"For a re-imagining of the classic tale... this is pretty unimaginative. "

This version of the Arthurian legend suggests that Arthur surrounded himself with his Knights and they made conquests in the name of Rome. When they are finally discharged, Rome orders them off on one more mission. This mission, the Knights believe is a waste of their time... and lives. They've already earned their freedom.

Arthur is still devoted to the Roman cause and ends up dragging his devoted Knights on the quest. Meanwhile, the Saxons, apparently only motivated by villainny and destruction, are headed through Britain. The legend of Arthur fuels the Saxons' desire for battle as they go from village to village, looting and killing.

As Arthur reaches the home of the Roman official he's been ordered to bring home, he catches a glimpse of the true nature of the Roman Empire. They are no more than a greedy, corrupt, elitist power in the world. This paticular official tortures and starves the serfs and bends them to his will. His mandate is fear to keep them in line. Arthur frees these people and journeys back to his kingdom where they are intercepted by the Saxons and the climax is reached. Three of the knights die because of the endevor.

Romance is achieved between Guinevere and Arthur. Excalibur is just his father's sword. Merlin is just a wise leader of some waring tribe Arthur despises. Lancelot is merely Arthur's right hand man and is constantly wary of Guinevere's ties to Merlin's tribe.

Overall, nothing about this movie is compelling or interesting. The tension that exists between Arthur and his Knights seems scripted from a dozen other tales. I'd say the first half of the movie is Saving Private Ryan, the rest is Braveheart. The Knights can't justify putting their lives on the line to rescue one Roman official. And get this... when they arrive at his house, the Roman pulls a private Ryan and refuses to go! Just like Ryan. This movie smells of borrowed material.

While history is R rated, this movie goes the PG-13 route, butchering frames and censoring bloody reaction shots of weapon collisons. The DVD will probably have the missing footage. I'm not saying I need to see the blood, but the strike seems ineffective if you only see the swing and not the hit.

Simply, this flick is just boring. Maybe I don't get it, but if you're gonna advertise this as being the new vision of the story that's influenced thousands of other stories and the structure of our society and goverment... then maybe you should put some shocking stuff in there to yank my sleepy ass out of my seat!

Well, when the guy used his axe to crack the ice... that was cool.

Boring. I know they're tryin to tell the Arthurian legend without that magic crap... but come on! Where's the innovative camera techinques or fighting styles? Where's the complex characters? Where's the conflict of trying to establish a new order? This is what happens when you try to cram history into 2 hours. What's so wrong with a little fantasy? Where'd this reality trend some from? I guess TV answered my question. Time to pop in Excalibur.