YMMV / King Arthur (2004)

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Much of what Cerdic does is open to this. His intentions are hard to read, and he doles out kindness and cruelty in the same gruff and joyless tone of voice.
  • A good example is when he protects a female prisoner from two of his own men, killing one of the men when he objects, on the argument that "we don't mix with these people". Then, when she starts to thank him, he turns around and kills her as well. Was he really motivated by a theory of racial purity? Or did he simply realize that he couldn't protect her for long?
  • His actor Stellan Skarsgaard decided to play him as someone bored with conquests, who only does them out of instinct. Arthur, being his first Worthy Opponent in years, reignites his spirit.
• Audience-Coloring Adaptation: This film, probably more than anything else, has helped popularize the idea that the "historical King Arthur" was a Roman or Romano-British dude named Artorius, and specifically Lucius Artorius Castus (due to the major problems the latter theory and the related "Knights = Sarmatians" theory have, they remain a fringe position among scholars). After it was released, the concept started popping up in more media like the Total War series, Vinland Saga and Kaamelott, though not necessarily mentioning Sarmatians explicitly. Before the film was released, Kinoko Nasu was aware of the "Roman Arthur" concept since the true name of his version of Arthur is "Artoria" (the feminine form of "Artorius"), and in supplementary materials he posits that the mythical Arthur was a Composite Character of Roman and British leaders. But such references were rare outside of academic discussions, mostly appearing in Demythification-style historical novels.
• Awesome Music:
  • "Budget Meeting" is far more awesome than anything with that name deserves to be.
  • "We will go home."
• Base-Breaking Character: Guinevere gets Xenafication to become an Action Girl and thus the base is split on whether this was a well thought out choice for a work that sold itself on Demythification or not. She does however have fans, particularly those who have seen the extended version, who point out she's significantly more than just the love interest, and love her moments in battle, as well as killing Marius.
• Complete Monster: Cerdic, the warchief of the Saxons, is a brutal Blood Knight leading his forces across Britannia to destroy all in their paths. First seen amongst a burnt out village, Cerdic stops a Saxon from raping a woman simply because such a coupling would "water down" their Saxon blood and promptly kills the soldier when he protests before he orders the woman killed anyways. Cerdic promptly orders his men to rampage across Britain with explicit instructions to leave behind no man, woman or child who can even carry a sword. In the final battle with Arthur, Cerdic sends his men on a diversion that will get them killed and roars they are his men when his son Cynric protests the decision. During the battle, Cerdic viciously kills Tristan after making certain Arthur can see the fight, having decided earlier Arthur is the only man worth killing.
• Critical Backlash: While panned or seen as only So Okay, It's Average on its release, the movie does have plenty of fans, and it maintains a stronger reception twenty years later.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Bors is a Boisterous Bruiser who provides some much needed levity like revealing his bastard children have numbers instead of names, kicks all sorts of ass in battle and is brought to life by Ray Winstone.
  • Tristan is an ace archer played by Mads Mikkelsen in one of his rare non-villainous roles.
  • Dagonet barely says a word but is very well liked for his Undying Loyalty to Arthur, cute friendship with Lucan and Dying Moment of Awesome at the ice battle.
• Fan-Preferred Couple: Even though they only share two scenes in the extended edition, this film's Lancelot/Guinevere has a lot of traction, possibly because the age difference between Ioan Gruffud and Keira Knightley (29 and 19) is considerably less than the one she has with Clive Owen (he was 39).
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Of the three knights who fall over the course of the film, Dagonet is the first. His actor, Ray Stevenson, passed away in 2023, while the remainder of the "knights" - Clive Owen, Hugh Dancy, Joel Edgerton, Ioan Gruffudd, Mads Mikkelsen, and Ray Winstone - are still alive as of the beginning of 2024.
  • Rob Knox, a 14-year-old extra who worked closely with Ray Winstone, was stabbed to death in 2008 outside a London bar after protecting his younger brother.
• Ho Yay: Arthur and Lancelot are very close and have several intimate scenes that give off this vibe. Some argue that they have more on-screen chemistry than either independently has with Guinevere.
• Improved by the Re-Cut: The extended edition adds the gore back into the battles, re-orders some scenes, gives more characterization to certain figures, and overall is paced much better.
• Love to Hate: Marius is a complete Hate Sink but Ken Stott's performance makes him quite entertaining.
• Narm:
  • This exchange between Lancelot and Guinevere sounds incredibly forced.
  Lancelot: There are a lot of lonely men out there.
  Guinevere: Don't worry. I won't let them rape you.
  • Arthur's mortal blow to Cerdic feels like they were going for a sort of samurai vibe with Arthur striking without even looking at him, even reverse gripping Excalibur, but he's on his knees and moments away from getting killed himself, which makes it look too contrived. If he'd been standing, or if he'd turned around to strike like Mel Gibson in a similar scene in The Patriot (2000), it might have worked better.
• Nausea Fuel: Guinevere is introduced needing to have some of her fingers bent back into position. The viewer is spared the sight of this, but not of Gwen's pained screaming.
• Nightmare Fuel: This version of the sword in the stone story - Arthur was a child when his mother was locked in a burning house by Pict warriors. He tried to pull the sword out of his father's grave, but was too late to save her.
• No Problem with Licensed Games: The videogame based on the movie is a decent — if bland — hack & slash that can be fun, especially in co-op.
• One-Scene Wonder: Ganis only appears in the second act, but flirts with being a Badass Normal and offers to fight with the knights against the Saxons. While he's refused, he does get the others to safety.
• Retroactive Recognition: A whole bunch of the cast went on to get more widespread recognition (for American audiences at least) after this movie. At the time the most recognizable name and face for many was probably Keira Knightley due to being fresh off Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl:
  • Mads Mikkelsen stars as Tristan just two years before his breakout role in Casino Royale (2006).
  • Hugh Dancy plays Galahad before his notable appearances in Ella Enchanted, Confessions of a Shopaholic, The Jane Austen Book Club, Elizabeth I and of course Hannibal where he plays Will Graham opposite Mikkelsen's Hannibal Lecter. This makes some of their dialogue in the movie amusingly prescient, with Galahad saying he doesn't kill for pleasure "unlike some", and Tristan replying that he should try it someday because he might get a taste for it.
  • Ioan Gruffudd plays Lancelot a year before joining Fantastic Four (2005) as Mr. Fantastic.
  • Ray Stevenson plays Dagonet a year before joining Rome as Titus Pullo, and later playing the Punisher in Punisher: War Zone and Volstagg in Thor.
  • Stellan Skarsgård plays Cerdic two years before joining Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest as Bootstrap Bill, and later he was Dr. Selvig in Thor.
  • Stephen Dillane plays Merlin several years before joining Game of Thrones as Stannis Baratheon.
  • Rob Knox, an extra who appeared in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) as Marcus Belby, appears in an uncredited role. Knox was stabbed to death in 2008, and Ray Winstone published a tribute to him.
• Shocking Moments: The death of Lancelot, given that Arthur's not king yet, there's no real love triangle yet, he outlives most everyone else in the legends, and he's the movie's narrator. And then he goes on to narrate the ending anyway! It's also not (as) predictable or telegraphed like the other character deaths which a savvy viewer could pick up on. For instance, the film's entry in Movies in Fifteen Minutes has Arthur bewail that he didn't teach Tristan (who's killed when he duels the Big Bad ahead of Arthur) the "rules of movie death", but Lancelot is just as surprised and confused as the hissing, crying fangirls in the audience. The movie does foreshadow his death in battle with him telling Arthur to cremate him and scatter his ashes when it happens (as the Fifteen Minutes Affectionate Parody points out) but alert audiences will probably think "Like You Would Really Do It" because it's Lancelot, until the movie in fact does it.
• Signature Scene: The battle between Arthur and his six knights, plus Guinevere, against two hundred Saxons on a frozen river that starts cracking moments into the battle, where the only casualty of said battle among the heroes is Dagonet. It's widely considered the best scene in the film.
• Spiritual Successor:
  • A clear attempt to repeat the success of Gladiator. Both stories are historical battle epics set during The Roman Empire, were conceived by David Franzoni, both have Hans Zimmer scores, and both center around a successful and respected military officer who, while having never been to Rome himself, holds an idealized image of it in his head.
  • Critics at the time also compared it to Fuqua's previous movie Tears of the Sun, both being about a military officer and his crack team sent on a rescue mission in hostile territory which is sidetracked for humanitarian reasons, as they rescue other innocents and fight off the hostiles.
  • The film's plot is also often compared to Seven Samurai or its more famous American remake The Magnificent Seven (1960) due to the seven knights (Arthur included) defending a community or society that they don't quite fit in from raiders who vastly outnumber them. Antoine Fuqua would direct a remake of that ten years later.
• Strangled by the Red String: Arthur and Guinevere do share many scenes together, and it's Guinevere who convinces Arthur to find another cause to fight for - so they do make some kind of emotional connection. Their sex scene before the battle is less about being in love, and more about having fun/relieving stress before the battle begins. However, the last scene is of their wedding, and while some feel enough of a Time Skip could have passed to allow them to fall in love, others feel this wasn't built up enough and they ultimately marry because the legend says they're supposed to. Of course, since Gwen is Merlin's daughter in this, the marriage could have been one for alliance or political reasons, but these aspects aren't really touched on.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Despite the Arthurian myths having plenty of female characters who could have had interesting interpretations in a Demythification setting, Guinevere is the only woman of any note in the story. It's especially glaring because the Picts historically did allow women to take up arms, which is why Guinevere being an Action Girl is plausible. Morgana being omitted is wasted potential too, since Arthur having a sister, possibly from Merlin's side could have added some interesting dynamics to his character.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The story is clearly demanding to be treated like an epic, with its large cast - a lot of whom vanish or get Demoted to Extra. At only two hours, it's in need of more screen time. Word of God agrees, and the director's cut is a good twenty minutes longer.
• Unexpected Character: Dagonet is a surprising choice for this movie, since he's a minor character not often used in the legends, and only memorable for being a court jester. He enjoys less press than other knights such as Kay, Percival or Elyan.

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