice some graininess, too, especially in the many dark scenes as well as in brightly lit sky.
Now, we have the HD-DVD in 1080 resolution, and again one can see noticeable improvement in sharpness and color, although perhaps not so great an improvement as in other HD-DVD releases, and certainly not the improvement one saw in the SD DVD over videotape. The HD-DVD's widescreen picture commendably fills a 1.78:1 television screen, and, yes, the colors are even more natural than before. Indeed, on direct comparison, the regular SD edition's hues seem more blurred and more garish, faces, for instance, appearing too orangish. However, even though the HD color is better, its greater definition makes the film's original print grain more noticeable than before, and given that most of the film's scenes are quite dark, visible print grain is inevitable. I must also add that there were a couple of brief moments when the image appeared to jitter a tad. It was almost indiscernible, but I'd swear it was present and repeatable. Fortunately, it should not be a concern to any viewer who isn't looking for it, and it passes so quickly it is not worth fretting over.
Understand, Boorman set out to make a dark and gritty film (these were the Dark Ages, after all). He sets most of his picture at night or inside dark castles or dark forests. Boorman meant "Excalibur" as a kind of medieval film noir. He was not after a pristine, crystal-clear look. So, as a result of the director's intent and perhaps the effects of time, "Excalibur" does not display the best-looking HD-DVD picture quality on disc, not by a long shot, but, as I've said, it probably comes pretty close to representing the film's original print, and that's what any good video reproduction should do.
Audio:
The HD-DVD audio is in Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround, and like its previous DD 5.1 remastering, it opens up nicely in the front speakers, displays wide dynamics, and occasionally makes good use of the rear channels. Sound in the standard-definition disc's Dolby Digital 5.1 was often bright and harsh, and the HD-DVD's Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 modulates it slightly. Nevertheless, voices can often appear sour and pinched, particularly in the first half of the film. Oddly, in the film's second half the voices seem more normal. I noticed this issue in the SD edition, too, but the added clarity of DD+ makes it even more evident.
Anyway, the advantage of the DD+ track is that it not only softens the brightness, it increases the dynamic impact and the strength of the deep bass. There are a couple of moments when I thought the room was going to shake apart from the disc's low-end output. Finally, the DD+ made me more aware of subtle rear-channel sounds, things like environmental forest noises, background voices, and musical ambience. Thank goodness for small favors. Like the video, the DD+ soundtrack is not the best around, but it's an improvement on what came before.
Extras:
The HD-DVD offers no more in the way of extras than the earlier SD disc did. The main thing is director John Boorman's commentary track. Boorman has made all too few films, and the ones he has given us are uniquely personal. His inside look at filmmaking is worth one's attention. Otherwise, there are English, French, and Spanish spoken languages; English and French subtitles; English captions for the hearing impaired; a theatrical trailer; and a generous forty-five scene selections. And, of course, there are the usual Warner Bros. HD-DVD bonuses: pop-up menus, a zoom-and-pan feature, an indicator of elapsed time, and an Elite Red HD case.
Parting Thoughts:
Certainly, "Excalibur" is not the only good movie version of the Arthur legend it's simply among the best. Among many other films with their respective charms are "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" (1949), "Prince Valiant" (1954), "The Black Knight" (1954), "Lancelot and Guinevere" (1963), "Camelot" (1967), "Lancelot du Lac" (1974), "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (1975), "First Knight" (1995), "Dragonheart" (1996), and "The Mists of Avalon" (2001, TV). But none of them encapsulates so much of the Arthur magic as Boorman's film.
I know that many moviegoers today would rather see special-effects-laden sci-fi or fantasy extravaganzas than old-fashioned Romantic epics, but I hope we haven't dulled our imaginations so much by computer graphics that we cannot appreciate the excitement of chivalry, courtly love, prancing horses, and flashing steel. In the Arthur mythology we read that "Some day a king will come, and the sword will rise again." In "Excalibur" John Boorman proves that the feats of King Arthur and his knights can still capture and hold our attention. With the HD-DVD marginally improving the movie's audiovisual qualities, the romance and adventure of Arthur and his knights should flourish for some time to come.
"Here lies Arthur, the once and future King." --Sir Thomas Malory, "Le Morte D'Arthur"
Now, we have the HD-DVD in 1080 resolution, and again one can see noticeable improvement in sharpness and color, although perhaps not so great an improvement as in other HD-DVD releases, and certainly not the improvement one saw in the SD DVD over videotape. The HD-DVD's widescreen picture commendably fills a 1.78:1 television screen, and, yes, the colors are even more natural than before. Indeed, on direct comparison, the regular SD edition's hues seem more blurred and more garish, faces, for instance, appearing too orangish. However, even though the HD color is better, its greater definition makes the film's original print grain more noticeable than before, and given that most of the film's scenes are quite dark, visible print grain is inevitable. I must also add that there were a couple of brief moments when the image appeared to jitter a tad. It was almost indiscernible, but I'd swear it was present and repeatable. Fortunately, it should not be a concern to any viewer who isn't looking for it, and it passes so quickly it is not worth fretting over.
Understand, Boorman set out to make a dark and gritty film (these were the Dark Ages, after all). He sets most of his picture at night or inside dark castles or dark forests. Boorman meant "Excalibur" as a kind of medieval film noir. He was not after a pristine, crystal-clear look. So, as a result of the director's intent and perhaps the effects of time, "Excalibur" does not display the best-looking HD-DVD picture quality on disc, not by a long shot, but, as I've said, it probably comes pretty close to representing the film's original print, and that's what any good video reproduction should do.
Audio:
The HD-DVD audio is in Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround, and like its previous DD 5.1 remastering, it opens up nicely in the front speakers, displays wide dynamics, and occasionally makes good use of the rear channels. Sound in the standard-definition disc's Dolby Digital 5.1 was often bright and harsh, and the HD-DVD's Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 modulates it slightly. Nevertheless, voices can often appear sour and pinched, particularly in the first half of the film. Oddly, in the film's second half the voices seem more normal. I noticed this issue in the SD edition, too, but the added clarity of DD+ makes it even more evident.
Anyway, the advantage of the DD+ track is that it not only softens the brightness, it increases the dynamic impact and the strength of the deep bass. There are a couple of moments when I thought the room was going to shake apart from the disc's low-end output. Finally, the DD+ made me more aware of subtle rear-channel sounds, things like environmental forest noises, background voices, and musical ambience. Thank goodness for small favors. Like the video, the DD+ soundtrack is not the best around, but it's an improvement on what came before.
Extras:
The HD-DVD offers no more in the way of extras than the earlier SD disc did. The main thing is director John Boorman's commentary track. Boorman has made all too few films, and the ones he has given us are uniquely personal. His inside look at filmmaking is worth one's attention. Otherwise, there are English, French, and Spanish spoken languages; English and French subtitles; English captions for the hearing impaired; a theatrical trailer; and a generous forty-five scene selections. And, of course, there are the usual Warner Bros. HD-DVD bonuses: pop-up menus, a zoom-and-pan feature, an indicator of elapsed time, and an Elite Red HD case.
Parting Thoughts:
Certainly, "Excalibur" is not the only good movie version of the Arthur legend it's simply among the best. Among many other films with their respective charms are "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" (1949), "Prince Valiant" (1954), "The Black Knight" (1954), "Lancelot and Guinevere" (1963), "Camelot" (1967), "Lancelot du Lac" (1974), "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (1975), "First Knight" (1995), "Dragonheart" (1996), and "The Mists of Avalon" (2001, TV). But none of them encapsulates so much of the Arthur magic as Boorman's film.
I know that many moviegoers today would rather see special-effects-laden sci-fi or fantasy extravaganzas than old-fashioned Romantic epics, but I hope we haven't dulled our imaginations so much by computer graphics that we cannot appreciate the excitement of chivalry, courtly love, prancing horses, and flashing steel. In the Arthur mythology we read that "Some day a king will come, and the sword will rise again." In "Excalibur" John Boorman proves that the feats of King Arthur and his knights can still capture and hold our attention. With the HD-DVD marginally improving the movie's audiovisual qualities, the romance and adventure of Arthur and his knights should flourish for some time to come.
"Here lies Arthur, the once and future King." --Sir Thomas Malory, "Le Morte D'Arthur"
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]20139[/release]