Customer Reviews

Camelot: 45th Anniversary Blu-ray Book

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In this lavish adaptation of the Broadway musical based on T.H. White's modern classic "The Once and Future King," the music of Frederick Loewe and Lyrics of Alan Jay Lerner weave this story into an intricate tapestry of unforgettable heart-stirring emotions. The emotions are quite overpowering and you almost have to watch this movie three times to fully appreciate the texture and detail of the 45 sets and 3,500 costumes.

Camelot is a timeless romantic drama that takes us to a medieval world that could only be imagined in your most romantic fantasy. The humor is witty, the music is unforgettable and the world of Camelot has castle scenes that are beyond compare. In fact, if you love castles, you will see scenes from dreamy castles in Spain. The Castle of Camelot is modeled after the Castle of Coca. The architectural details in the design are partly Romanesque, Norman, Viking and Gothic. The decorations have a "fantasy" medieval flavor.

The movie is at first shrouded in mystery as Arthur sits in a dark misty forest. Arthur is about to go into battle and doesn't want to die in a state of confusion. Merlin advises Arthur to think back to the time when he met Guenevere.

We are transported into King Arthur's memory, where the entire story takes place in vivid detail. King Arthur sings about his fears of the wedding night and it is all rather cute and humorous. We instantly see King Arthur as an eternal boy and later find out how he became king quite by accident when he draws the sword, Excalibur, out of a stone.

Guenevere arrives all wrapped in fur as she travels through the "most ferocious, savage, terrifying forest" she has ever seen. The branches are laden with snow and icicles. She simply adores the danger and beauty. When she hears the forest is quite dangerous, she wishes to be stolen away. Her heart is quite hungry for adventure and romance as a damsel in distress and all she has to look forward to is an arranged marriage.

When she meets "Wart" she has no idea he is King Arthur and asks him to run away with her. Vanessa Redgrave and Richard Harris are like two happy children living in a magical dream. King Arthur has a boyish charm, plenty of witty lines and the almost periwinkle eye shadow quite matches his turtleneck sweater and promotes a whimsical mood.

The royal marriage is magnificent and the wedding gown flows between two seas of candles. For a time, we truly believe this arranged marriage will succeed. Arthur shares his dreams of uniting the feudal city-states and Guenevere seems intrigued with her husband's leadership qualities. She too seems to be dreaming of a new world filled with chivalrous knights who fight for right.

When French knight Sir Lancelot arrives, he destroys the intimacy between Guenevere and King Arthur, although he promises to be the king's defender in this newly civilized world. Guenevere becomes a woman who must make impossible decisions. Lancelot dreams of all the good he can do, all the wrongs he can right and in fact, his desires lead him to a place where a fragile utopia is destroyed.

"Camelot" then becomes a serious study in how three people are almost forced to make irreversible decisions. King Arthur (Richard Harris) seems to quickly go into an extended period of denial and since he deeply loves Guenevere, he forgives her for being human. Lancelot (Franco Nero) lives life intensely and feels deeply about King Arthur's mission. He is filled with a passion for life and makes promises he can hardly keep once he enters Guenevere's world.

Guenevere (Vanessa Redgrave) is so innocent in her love of both King Arthur and Lancelot. She falls madly in love with Lancelot because he embodies all that she has always dreamed of, despite the fact that their love now destroys Lancelot's chivalrous ideals. He fights for her and his impressive battle skills and depth of emotion after he fights in the joust draws her into his world. Each time they look at one another, the world stands still and in awe of this love they feel for one another. If only she had met Lancelot before she had been promised to King Arthur.

I doubt there is a more powerfully erotic and yet angelic scene than the one where Guenevere stands in the doorway with her golden hair flowing behind her in the drafty castle. This scene portrays her in an almost angelic way as "If Ever I Would Leave You" plays on, drawing us into an intimate circle created by three hearts who are forever woven into this immortal tale. How can your heart not melt when Lancelot declares his undying affection by saying: "I, I love you. God forgive me, but I do."

There are a lot of extras:

1. Jump to a Scene

2. Explore Camelot
-Cast & Crew
-The History of the Legend - Information on King Arthur (Interesting ideas, like that King Arthur was really a Celtic chieftain in the 5th century who became a king in the legends after his death. He was believed to have been killed at a battle at Camlan in 537 AD.), Excalibur, The Holy Grail (Why King Arthur was seeking this magical object) and The Knights of the Round Table
-King Arthur Comes to Hollywood
-Building Camelot
-Costumes
-Awards
-Featurette: The Story of Camelot
-Featurette: Special Premiere Footage
-5 Theatrical Trailers

3. Languages - You have to choose "English" or you will only hear the Musical Score.

4. Recommendations

I really can't think of a more perfect movie. Sadly at the end of the movie, the story is not quite what we expect. Yet, I don't think we would want this movie to end in any other way. The sheer tragedy is terribly romantic.

To romance, men who never leave, undying devotion and eternal love. I adore this movie! 100 stars.

~TheRebeccaReview.com

This movie is adapted from "The Once and Future King" by T.H. White. And you probably know the story - boy becomes king, king is betrothed in an arranged marriage, Lancelot pops in....It is _nothing_ like the book but it does have its good points.

One is Richard Harris' over the top performance as King Arthur. He, much in the manner of Rex Harrison in "My Fair Lady", speaks his songs as opposed to singing them. Suprisingly, it actually works very well. It's not the "feel good movie" of all time, but it is a good one about flawed individuals - and it was said to be President John F. Kenndy's favorite Broadway play.

So if you're interested in seeing a movie that will make you think about great leaders' errors in judgement, along with the pagentry of court life, this is a movie for you. I recommend it highly.

This is the worse stage-to-film musical ever made. No one can sing, the film is one big close-up, and it's way too long. MGM tried to buy the rights and would have made it with the original stage cast. Too bad Warner Bros. won. The audience lost big with this one. Yea, it looks good occasionally, but the whole experience is one of the biggest duds of all time. Josh Logan should have never been allowed to direct the film versions of his stage shows. He ruined the film of South Pacific, and did it again with Camelot. Maybe someone will remake it soon the right way. It would be a good candidate for a made-for-TV film musical, now that they are popping up again. We can only hope...

I am an advocate of all the arts and Broadway musicals have descended from the noble art of opera. The musical era of the early twentieth century did not die in the face of the Cuba/Missile conflict, nor in the war years of Vietnam. The brilliant musical masters, Rogers and Hammerstein and Lerner and Lowe were incredibly gifted, providing audiences with catchy melodies, romance and powerful dramatic emotions. In Lerner and Lowe's Camelot, we are immersed by the love triange between Arthur, Guenevere and Lancelot, which seems small next to the bigger picture- the stability of Camelot. Camelot is the ideal world, the perfect society, Utopia, Paradise. With the aid of the good wizard sage Merlin, Arthur assumed heavy responsibility as king and head of the Round Table, a fellowship of knights on the quest for the Holy Grail and sworn to uphold justice and balance in the world. This peace was upset by war and by the problematic situation that arose when Guenevere fell in love with Arthur's best friend and champion knight, Lancelot.

In this excellent DVD, the 60's film is back with full glory. We realize why this musical appealed to a generation that was insistent on peace. Richard Harris is the perfect Arthur, idealistic, romantic, wise, mature, and in his scenes with Merlin we do see the pararellism with the writings of T.H. Lawrence's "Once And Future King" and the magic (Arthur becomes a goldfish, communes with nature, etc, is similar to the Disney interpretion, "The Sword In The Stone". Richard Harris sings superbly in his solos, "Camelot," and "How To Handle A Woman". Vanessa Redgrave was not the original stage interpreter of Guenevere. The credit belongs to Julie Andrews, whose light voice, cheerful, innocent and sweet temperament is directly polar opposite to Guenevere's lusty, earthy, darker-voiced portrayal. But in my personal opinion, Vanessa Redgrave captures the true Guenevere. This is evident in her song "Where are the Joys of Maidenhood ?" "Take me to the Fair", "The Lusty Month of May" and her melancholy duet with Lancelot "I loved You Once In Silence". Franco Nero as Lancelot is charming, comedic, witty, a direct opposite to the upright Arthur, but we are sympathetic with his situation when his humanity comes through. He decides to break up with Guenevere out of his own love and respect for Arthur. Unfortunately, that is the moment when their affair is discovered, and the rest is history. Arthur battles Mordred, both of them lose and die, and Camelot disappears into the pages of myth. The rousing choruses are striking, especially in the wedding of Guenevere and Arthur and when Guenevere is sentenced to be burned at the stake. The finale is unsurpassed, as Arthur says: "Ask anyone if they've ever heard the story, and if they have not, say it loud and clear; that once there was a fleeting wisp of glory..called Camelot".

An exceptional adaptation of a hit Broadway musical about the legend of King Arthur's mistily-remembered reign in the time of chivalrous knighthood and England's transition from the Dark Ages into the Enlightenment. The plot is magnigficent, opening with a capering Richard Harris, whose introductory scenes are so over the top and mincey that even the most enlightened boyfriend/hubby will find his fingers wandering for the remote or searching for a brewski. But King Arthur, like the film, gathers gravitas as the story unfolds... The classic triangle between Arthur, Guinnevere and Lancelot is retold as a parable for the civilizing of England itself -- Arthur allows himself to be cuckholded not for his love of a friend (which is the traditional view), but because to seek revenge would be to slide back into the might-makes-right barbarity and rule by force that he seeks to supplant as king of the newly unified England. As a figurehead, he is trapped in more ways than one, and his character squirms painfully under our gaze, like a butterfly on a collector's pin. The mix of humor and pathos is deftly played, and by the end, we're all swept up by the inevitable, inexorable tragedy, yet can still relish Harris' lusty hamminess. I'm not that knowlegable about musical theatre, but I thought this film was swell.

This is a very well done version of the Arthurian legends, and despite the fact that it has bad choreograhy, DESPITE the fact Franco Nero's acting is sub Ed Wood, and DESPITE the fact it IS a little long, it STILL has quite a few good moments, and as a whole is a good film for the family.

Unlike the critics and the customer comments i find this musical version WONDERFUL! What puzzles me is why do people compare this title to "The Kennedys." If anything that is an insult to a great motion picture. But i digress.....I find the musical numbers most fitting to the scenes that are going on with the story. My favorite is "Lusty Month of May" and if you have a 5.1 Stereo System this number surrounds you with beautiful music and so with "If Ever i Could Leave You." My eyes tear-up terribly during that number. I don't know how anyone couldn't fall in love with this movie.Also this movie is in it's original Roadshow Format with it's arousing Round Table speech from Richard Harris as the music builds just before "Intermission." It gives me chills just writing about it.Dispite the other reviews, see for yourself if this 60's musical will touch a cord with you and i don't care what people think of Vanessa Redgrave, this movie was made for her. She's brilliant!

Richard Harris (may he rest in peace) was truly one of the greatest actors to come out of the Emerald Isles. Here, like usual, he gives a commanding performance. Many of the other characters are also well played. Unfortunately, unlike some timeless films of the medieval era (Becket comes to mind), this film has 60s written all over it, from the hippie hairdos to Mordred's "Beatles" outfit. Moreover, the music is completely disconnected with the story. While I am a fan of musicals, I believe the music should fit the story. For example, State Fair, the Sound of Music, and Singing in the Rain are some of the greatest films ever made. Camelot just does not fit the bill.

Having grown up listening to the Broadway album recording of "Camelot," my hopes were dashed upon recently viewing this DVD. Having never realized that there were two soundtrack albums for Camelot, it never occured to me that I wouldn't be hearing the stirring singing of the Broadway album, including the villainous songs of Mordred, which were easily my favorite pieces in the whole work.

In addition to not hearing "The Seven Deadly Virtues" and "Fie on Goodness" -- two of the greatest villain songs of all time, without question -- the musical and acting performances overall here are subpar at best. Richard Harris seems to be trying to do his whole performance via his eyebrows, which wiggle about on his forehead like catepillars trying to escape his face. Vanessa Redgrave, for all her justly deserved reputation as an actress, looks more underfed than radiant as Guenevere and Franco Nearo seems to be having a lot of fun in an entirely different film.

Director Joshua Logan did the real damage to this story, though, with a disjointed directing style that focusses more on interesting scenes and bits than making a coherent tale. Time passes at varying rates, with never any warning to that effect, and while some of the issues with the script are leftovers from the play, there's no excuse for not making a more coherent film, cutting and adding to the book as needed.

On the whole, this is a highly disappointing movie, and the DVD has a slapped together feel, with pale text in a squiggly font placed atop bright backgrounds, making much of the additional content -- which is anemic compared to disks like "Shrek" -- unreadable and unusable.

This is a renter, and even then, only if you've exhausted every other choice at your local video rental shop.

this film is great but (don't misunderstand me) it took too long to be made... a small hit on broadway in 1960 (it opened on dec.3rd 1960 and people expected a new "my fair lady") with burton, andrews and goulet, it really did match a whole "concept" that was very actual at that time: the "perfect" america (it was jfk's favourite broadway show). the world had changed a lot in 1968/69. woodstock, vietnam were happening and a more realist group of moviemakers were working on films like "easy rider", "they shoot horses, don't they?" etc. was there still place for such dreams? richard harris is a great king arthur, vanessa redgrave a beautiful guenevere (i wonder how andrews would have been recreating her original role... josh logan could not be persuaded to let her play guenevere for lack of sex-appeal... the "von trapp/poppins image" in america would continue to be quite damaging to the career of this actress...) although her voice far too inexpressive. franco nero is beautiful to look at, but seems to be crying all the time. production was sumptuous etc. etc. nowadayy a "museum piece" it is still marvelous to watch... it has magic! well, that is what camelot meant, wasn't it?
very enjoyable...