King Arthur script

By 300 AD, the Roman Empire extended from Arabia to Britain.

But they wanted more.

More land.

More peoples loyal and subservient to Rome.

But no people so important as the powerful Sarmatians to the east.

Thousands died on that field.

And when the smoke cleared on the fourth day, the only Sarmatian soldiers left alive

were members of the decimated but legendary cavalry.

The Romans, impressed by their bravery and horsemanship, spared their lives.

452 AD

In exchange, these warriors were incorporated into the Roman military.

Better they had died that day.

(neighing)

Father.

They are here.

For the second part of the bargain they struck indebted not only themselves...

The day has come.

..but also their sons, and their sons, and so on,

to serve the empire as knights.

I was such a son.

There is a legend that fallen knights return as great horses.

He has seen what awaits you, and he will protect you.

Lancelot! Lancelot!

Lancelot.

Don't be afraid. I will return.

- How long shall we be gone? - 1 5 years,

not including the months it'll take to get to your post.

Lancelot!

(all shout out ""Rus!"")

(Lancelot) Our post was Britain - or at least the southern half,

for the land was divided by a 73-mile wall built three centuries before us

to protect the empire from the native fighters of the north.

So, as our forefathers had done,

we made our way and reported to our Roman commander in Britain,

ancestrally named for the first Artorius,

or Arthur.

1 5 YEARS LATER

Ah, as promised, the bishop's carriage.

- Our freedom, Bors. - Mm. I can almost taste it.

And your passage to Rome, Arthur.

(horse whinnies)

Argh!

(war cries)

Woads!

(uproar, swords clinking)

Yaa-rgh!

Yah!

Argh!

Argh!

(triumphant cry)

Rus! Aagh!

Rus!

Rus.

Gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus et Dominus tecum.

Benedicta tu in mulieribus. Benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.

Benedicta tu in mulieribus...

Save your prayers, boy. Your god doesn't live here.

Why did Merlin send you south of the wall?

Spill my blood with Excalibur and...

make this ground holy.

Pick it up.

Pick it up.

- Bors. - What a bloody mess.

That's not the bishop.

God help us.

- What are they? - Blue demons that eat Christians alive.

You're not a Christian, are you?

Does this really work?

(mutters gibberish)

Nothing.

Maybe I'm not doin' it right.

(man chuckling) Arthur!

Arthur Castus. Your father's image.

I haven't seen you since childhood.

Bishop Germanius. Welcome to Britain.

I see your military skills are still of use to you.

Your device worked.

Ancient tricks of an ancient dog.

And these are the great Sarmatian knights we have heard so much of in Rome.

I thought the Woads control the north of Hadrian's Wall.

They do, but they occasionally venture south.

Rome's anticipated withdrawal from Britain has only increased their daring.

- (man) Woads? - British rebels who hate Rome.

Men who want their country back.

- Who leads them? - He's called Merlin.

A dark magician, some say.

Tristan, ride ahead and make sure the road is clear.

Please do not worry, Bishop. We will protect you.

Oh.

I've no doubt, Commander.

No doubt.

Dozens don't worry me nearly so much as thousands.

Thousands?

Well, now that we're free men, I'm gonna drink till I can't piss straight.

- You do that every night. - I never could piss straight.

Too much of myself to handle... down there.

Well, it's a problem.

No, really, it is. It's a problem.

- It's like a baby's arm holding an apple. - (all)..baby's arm holding an apple.

(laughter)

I don't like him, that Roman.

If he's here to discharge us, why doesn't he just give us our papers?

- Is this your happy face? - (Bors laughs)

Galahad, do you still not know the Romans?

They won't scratch their asses without holding a ceremony.

Why don't you just kill him, and then discharge yourself after?

I don't kill for pleasure, unlike some.

Well, you should try it someday. You might get a taste for it.

- It's a part of you. It's in your blood. - No, no, no. No.

As of tomorrow this was all just a bad memory.

Ohh.

I've often thought about what going home would mean after all this. What will I do?

It's different for Galahad.

I've been in this life longer than the other.

So much for home. It's not so clear in my memory.

You speak for yourself. It's cold back there and everyone I know is dead and buried.

Besides, I have, I think, a dozen children.

Eleven.

You listen. When the Romans leave here, we'll have the run of all this place.

I'll be governor in my own village and Dagonet will be my personal guard

and royal ass-kisser. Won't you, Dag?

First thing I will do when I get home is find a beautiful Sarmatian woman to wed.

A beautiful Sarmatian woman?

Why do you think we left in the first place?

(moos like a cow)

What about you, Lancelot? What are your plans for home?

Well, if this woman of Gawain's is as beautiful as he claims,

I expect to be spending a lot of time at Gawain's house.

- His wife will welcome the company. - I see. And what will I be doing?

Wondering at your good fortune that all your children look like me.

Is that before or after I hit you with my ax?

(whistles)

Where you been, now? Where you been?

And what will you do, Arthur, when you return to your beloved Rome?

Give thanks to God that I survived to see it.

You and your god! You disturb me.

I want peace, Lancelot. I've had enough.

- You should visit me. - Ah!

It's a magnificent place, Rome.

Ordered, civilized, advanced.

A breeding ground of arrogant fools.

The greatest minds in all the lands have come together in one sacred place

to help make mankind free.

And the women?

(guard) Open the gate!

- Welcome back, Arthur. - Jols.

Lancelot.

Bishop, please, my quarters have been made available to you.

Oh, yes. I must rest.

(Bors chuckles lewdly)

- Where have you been? - Oh...

- I've been waiting for you. - Oh, my little flower. Such... passion!

Where's my Gilly? Gilly.

- You been fighting? - Yes.

- You been winning? - Yes.

That's my boy. Come on, all my other bastards!

(all cheer)

Pelagius.

Very kind of Arthur to give up his room.

But, of course, it is to be expected.

(knocking)

Sir, I'm here to escort you to the fortress hall.

When my master meets with your knights, he must be seated last

and he must be seated at the head of the table.

Your master can plonk his holy ass wherever he chooses.

(laughter)

His Eminence, Bishop Naius Germanius.

A round table? What sort of evil is this?

Arthur says for men to be men they must first all be equal.

I was given to understand there would be more of you.

There were. We have been fighting here for 1 5 years, Bishop.

Oh, of course.

Arthur and his knights have served with courage

to maintain the honor of Rome's empire on this last outpost of our glory.

Rome is most indebted to you noble knights.

To your final days as servants to the empire.

Day. Not days.

The Pope's taken a personal interest in you.

He inquires after each of you,

and is curious to know if your knights have converted to the word of Our Savior or...?

They retain the religion of their forefathers. I have never questioned that.

Of course, of course.

They are pagans. Hm?

For our part, the Church has deemed such beliefs innocence,

but you, Arthur, your path to God is through Pelagius?

- I saw his image in your room. - He took my father's place for me.

His teachings on free will and equality have been a great influence.

I look forward to our reunion in Rome.

Ah.

Rome awaits your arrival with great anticipation.

You are a hero.

In Rome, you will live out your days in honor and wealth.

Alas...

Alas, we are all but players in an ever-changing world.

Barbarians from every corner are almost at Rome's door.

Because of this, Rome and the Holy Father have decided to remove ourselves

from indefensible outposts, such as Britain.

What will become of Britain is not our concern anymore.

I suppose the Saxons will claim it soon.

- Saxons? - Yes.

In the north a massive Saxon incursion has begun.

- The Saxons only claim what they kill. - And only kill everything.

So you would just leave the land to the Woads.

And I risked my life for nothing.

Hm.

Gentlemen,

your discharge papers with safe conduct throughout the Roman Empire.

But first, I must have a word with your commander.

- In private. - We have no secrets.

(slams table)

Come. Let's leave Roman business to Romans.

Let it go, Bors.

Rome has issued a final order for you and your men.

Final order?

You are to travel north to rescue the family of Marius Honorius

and return, in particular, with Marius's son, Alecto.

Alecto is the Pope's favorite godchild and pupil.

It is his destiny to become a bishop, perhaps even pope one day.

On this day you ask this of my men.

On this day.

They have risked their lives for 1 5 years for a cause not of their own.

And now, on the day they are to be liberated, you send them on a mission

which is far more dangerous than any other they have undertaken.

You tell me, Bishop, how do I go to my men and tell them

that instead of freedom I offer death?

If your men are truly the knights of legend, perhaps some will survive.

If it is God's will.

Your men want to go home,

and to get home they need to cross the entire breadth of the Roman Empire.

Deserters would be hunted down like dogs.

Will you defy the Pope, Arthur?

Rome? God himself?

Everything I've done has been for the Church and for Rome.

Do not mistake a loyal soldier for a fool, Germanius.

Would you leave a defenseless Roman boy, destined to lead our Church,

at the hands of the Saxons?

Fulfill this mission, and your men will receive their discharge.

Their papers will be waiting here the moment they return.

You have my word.

You think very hard upon that vow, Bishop, for I will hold you to it.

Break it, and no Roman legion,

papal army,

nor God himself will protect you.

That is my word.

- (man) She gave me fleas. - (man #2) You better hope they're fleas.

Best of three.

(baby mewling)

Who wants another drink?

- (Lancelot) Ahh. - (sighs)

When you gonna leave Bors and come home with me?

My lover is watching you.

Mmm...

You look nothing like him.

You're all Bors.

- Tristan... - How do you do that?

I aim for the middle.

Oh, they want more!

- Here. Be a mother to your son. - Oh, come here.

Dagonet, where you been? We've got plans to make.

Here, please. Sing.

- No. - Just a last one.

- No, I'm trying to work. - Come sing. Shut up!

Vanora will sing.

- (Vanora) No, no. - (chants of ""Sing!"")

- (man) Sing about home. - (Gawain) Don't drop the baby.

Land of bear and land of eagle

Land that gave us birth and blessing

Land that called us ever homewards

We will go home across the mountains

We will go home We will go home

We will go home across the mountains

We will go home singing our song...

(singing fades)

..hear our singing, hear our longing

We will go home across the mountains

We will go home We will go home...

(singing fades)

Arthur!

Arthur!

Arthur! You're not completely Roman yet, right?

Rus!

Knights...

brothers in arms...

your courage has been tested beyond all limits.

Yes.

But I must ask you now for one further trial.

Drink.

We must leave on a final mission for Rome before our freedom can be granted.

Above the wall, far in the north, there is a Roman family in need of rescue.

They are trapped by Saxons.

Our orders are to secure their safety.

Let the Romans take care of their own.

Above the wall is Woad territory.

Our duty to Rome, if it was ever a duty, is done.

Our pact with Rome is done.

Every knight here has laid his life on the line for you.

For you.

And instead of freedom you want more blood?

Our blood?

You think more of Roman blood than you do of ours?

Bors! These are our orders.

We leave at first light, and when we return your freedom will be waiting for you.

A freedom we can embrace with honor.

I am a free man!

I will choose my own fate!

Yeah, yeah. We're all going to die someday.

If it's a death from a Saxon hand that frightens you, stay home.

Listen, if you're so eager to die, you can die right now!

- Enough. Enough! - I've got something to live for!

The Romans have broken their word.

We have the word of Arthur. That is good enough.

I'll prepare.

Bors?

- You coming? - Of course I'm coming!

Can't let you go on your own! You'll all get killed!

I'm just saying what you're all thinking!

Vanora'll kill me.

And you, Gawain?

I'm with you.

Galahad as well.

O merciful God, I have such need of your mercy now.

Not for myself, but for my knights,

for this is truly their hour of need.

Deliver them from the trials ahead,

and I will repay you a thousandfold with any sacrifice you ask of me.

And if, in your wisdom,

you should determine that that sacrifice must be my life for theirs,

so they may once again taste the freedom that has so long been denied to them,

I will gladly make that covenant.

My death will have a purpose. I ask no more than that.

Why do you always talk to God and not to me?

Oh, pray to whomever you pray that we don't cross the Saxons.

My faith is what protects me, Lancelot. Why do you challenge this?

I don't like anything that puts a man on his knees.

No man fears to kneel before the god he trusts.

Without faith, without belief in something, what are we?

To try and get past the Woads in the north is insanity.

- Them we've fought before. - Not north of the wall!

How many Saxons? Hm?

How many?!

Tell me. Do you believe in this mission?

These people need our help.

- It is our duty to bring them out. - I don't care about your charge,

and I don't give a damn about Romans, Britain or this island.

If you desire to spend eternity in this place, Arthur, so be it,

but suicide cannot be chosen for another!

- And yet you choose death for this family! - No, I choose life!

And freedom for myself and the men!

How many times in battle have we snatched victory from the jaws of defeat?

Outnumbered, outflanked, yet still we triumph.

With you at my side, we can do so again.

Lancelot, we are knights.

What other purpose do we serve if not for such a cause?

Arthur, you fight for a world that will never exist.

Never.

There will always be a battlefield.

I will die in battle.

Of that I'm certain.

And hopefully a battle of my choosing.

But if it be this one,

grant me a favor.

Don't bury me in our sad little cemetery.

Burn me.

Burn me and cast my ashes to a strong east wind.

(woman screaming)

Don't touch their women.

We don't mix with these people.

What kind of offspring do you think that would yield?

Weak people.

Half people.

I will not have our Saxon blood watered down by mixing with them.

According to our laws, no man may deny me the spoils of our conquest!

He speaks the truth, Father.

My lord! O, my lord!

God's thanks, my lord.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Kill her.

(wails)

No! No!

(softly) Are you challenging me?

If you want to challenge me, you have to have a sword in your hand.

As long as my heart beats, I rule and you hold your tongue.

Or I'll cut it out.

(neighing)

We are three days' march from the Great Wall, if we camp at night.

We won't camp.

The wall - what troops are stationed there?

Light Roman infantry

and possibly Sarmatian knights.

Arthur Castus is their leader.

Arthur? Who is this Arthur?

It is said he has never been defeated in battle. It is said he is a great warrior.

Why should I trust you?

You're a traitor to your own people.

Tell my father of the Roman estate.

Speak up!

A very high-ranking family live there.

They are of great importance to Rome.

Father, their ransom could pay for the entire campaign.

I'll attack from the north with the main army.

You bring your men down here. Cut off their retreat to the south.

Burn every village, kill everybody.

Never leave behind you a man, woman or child who can ever carry a sword.

Saxon.

How many?

Thousands.

(horse whinnying)

(Tristan) Woads. They're tracking us.

(Arthur) Where?

Everywhere.

Yaah!

Get back!

Get back!

This way!

(war cries)

Yaah!

更多影评 www.130q.com

What are you waiting for?

Inish.

Devil ghosts.

- Why would they not attack? - Merlin doesn't want us dead.

We should have killed them, Merlin.

There might be a purpose for Artorius and his Knights.

No!

He is our enemy!

So is the Saxon!

(clap of thunder)

(Gawain groaning)

Oh, I can't wait to leave this island.

If it's not raining, it's snowing. If it's not snowing, it's foggy.

And that's the summer!

The rain is good. Washes all the blood away.

Doesn't help the smell.

Hey, Bors, do you intend to take Vanora and all your little bastards back home?

Oh, I'm trying to avoid that decision...

by getting killed.

Dagonet, she wants to get married and give the children names.

Women!

The children already have names, don't they?

Just Gilly.

It was too much trouble, so we gave the rest of them numbers.

That's interesting. And I thought you couldn't count.

You know, I never thought I'd get back home alive.

Now I've got the chance, l... I don't want to leave my children.

- You'd miss 'em too much. - I'll take them with me.

I like the little bastards. They mean something to me.

Especially number three.

- He's a good fighter. - That's because he's mine.

I'm going for a piss.

(laughter)

- (guard) Who are you? - I am Arthur Castus,

Commander of the Sarmatian Knights, sent by Bishop Germanius of Rome.

Open the gate.

(man) It is a wonder you have come.

Good Jesus. Arthur and his knights.

You have fought the Woads. Vile creatures.

Our orders are to evacuate you immediately.

But that... that is impossible.

- Which is Alecto? - I am Alecto.

Alecto is my son.

And everything we have is here in the land given to us by the Pope of Rome.

- Well, you're about to give it to the Saxons. - They're invading from the north.

- Then Rome will send an army. - They have. Us.

- We leave as soon as you're packed. - I refuse to leave.

Go back to work! All of you!

- You heard! Go! - All right, all right.

- Go! - Get back to work, all of you!

Go back!

If I fail to bring you and your son back, my men can never leave this land.

So you're coming with me

if I have to tie you to my horse and drag you all the way to Hadrian's Wall myself.

My lord.

Lady, my knights are hungry.

Go.

Come!

Come. Let us go, hm?

(man) Sir, you're famous. You're Arthur, aren't you?

I'm Ganis. I'm a good fighter and I'm smart. I'd serve you proudly.

Are you from Rome?

From hell.

- Sir. - Who is this man?

He's our village elder.

What is this punishment for?

- Answer me! - He defied our master, Marius.

Most of the food we grow is sent out by sea to be sold.

He asked that we keep a little more for ourselves, that's all.

My ass has been snappin' at the grass I'm so hungry!

You're from Rome. Is it true that Marius is a spokesman for God

and that it's a sin to defy him?

I tell you now.

Marius is not of God.

And you, all of you, were free from your first breath!

Help this man.

Help him!

Now hear me. A vast and terrible army is coming this way.

They will show no mercy, spare no one.

Those of you who are able should gather your things

and begin to move south towards Hadrian's Wall.

Those unable shall come with us.

You, serve me now. Get these people ready.

(Ganis) Right, you heard him.

You go grab enough food and water for the journey.

Let's get a hurry on, else we're all dead!

Come on, hurry.

They have flanked us to the east.

They're coming from the south, trying to cut off our escape.

They'll be here before nightfall.

- How many? - An entire army.

And the only way out is to the south?

East.

There is a trail heading east across the mountains.

It means we have to cross behind Saxon lines, but that's the one we should take.

Arthur, who are all these people?

They're coming with us.

Then we'll never make it.

(distant drums beating)

- Come on, get back to work! - Back to work!

Move.

Move.

Move!

- What is this? - You cannot go in there.

No one goes in there. This place is forbidden.

(Marius) What are you doing? Stop this!

Arthur, we have no time.

Do you not hear the drums?

Dagonet.

Agh!

Agh!

- Key. - It is locked.

From the inside.

- You, you... go. - (whimpers)

Move!

- Gawain. - (man chanting) Exaudi orationem meam.

Exaudi orationem meam.

In nomine Dei Patris omnipotentis et in virtute Spiritus Sancti.

Who are these defilers of the Lord's temple?

Out of the way.

The work of your god.

Is this how he answers your prayers?

See if there's any still alive.

How dare you set foot in this holy place?

- There was a man of God. - Not my god!

- (Arthur) This one's dead. - By this smell, they are all dead.

And you. You even move, you join him.

Arthur!

You must not fear me.

Water! Give me some water!

His arm is broken.

And his family?

She's a Woad.

I'm a Roman officer.

You're safe now.

- You're safe. - Stop what you are doing!

What is this madness?

- They're all pagans here! - So are we.

They refuse to do the task God has set for them!

They must die as an example!

You mean they refused to be your serfs!

You are a Roman.

You understand.

And you are a Christian.

You! You kept her alive!

- (soldier) My lord! - No! No, stop!

When we get to the wall you will be punished for this heresy.

Perhaps I should kill you now and seal my fate.

I was willing to die with them.

Yes, to lead them to their rightful place.

It is God's wish that these sinners be sacrificed.

Only then can their souls be saved.

Then I shall grant his wish.

- Wall them back up. - Arthur.

I said wall them up!

Don't you see it is the will of God that these sinners be sacrificed?

- Unhand me, defil... They're sinners! - Get in there!

We're moving too slow.

The girl's not gonna make it, and neither is the boy.

The family we can protect, but we're wasting our time with all these people.

We're not leaving them.

If the Saxons find us, we will have to fight.

Then save your anger for them.

Is this Rome's quest or Arthur's?

(weak moans)

- Arthur. - How is he?

He burns.

Brave boy.

Some of your fingers are out of place.

I have to push them back.

If I don't do this, there's a chance you may never use them again.

- (cracking) - (cries)

(cracking)

They tortured me.

With machines.

To make me tell them things that... that I didn't know to begin with.

And then...

I heard your voice in the dark.

I am Guinevere.

You are Arthur...

of the Knights from the Great Wall.

I am.

The famous Briton who kills his own people.

I found tracks coming from the south, but none going back.

Horsemen traveling light and fast.

Could be Roman cavalry.

Could be knights.

They know we're after them.

They'll head east now, through the mountains.

God's holy work has been defiled. I am a servant of God!

No, please, l... Agh!

He says they walled him up in a building and took the family.

Someone who goes by the name of Artorius.

It's him.

It's Arthur.

Take your men east. Hunt them down.

I'll take the main army to the wall. Bring the family there.

- (man) And the monks? - Put them back where you found them.

I am a servant of God!

Please, l... I am a servant of God!

(monk) Unhand me, you defiler!

(sighs)

Burn it all.

Yah!

My father told me great tales of you.

Really?

And what did you hear?

Fairy tales.

The kind you hear about people so brave, so selfless, that they can't be real.

Arthur and his knights.

A leader both Briton and Roman.

And yet you chose your allegiance to Rome.

To those who take what does not belong to them.

That same Rome that took your men from their homeland.

Listen, lady, do not pretend you know anything about me or my men.

How many Britons have you killed?

As many as tried to kill me. It's the natural state of any man to want to live.

Animals live! It's a natural state of any man to want to live free in their own country.

I belong to this land.

Where do you belong, Arthur?

How's your hand?

I'll live, I promise you.

Is there nothing about my land that appeals to your heart?

Your own father married a Briton.

Even he must have found something to his liking.

(gallops away)

We'll sleep here. Take shelter in those trees.

- Tristan. - You wanna go out again? Yeah.

It is here, given to us by the Pope. These people, they send an army for us.

(rustling)

(footsteps)

You betrayed me.

He means you no harm.

Peace between us this night, Arthur Castus.

So Rome is leaving. The Saxon is come.

The world we have known and fought for is ended.

Now we must make a new world.

Your world, Merlin, not mine. I shall be in Rome.

To find peace? The Saxon will come to Rome.

My knights trust me not to betray them to their enemy.

Rome was my enemy, not Arthur.

We have no fight between us now.

You tell that to the knights you killed before my eyes,

whose bones are buried in this earth.

We have all lost brothers.

You know nothing of the loss I speak!

Shall I help you remember?

An attack on a village. The screams of an innocent woman.

Mother!

Artorius!

Mother!

Mother!

I ran to the burial mound of my father to free her.

T o kill you.

Father, please let loose your sword.

I feel the heat of that fire on my face even now.

I did not wish her dead.

She was of our blood, as are you.

If you were so determined to leave us to slaughter, why did you save so many?

My men are strong, but they have need of a true leader.

They believe you can do anything.

To defeat the Saxon we need a master of war.

Why do you think I spared you in the forest?

That sword you carry is made of iron from this earth, forged in the fires of Britain.

It was love of your mother that freed the sword, not hatred of me.

Love, Arthur.

Seize him!

No!

No...

I have the boy!

- Kill him! - No, don't! Let him go!

Kill him now!

Down! Hah!

(Lancelot) Your hands seem to be better.

Artorius!

Do we have a problem?

Huh?

You have a choice.

You help or you die.

Put down your weapons.

Put down your weapons.

- Do it now! - Yeah!

(neighing)

- How many did you kill? - Four.

Not a bad start to the day! (laughs)

Armor-piercing. They're close. We have no time.

You ride ahead.

I'm sorry for your loss.

My father lost his way.

He used to say the Church is there to help us stay on our path.

It didn't help those he made suffer.

The path he chose was beyond the reach of the Church, Alecto.

But not of Rome. What my father believed, so Rome believes.

What, that some men are born to be slaves? No, that isn't true.

It is so! He told me so.

Pelagius, a man as close to me as any, is there now,

teaching that all men are free, equal.

And that each of us has the right to choose his own destiny.

Teach? How?

They killed Pelagius a year past.

Germanius and the others were damned by his teachings.

They had him excommunicated and killed.

The Rome you talk of doesn't exist,

except in your dreams.

- Is there any other way? - No. We have to cross the ice.

Get them all out of the carriages. Tell them to spread out.

(creaking)

(cracking)

(distant drums beating)

(creaking)

- Knights... - Well, I'm tired of running.

And these Saxons are so close behind my ass is hurtin'.

Never liked looking over my shoulder anyway.

- Be a pleasure to put an end to this racket. - And finally get a look at the bastards.

Here. Now.

Jols!

You two, take the horses.

(Arthur) Ganis, I need you to lead the people.

The main Saxon army is inland,

so if you track the coastline till you're well south of the wall, you'll be safe.

- But you're seven against 200? - Eight.

You could use another bow.

- I'd rather stay and fight. - You'll get your chance soon enough.

This man is now your captain. You do as he says. Am I understood?

- Yes, sir. - Go. Go!

Right. Come on, then! Move on!

I am able. I can fight.

No. You must bear witness to all you have seen.

There's one thing you must do, and that's get back to Rome.

(ice cracking/horses neighing)

(beating drum)

Hold until I give the command.

You look frightened.

There's a large number of lonely men out there.

Don't worry, I won't let them rape you.

(man shouts command in Saxon)

Archer!

- We're out of range. - I can see that!

I believe they're waiting for an invitation. Bors, Tristan.

They're far out of range.

(shouts in Saxon)

Aim for the wings of the ranks. Make them cluster.

- Hold the ranks! - Hold the ranks! Hold the ranks!

- Hold the ranks! - Hold the ranks!

Hold the ranks! Hold the ranks, or I kill you myself!

It's not gonna break. Back.

Fall back!

Prepare for combat.

Aagh!

- Dag! - Cover him.

- Archers move! Move! - (man) Forward!

Yaagh!

Move! Move! Kill him!

Yaagh!

Yaagh!

The ice is breaking!

Yaagh!

Kill him!

Dag!

Yaagh!

(men screaming)

(Cynric) Back! Back!

Dag!

Pull back! Arthur!

Argh!

Kill him!

Help us!

Aagh!

Argh!

Stay with me.

Dagonet! Stay with me!

Ah, God!

Christ be praised. Against all the odds Satan could muster.

Alecto, let me see you.

- (Horton) Kindly get out of my way! - You have triumphed!

Young Alecto, let me see you.

You are here.

- Lucan! - You, boy! Stop!

(Germanius chuckles nervously)

Our great knights.

You are free now!

Give me the papers. Come, come.

Your papers of safe conduct throughout the Roman Empire.

Take it, Arthur.

Bishop Germanius.

Friend of my father.

You are free now.

You can go.

Bors.

Bors!

For Dagonet.

This doesn't make him a free man.

He's already a free man.

He's dead!

A grave with no sword.

It was my father's wish that if he died on this island,

he would be buried with his knights.

He died in battle?

It's a family tradition.

I can see why you believe that you have nothing left here.

Except what you and your knights have done.

You have your deeds.

Deeds in themselves are meaningless unless they're for some higher purpose.

We have waged a war to protect a Rome that does not exist.

Is that the deed I am to be judged by?

You stayed and fought when you didn't have to.

You bloodied evil men when you could have run.

You did all that for no reason?

These are your people.

- (knocking) - (Jols) Arthur, come to the wall now.

- (man) The Saxons are here. - (soldier) Make way! Make way!

Knights, my journey with you must end here.

May God go with you.

Arthur, this is not Rome's fight.

It is not your fight.

(man shouting orders)

(soldier) Stand fast!

All these long years we've been together,

the trials we've faced, the blood we've shed.

What was it all for, if not for the reward of freedom?

And now when we are so close, when it is finally within our grasp...

Look at me!

- Does it all count for nothing? - You ask me that?

You who know me best of all?

Then do not do this. Only certain death awaits you here.

Arthur, I beg you! For our friendship's sake, I beg you!

You be my friend now and do not dissuade me.

Seize the freedom you have earned and live it for the both of us.

I cannot follow you, Lancelot.

I now know that all the blood I have shed, all the lives I have taken

have led me to this moment.

(door bangs)

What tomorrow brings...

we cannot know.

(shouting)

Artorius!

Rus!

Rus!

The Roman Auxiliary has left the wall.

- And the horsemen? - Leading a caravan away from the fort.

They're running south... with their tails between their legs.

- So there will be no resistance. - A few dozen villagers.

We're going to slaughter your people.

I think you should watch.

Your tree might be a good place.

Up on the hill!

A single knight.

Didn't you just say they were gone? What is this, a ghost?

(choking) One man. A tiny fly on the back of your... great army.

Who is he?

Arthur.

Arthur.

Arthur.

(horse whinnying)

(sighs) Arthur.

Hm.

Wherever I go on this wretched island I hear your name.

Always half-whispered, as if you were a...

god.

All I see is flesh, blood.

No more god than the creature you're sitting on.

Speak your terms, Saxon.

The Romans have left you.

Who are you fighting for?

I fight for a cause beyond Rome's or your understanding.

Ah.

You come to beg a truce. You should be on your knees.

I came to see your face, so that I alone may find you on the battlefield.

And it would be good for you to mark my face, Saxon,

for the next time you see it, it will be the last thing you see on this earth.

Ah.

Ah, finally.

A man worth killing.

Ah!

Prepare the men for battle.

(gives command in Saxon)

(beating drum)

- (neighs) - Whoa. Easy.

- Whoa. - Whoa.

Shh.

Shh.

Hey.

You're free.

He's got a plan, this Roman.

Send what's left of your infantry.

- (whispers) Do you want to kill my men? - They're my men!

(gives command in Saxon)

No. You stay here with me.

(shouts in Saxon)

Knights, the gift of freedom is yours by right.

But the home we seek resides not in some distant land.

It's in us and in our actions on this day.

(shouting)

If this be our destiny, then so be it.

But let history remember that as free men we chose to make it so.

(knights) Rus!

Hah!

Argh!

(war cries)

(man) There! On the hill!

- (man shouts command in Saxon) - (soldiers repeat command)

(soldiers chanting to the marching rhythm)

(distant screaming)

(distant war cry)

Rus! Aargh!

(yells)

(panting)

- (shouts command in Saxon) - (soldiers repeat command)

(soldiers chanting)

Raewald.

The left flank.

- You go with him. - (Raewald) Move out!

(shouts command in Saxon)

(soldiers chanting)

Shields up!

Argh!

(screaming)

(war cry)

(shouting)

(war cry)

(agonized screams)

Pull!

Aagh!

Argh!

(rasps) Arthur...

It was my life to be taken!

Not this!

Never this!

My brave knights, I have failed you.

I neither took you off this island,

nor shared your fate.

(Lancelot) For 200 years, knights had fought and died for a land not our own.

But on that day at Badon Hill,

all who fought put our lives in service of a greater cause.

Freedom.

Arthur. Guinevere.

Our people are one.

As you are.

Now I'm really gonna have to marry your mother.

Who said I'd have you?

King Arthur!

(crowd) Hail, Arthur!

Let every man, woman, child bear witness

that from this day all Britons will be united in one common cause.

(crowd chant) Arthur! Arthur!

Artorius!

(Lancelot) And as for the knights who gave their lives,

their deaths were cause for neither mourning nor sadness.

For they will live forever,

their names and deeds handed down from father to son, mother to daughter,

in the legends of King Arthur and his knights.

Uh, huh. And in the true story, Arthur traveled to Rome, became a Christian and a soldier, and was assigned to lead a group of yurt-dwelling warriors from Sarmatia on a 15-year tour of duty in England, where Guinevere is a fierce woman warrior of the Woads. His knights team up with the Woads to battle the Saxons. In this version, Guinevere and Lancelot are not lovers, although they exchange significant glances; Arthur is Guinevere's lover. So much for all those legends we learned from Thomas Malory's immortal Le Morte d'Arthur (1470) and the less immortal "Knights of the Round Table" (1953).

This new "King Arthur" tells a story with uncanny parallels to current events in Iraq. The imperialists from Rome enter England intent on overthrowing the tyrannical Saxons, and find allies in the brave Woads. "You -- all of you -- were free from your first breath!" Arthur informs his charges and future subjects, anticipating by a millennium or so the notion that all men are born free, and overlooking the detail that his knights have been pressed into involuntary servitude. Later he comes across a Roman torture chamber, although with Geneva and its Convention safely in the future, he doesn’t believe that Romans do not do such things.

The movie is darker and the weather chillier than in the usual Arthurian movie. There is a round table, but the knights scarcely find time to sit down at it. Guinevere is not a damsel in potential distress, but seems to have been cloned from Brigitte Nielsen in "Red Sonja." And everybody speaks idiomatic English -- even the knights, who as natives of Sarmatia might be expected to converse in an early version of Uzbek, and the Woads, whose accents get a free pass because not even the Oxford English Dictionary has heard of a Woad. To the line "Last night was a mistake" in "Troy," we can now add, in our anthology of unlikely statements in history, Lancelot's line to Guinevere as seven warriors prepare to do battle on a frozen lake with hundreds if not thousands of Saxons: "There are a lot of lonely men over there." (Her reply: "Don't worry. I won't let them rape you," also seems somewhat non-historical.)
更多影评 www.130q.com

Despite these objections, "King Arthur" is not a bad movie, although it could have been better. It isn't flat-out silly like "Troy," its actors look at home as their characters, and director Antoine Fuqua curtails the use of computer effects in the battle scenes, which involve mostly real people. There is a sense of place here, and although the costumes bespeak a thriving trade in tailoring somewhere beyond the mead, the film's locations look rough, ready and green (it was filmed in Ireland).

Clive Owen, who has been on the edge of stardom for a decade, makes an Arthur who seems more like a drill instructor, less like a fairy-tale prince, than most of the Arthurs we've seen. Lean, dark and angular, he takes the character to the edge of anti-hero status. Keira Knightley, who was the best friend in "Bend It Like Beckham," here looks simultaneously y and muddy, which is a necessity in this movie, and fits right into the current appetite for women action heroes who are essentially honorary men, all except for the squishy parts. The cast is filled with dependable actors with great faces, such as Ray Winstone as a tough-as-nails knight who inexplicably but perhaps appropriately anticipates the Cockney accent, and Stephen Dillane as Merlin, leader of the Woads and more of a psychic and sorcerer than a magician who does David Copperfield material.

The plot involves Rome's desire to defend its English colony against the invading Saxons, and its decision to back the local Woads in their long struggle against the barbarians. But Rome, declining and falling right on schedule, is losing its territorial ambitions and beginning to withdraw from the far corners of its empire. That leaves Arthur risking his neck without much support from the folks at home, and perhaps he will cast his lot with England. In the traditional legends he became king at 15, and went on to conquer Scotland, Ireland, Iceland -- and Orkney, which was flattered to find itself in such company.

The movie ends with a pitched battle that's heavy on swords and maces and stabbings and skewerings, and in which countless enemies fall while nobody that we know ever dies except for those whose deaths are prefigured by prescient dialogue or the requirements of fate. I have at this point seen about enough swashbuckling, I think, although producer Jerry Bruckheimer hasn't, since this project follows right on the heels of his "Pirates of the Caribbean." I would have liked to see deeper characterizations and more complex dialogue, as in movies like "Braveheart" or "Rob Roy," but today's multiplex audience, once it has digested a word like Sarmatia, feels its day's work is done.

That the movie works is because of the considerable production qualities and the charisma of the actors, who bring more interest to the characters than they deserve. There is a kind of direct, unadorned conviction to the acting of Clive Owen and the others; raised on Shakespeare, trained for swordfights, with an idea of Arthurian legend in their heads since childhood, they don't seem out of time and place like the cast of "Troy." They get on with it.

MADE WITH a generous heaping of "Lord of the Rings"-style derring-do and a pinch of "Braveheart"-esque Celtic lore (yet, surprisingly, with nary a whiff of "Camelot," "The Sword in the Stone" and their breastplate-clanging ilk), "King Arthur's" refreshingly revisionist take on the Arthurian legends makes almost palatable its bombast and reliance on formula. Once the sound of thundering hooves and New Age Celtic keening by Moya Brennan faded from my ringing ears, I was left more satisfied than not with this exercise in historical speculation, courtesy of director Antoine "Training Day" Fuqua and producer Jerry "Pirates of the Caribbean" Bruckheimer. It is, as you might expect from that pair, epic. Considering its worn-out cinematic precedents, it is also epically fresh.

   
Of course, to anyone who has sat through any portion of the recent "LOTR" cycle, much of "King Arthur" -- set in 5th-century Britain -- will feel familiar. As the members of "King Arthur's" outnumbered, Roman-led contingent of foreign conscripts do battle against, and sometimes with, a confusing swirl of barbaric Saxons, tattooed Picts and imperial Romans, you'll be forgiven if you hear echoes of Tolkien's multinational (not to mention multi-species) clash of elves, dwarves, humans, Orcs and Ents. The correspondence between films is far from exact -- the Pictish seer-warrior Merlin (Stephen Dillane) is a far cry from the wizard Gandalf, for instance -- but "King Arthur's" good-vs.-evil saga about a band of underdogs overcoming incredible odds is clearly indebted to the structure and themes of Peter Jackson's film trilogy.

Of course, much of "King Arthur," written by David "Gladiator" Franzoni, is based on the archaeological and written record, while I've been told that "LOTR" was largely made up. No matter.

You will be pleased to note that Franzoni retains from the Arthurian tales that most of us grew up with . . . a round table. Otherwise, almost everything else here is new. Lucius Artorius Castus, for instance, aka Arthur (Clive Owen, showing more animation than he has in a long while), is the half-Roman, half-British commander of a cavalry unit of Sarmatian knights drafted from Eastern Europe by the Romans. Nearing the end of their 15-year-long tours of duty guarding a remote outpost along Hadrian's Wall, the 73-mile-long barricade built in the 2nd century to separate Roman-controlled Britain from Northern invaders like the Saxons, Arthur's crew consists of Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd), Galahad (Hugh Dancy), Gawain (Joel Edgerton), Tristan (Mads Mikkelsen), Bors (Ray Winstone) and Dagonet (Ray Stevenson). When they're not drinking and carousing with women, much of their time is spent fending off attacks from the Picts north of the wall, derisively called "Woads" by Arthur and his men because of their habit of decorating their skin with blue dye from the woad plant. (Time to bone up on that graduate-level seminar you took on ancient culture, because much of this info comes rushing past with the speed of a flaming arrow.)
更多影评 www.130q.com

The Saxons, meanwhile, led by the very scary-looking father-and-son team of Cerdic and Cynric (Stellan Skarsgard and Til Schweiger), have been lately making inroads from Northern Germany into Britain, and now are threatening the son of a prominent Roman family cut off deep in Woad country far north of the wall. From the Roman Bishop Germanius (Ivano Marescotti) comes one last mission for Arthur's men: Rescue the boy (Lorenzo De Angelis) and his family, and only then can the knights collect their walking papers and go home.

Have I mentioned that our seven heroes are outnumbered by, oh, about a thousand to one?

Hey, no biggie. Using brawn, brains and a strategic alliance with the guerrilla-war-expert Picts, negotiated by Merlin's babelicious daughter Guinevere (Keira Knightley), who hates the Saxons as much as Arthur, the knights handily defeat all comers. Well, not quite handily. Some press photos have already given away the fact that someone working for the cause of truth, justice and the Arthurian way gets killed. Just don't expect me to be the one to tell who.

Is "King Arthur" a tall tale? Heck, yes, as tall as they come. But it should get bonus points in anyone's book for a couple of things. First, it doesn't dumb down too terribly a terribly complicated period in history. Second, there is no Holy Grail motivating Arthur's men, just a very human homesickness. What's more, Arthur himself is shown to be a Pelagian, a once-discredited early Christian sect that believed in free will over divine grace.

In other words, by going back to its origins and dusting itself off, the King Arthur story has proved itself to have a very contemporary resonance.

The big selling point of Antoine Fuqua's spin-cycle epic "King Arthur" is its claim to authenticity. If you're looking for the glitz and glitter of Camelot, you've made a wrong turn, because this "King Arthur" takes place not in Great Britain's glamorous Middle Ages but in its far less dazzling Dark Ages -- the 5th century, before the invention of soap. (They didn't call it the Dark Ages for nothing.) In "King Arthur," faces are permanently and realistically smudged; there is much wearing of rough, nubby cloaks and dingy chainmail, reinforcing the hopelessness of it all. Merlin isn't a glam-rock wizard but an all-knowing warrior king who wears blue lipstick. Primitive beliefs abound; savage enemies lurk, their dusty beards arranged in threatening plaits, waiting for the right opportunity to burn the villages, just for kicks. The Britain of "King Arthur" is a country sitting in the dark, waiting for something to happen. The audience can relate.

The figure we know as King Arthur is said to be a composite based on various shadowy warrior and chieftain types of 5th century Britain; whoever Arthur was, he made his way into the culture as a symbol of bravery, honor and idealism. And so, in its intentions at least, Fuqua's "King Arthur" is more historically accurate than, say, the magnificently flawed but heartfelt "Camelot" or John Boorman's bloody, passionate extravaganza "Excalibur." But it's hard to care about a valiant groping for accuracy when a story is so badly told you can't tell what the devil is going on. And more important, sometimes legends resonate for good reason. Does monkeying around with them necessarily improve them? Do we really need to know the true Hollywood backstory of King Arthur?
更多影评 www.130q.com

Whether we need it or not, we've got it now. Clive Owen is Artorius, or Arthur, the half-Roman, half-British commander of a band of rugged warriors who have been pressed into the Roman service. (They're part of a tribe of warriors called the Sarmatians, who hail from part of what's now Russia; in the movie there are seven of them, although 101 would have had a better ring to it.) Rome catches wind that the Saxons are planning to invade Britain from the north; Arthur gets the order to drive them back. Meanwhile, the forests of Britain teem with mysterious tree people, native folk who paint fierce lines on their faces and seem grumpy that either Romans or Saxons should have the nerve to interrupt teatime. These are the Woads (perhaps better known, in real life, as the Picts). Saxons, Woads, Romans: Nobody manages to get along. Only Arthur, having studied the words of the heretical theologian Pelagius, has a larger vision: "His teachings on equality and freedom will have been a great influence," he intones knowledgeably.

The line may as well have been carved from a block of wood, and not even Owen, as fine an actor as England has given us in the past 10 years, knows what to do with it. David Franzoni ("Gladiator") wrote the script, and he and Fuqua move the action along, stumpily, with lines like "A massive Saxon incursion has begun." Fuqua's "Training Day" was low on substance, but there's no question that it moved. Instead of going on to make better movies, he forged ahead to make worse ones, like the absurd and offensive "Tears of the Sun."

The legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are so popular and accessible that they generate a new motion picture every decade-or-so, even though no single movie could ever hope to capture the scope of the entire Vulgate Cycle. King Arthur, from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), is the latest re-invention, and the first Arthur movie since 1995's failed First Knight. (I'm not counting 1998's animated The Quest for Camelot, since it isn't really about the king.) Although intended to be serious, this tale of old Britain never convinces us of its straightforward intentions. Every chuckle and snicker heard in the theater comes at the expense of a stentorian line of dialogue or a deeply emotional moment. The term "unintentional comedy" was coined for a movie such as this. Yet King Arthur is too long and too full of itself to offer more than a few fleeting moments of entertainment. It doesn't take long for tediousness to triumph.

The film gets off to a bad start when a title card asserts that historians have agreed that there is one man who inspired the tale of King Arthur. Nothing could be further from the truth. When it comes to Arthur, there is no consensus. Many historians believe he is 100% fictional. Others point to one of several men who might have inspired the legend. King Arthur takes the view that this man was Riothamus, a.k.a. Artorius, a Roman commander of half-British descent who fought Saxons for the Emperor during the 5th century. Pretty much everything in the film, except the man's name and a few historical details, is a hodgepodge of material from the Vulgate Cycle mixed indiscriminately with ideas from screenwriter David Franzoni's imagination. The result is a borderline-incoherent story that is so riddled with holes and impossibilities that it defies understanding.

Arthur is played by Clive Owen, who is the only one in this mess to display any screen presence. (If Owen is in the running to succeed Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, this will not help his cause.) He is surrounded by a group of knights with familiar names: Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd), Tristan (Mads Mikkelsen), Gawain (Joel Edgerton), Galahad (Hugh Dancy), Bors (Ray Winstone), etc. Only two of these men have any individuality. Lancelot is an annoying whiner and Bors is an amusing thug. Everyone else is in dire need of his own theme song, such as the one given to Brave Sir Robin in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Who would mix up Tristan and Gawain if each had a couple of minstrels trailing after him?

 Merlin (Stephan Dillane) is in the film, too, except he's not a wizard, but an old guy in tattered clothing with a lot of dirt on his face. He's the ruler of the rag-tag Britons and he has decided to join Arthur in driving out the Saxon invaders, who are led by a Big Bad Bearded Barbarian played by Stellan Skarsg錼d, who spends most of his limited screen time whispering menacingly. Arthur, for a variety of obscure reasons, has decided to turn his back on Rome (from whence he hails) and stick around in the snow and fog that defines Britain. I'm sure that the lure of being king has something to do with it, as does the promise of having repeated with Guinevere (Keira Knightley), a flat-chested warrior woman who paints her pale skin blue and wears a faux dominatrix costume. Somewhere in the middle of the movie, she picks up a bow and makes like Legolas.
更多影评 www.130q.com

If I was being kind, I would call Fuqua's direction uninspired. A more honest appraisal is that it's inept. The battle scenes are horribly staged; half the time, it's impossible to get a clear sense of place or direction. The movie's tone is unbelievably somber; Fuqua takes this story and its characters far too seriously. The top-notch cinematography by Slawomir Idziak is better than the movie deserves. The big one-on-one battle is about as energetic and impressive as the Ben Kenobi/Darth Vader duel in Star Wars. That was fine in 1977, but it lacks the panache and energy we have come to expect 25 years later. (Imagine if Star Wars Episode III used similar choreography for its climactic light-saber duel? If you want to see guys fight like they mean it, watch Troy. (That movie also deconstructs a legend, but does it with moderately greater success.) As for the clash of armies, let's just say that this doesn't come close to The Lord of the Rings, which has become the gold standard for epic battles. By comparison, King Arthur is corroded iron.

The concept of taking the Arthurian legends and deleting all of the fantasy elements makes no sense whatsoever, especially in light of the rousing success of The Lord of the Rings. Apparently, Fuqua is trying to make another Braveheart or Gladiator, but he fails to develop Arthur into the kind of individual who can captivate audiences. Not even Owen's performance can make this version of King Arthur compelling. And he's surrounded by a weak supporting cast and a villain whose ferociousness ranks below that of the Fairy Godmother in Shrek 2.

Still, the core problem is the screenplay, which seems to have been penned without the consideration that someone in the theater might actually try to piece it together into a semblance of coherency. This is one of those films where there wouldn't be a story if people didn't do inexplicably dumb things. (Like the high-ranking Roman who has decided to build his home north of Hadrian's Wall, right in the midst of hostile territory.) There's one thing we can be sure of, however: the story presented in King Arthur is no more real than the one told in Excalibur (one of the better Camelot movies to-date), despite its protestations to the contrary. If things happened in history like what occurs in this movie, no one would have bothered to remember them, much less fictionalize them into one of the most enduring legends of European culture.