Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12370 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-06-08
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Dolby, Special Edition, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish
• Running time: 182 minutes

From Amazon.co.uk
What kind of guy was the wizard Merlin, anyway? He lives a long time, raises a boy to be a king, props up a Utopian empire with his magic and wisdom, and then watches as it all crumbles under such banal forces as vengeance and betrayal. This four-hour mini-series re-tells the story of Camelot and King Arthur from the perspective of the magic man who sacrifices a great deal to guide mortals toward a better destiny. Sam Neill plays Merlin as an accessible, flesh-and-blood fellow of real passion, powerless to undo the spell of a rival (Rutger Hauer) who has virtually imprisoned Merlin's great love, Nimue (Isabella Rossellini), but gifted enough to counter the treachery of Morgan Le Fey (Helena Bonham Carter) and the wicked Queen Mab (Miranda Richardson). The battle sequences and special effects are striking and original, and it is great fun to see such art-house movie actors as Richardson, Carter, Neill, etc., in fantasy entertainment the whole family can enjoy. (An unrecognizable Martin Short must be singled out, however, for a wonderful, largely dramatic performance as Mab's sidekick, Frik.) Directed by Steve Barron (The Adventures of Pinocchio), Merlin is a nice bit of glossy revisionism of a beloved legend. --Tom Keogh

On the DVD
Full-screen version
5.1 circle surround
2.0 stereo
"The Magical Making of Merlin"
Commentary by director, Steve Barron
CGI scene creation
Scene selection
English closed-captioned

Synopsis
This four-hour fantasy miniseries, elaborating on the Arthurian legend and filmed in England and Wales, offers a portrait of the wizard Merlin (Sam Neill), following his life as a youth (Daniel Brocklebank) to his later conflicts with the evil Queen Mab (Miranda Richardson) and his love for Nimue (Isabella Rossellini), who is kidnapped by Lord Vortigern (Rutger Hauer). Amid battles and displays of magic and mysticism (courtesy of London's Framestore and the Jim Henson Creature Shop), Merlin strides the English countryside encountering Excalibur, the unbreakable sword, and a Camelot cast of colorful characters including the morphing manservant Frik (Martin Short), Morgan le Fey (Helena Bonham Carter), King Arthur (Paul Curran), Lancelot (Jeremy Sheffield), and Guinevere (Lena Heady). Premiered April 26, 1998 on NBC. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Customer Reviews

Enjoyable but brief
I have enjoyed this adaptation for years. Sam Neil is an excellent Merlin, and it is refreshing to find a movie that focuses on the Merlin side of the myth rather than the over-done Arthur side (indeed, Arthur seems secondary and two-dimensional in contrast). I especially like the battle of wills between Mab and Merlin that drive the entire narrative. You can't help but identify with them both. The actors all do a fabulous job with what they were given.
That said, it is obvious that the producers were focusing more on the special effects than the screenplay. The story line comes across rather choppy and like watching a quick synopsis of a bigger movie. The movie careens along at a hippedy-hop pace, touching down for short moments here and there before galloping off again, leaving the viewer wishing for a few moments of breath in a scene. It could easily have been a seven hour movie and felt only just barely "full". If you enjoyed the well-thought-out plodding of Mists of Avalon, you may find this movie too brief and glossy.
Still, I recommend it for an ejoyable afternoon. Think I'll go watch it again...

Jeez
This is a Fantasy story people, not a historical account! As a fantasy story it is chock full of fantasy elements, and as a story, the writer took liberties with the historical events. I think it is a good fantasy story and is worth watching/ reading

it's no Excalibur
Well, I don't want to be totally negative regarding this movie. It did have some redeaming features and I've seen much worst. For one thing, this movie had great casting. You really can't blame the actors for a mediocore preformance because I think they did the best they could with the script they were given. Jason Done (Mordrid) and Rutger Hauer (Lord Vortigern - the guy that Uther had to conqure) were my two favorit actors in this flick, but they all pulled off a pretty good job. The dialogue was pretty bad. It also had a rather charming twist ending regarding the narrator, (but then they even managed to ruin that by dragging it out way too much.) The one scene in the movie that I loved was duing the death scene when Morgen Le Fay dies and Frick is standing over her, and they both see each other as they really are because the spell of illusion was shattered. It was a beautiful scene and for that scene alone I gave this movie 2 stars instead of 1.

Excluding what is mentioned above, everything about this movie that you could possibly think of stunk beyond belief!! I would recomend it to small children because they're the only ones I think that would truely like this movie.