Favorite Castle movie???

[Jacob C.]

So what is your favorite Castle themed movie??

Mine is "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" (with Kevin Costner)
I loved the scenes with the "forestmen" & the attack on their forest hideout.....reminded me a lot of lego battles which took place in my bedroom many years ago.

[Jojo]

Hello!



Yes, Prince of Thieves was one of my favourite Castle movies, too. As a matter of fact it kept me buying LEGO in 1992 although I was already way older than 12 (15, to be exact). After I had seen the movie I went to the local Wal Mart and bought the Black Knight's Castle 6086 (for the fortress of the Sheriff of Nottingham).

Otherwise I like The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn. The mother of all Robin-Hood-movies :-)


Bye
Jojo

[TwoTonic Knight]

There is only one Robin Hood movie: Errol Flynn in The Adventurers of Robin Hood. Great cast: Flynn, Olivia DeHaviland, Basil Rathbone, and Claude Rains. Properly keeps it moving, breezy and light-hearted even if Merry Olde England looks a bit Southern California to me.

Let me single out the Kevin Costner version as particularly bad - Costner has a limited range, and being a leader of men isn't within that range (notice how Sean Connery projects that missing quality with only a minute of screen time), not to mention PCing the poor story to death, and Alan Rickman playing the sheriff for comedy relief. But then, I've listed some films that are Not Well Regarded below - it's a matter of what age you were when you first saw the film in question.

Some others of interest:

The Vikings: Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis dual it out as a very (very!) loose rendition of the Ragnar Brothers.

Ivanhoe: Elizabeth Taylor when she was young and thin. George Sanders as the slimy villian. Another hokey movie from the 50's, but I like it.

Alexander Nevsky: Sergei Eisenstein classic. Music by Prokofiev. Yeah, he seems rather a socialistic kinda guy in this rendition (whaddya want with Joe Steel looking over your shoulder in 1938), but the confrontation between the Teutonic Knights and Nevsky at the Ice Slaughter is fantastic.

Seven Samurai: Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune. I think Ran will appeal to more people with massive formed units in color moving about the field (absolutely stunning).

Braveheart: okay, familiarity breeds contempt, because I can spot so many inaccuracies, but hey, it's Hollywood.

13th Warrior: yeah, the critics hate it, but it's one of my guilty pleasures.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail: An extremely silly movie that actually understands the legends and history more than might be expected. It was also more influential than you might think since just about every medieval fantasy or history that followed it tried to capture it's murky, dark look.

The Black Shield of Falworth: Try to watch this when you are young (you'll laugh more than be inspired as an adult). It has a special place in my heart, but boy is it awful!

[ottoatm]

Wow... I never thought anyone would ever mention the old Errol Flynn Robin Hood - that's cool - and it's my favorite as well.

I actually like the Kevin Costner one too, but it takes a much lower spot on my list of favorites - it just seems a little too... staged? I'm not sure what the word is, but I just seems too much like a movie - I don't really get into it. For some reason, the old B&W version always stops my channel surfing - I can't explain.

Other than that, Braveheart is also one of my favorites - I know it's full of inaccuracies and heavily exagerated, but I can't help loving it - I think it's very well done.

[TheOrk]

My all time favorite movies are all CASTLE.

1# TROY

2#Lotr Return of the King

3#Conan the Barbarian

4#BraveHeart-I got this movie at the same time as my first LEGO. So its the main reason I like it so much.

5#Gladitor

My secondary favorites are not all Castle but these are the ones that are:

Robin Hood Prince of Theives
First Knight
The 13th Warrior
Lotr The Two Towers
Lotr The Fellowship of the Ring
Adventures of Robin Hood
Excaliber
Gladitor
Last Samurai
Conan the Destroyer

The Kingdom of Heaven??????????

My least favorite Castle movies:

The Magic Sword- REMAKE NEEDED
The sword of Lancalot- REMAKE NEEDED
And That God Forsaken Jousting Movie That Flopped Afew Years Back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Blueandwhite]

I think my favourite Castle movie must be either A Knight's Tale or The Court Jester (1956), featuring Danny Kaye, Basil Rathbone and Angela Lansbury. This movie is absolutely fantastic. I love the whole purple pimpernel birthmark thing. Its easily the funniest Castle movie outside of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

I like A Knight's Tale because it is so deliberately innacurate. This movie works because it doesn't try to take itself seriously. Mark Addy and Paul Bettnay are absolutely hilarious, and Shannyn Sossamon is hot! What more could you want! The characters are absurd, the plot is non-existent, and everything else is completely cliche, but the whole thing turns out to be alot of fun!!

Its actually ironic that I really don't like Braveheart! This movie just takes itself too seriously. Mel Gibson just takes too many liberties with history to be taken seriously in this one!

[Formendacil]

Gotta go with the majority and say that I love Errol Flynn's (Californian ) Robin Hood. A Knight's Tale, while not to be recommended if you desire anything particularly serious, is good too. I prefer the Princess Bride myself, but that's just a matter of comedic taste.

Although not quite medieval, I also enjoy the Lord of the Rings movies, although if you're looking to avoid an accuracy argument, steer WELL clear of the those movies if I'm in the neighbourhood.

The medieval-ish movies from the 50s are good for light-hearted fun, and rather corny-looking knights, but they're good enough if there's nothing else going on.

[st1920]

I really liked the movies Monty Python and the holy grail, A Knight's tale and Braveheart.

The holy grail - because it's really funny
A knight's tale - because it's funny too
Braveheart - because of the story and music

I didn't like the movie Troy, because It really messes up the story and because the movie is relying on the great sexsymbols who are acting as the ancient Heros.

[Bluesecrets]

I always find it hard to list my favorite of anything but I do have a few favorite castle films.

Ivanhoe - a classic
The Court Jester - a classic comedy
Sleeping Beauty - classic fairytale
Robinhood - first version
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure - Just for the classic lines like "Throw them in the iron maiden"...just too hilarious

Just to name a few off the top of my head. Others have been mentioned already.

[Bruce N H]

I'd have to say Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I could probably quote the whole movie start to end.

Bruce

[doctorsparkles]

First off, I should note that I like all of my favorites due to scenery, costumes, and story, rather than for historical accuracy (if I want a history lesson, I'll pick up a history book). That being said, some of my favorites, in no particular order, are:

1. The 13th Warrior - I actually probably like the book better. Either way, I love the way they depict people from two entirely different cultures interacting.
2. King Arthur - Yes, the new one... the one that everybody else on Earth hated. So sue me. I loved the story, regardless of inconsistency with history or Arthurian Legend, and the costumes were fantastic, in my opinion. Let's not forget Kiera Knightley in leather straps and full tribal warpaint... mmm... I actually wanted my wedding to be based on the ceremony at the end, but I doubt that will come to fruition.
3. Braveheart - I actually like this one less than I used to, and usually stop watching after the first half, but I love the music, costumes and scenery, and it has a bit of humor to it to, which I enjoy.
4. Dragonheart - This is a really silly movie, but I loved it as a kid, so I still get a kick out of it from time to time.
5. Lord of The Rings Trilogy - These gave great visuals for the books, which I also love.
6. Merlin - I'm talking about the cheesy, made for t.v. movie. It was a fun story nonetheless.

There are probably tons more that I'm forgetting, but these are the ones that I came up with off the top of my head.

[LEGOFREAK]

like many others here I have several favorites...
Lord of the Rings (any)
13th Warrior (makes an even better book IMO)
Rob Roy
Braveheart
Prince of Thieves...

runner up for favorite: Monty Python and the holy grail.. (help help - i'm bein repressed!)


and the winnah is:

Excalibur.

I think I first saw that movie at thirteen, and for years, it was my standard of knights movies. If a movie didn't match up to King Arthur and his boys, then poo on them.

[Jacob C.]

I put together a list of medieval themed movies (I myself printed the list out & will swing by the local video stores to rent some)

EARLY MEDIEVAL (500 to 1050 AD)
The Knights of the Round Table
Sword of Lancelot
First Knight [SPRING 96]
Excalibur [SPRING 96]
Camelot
Prince Valiant
Sword of the Valiant
The Sword in the Stone (Disney animation)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (932 AD)
The Green Knight
Prince of Jutland
Merlin and the Sword
Merlin of the Crystal Cave
Flight of the Dragons (animated)
The Sword and the Sorcerer (Disney)
Dragonslayer
Tristan et Iseuldt
The Vikings
The Littlest Viking
The Longships
Eric the Viking
The Norseman
The Black Shield of Falworth
The Black Arrow
Alfred the Great (late 800s England)

MIDDLE AGES (1050 to 1450 AD)
MacBeth (set mid-1000s Scotland)
Hearts and Armor (mid-1000s Spain)
El Cid (late-1000s Spain)
The Crusades (documentary)
The Seventh Seal (set during the Crusades)
Ivanhoe (late 1100s)
1) w/Robert Taylor
2) w/Anthony Andrews & Olivia Hussey
Robin Hood (900-1000 England)
1) w/Errol Flynn
2) w/Patrick Bergin)
3) w/Michael Praed/Jason Connery
4) Disney (animated) [SPRING 96])
Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves
Robin and Marion
Robin Hood: Men in Tights [FALL 95]
Men of Sherwood Forest
The Court Jester (12th C England)
Lionhart
The Flame and the Arrow
The Lion in Winter (about Henry II, ruler of England 1154-1189)
Beckett (archbishop of Canterbury during reign of Henry II)
Brother Sun, Sister Moon (St Francis of Assisi, 1182-1226)
The Conqueror (about Genghis Khan, early 1200s Asia)
Alexander Nevesky (mid-1200s Russia)
The Dragon and the Sword (Russian)
The Magic Sword (13thC)
Braveheart (1300 Scotland) [SPRING 96]
The Black Rose (time of Kublai Khan, late 1200s)
Edward II (early 14th C)
The Name of the Rose (set in 1312 monastery) [SPRING 94]
Decameron Nights (about Italian poet Boccaccio, mid-1300s)
Hamlet (set 1300/1400?)
1) w/Mel Gibson
2) w/Laurence Olivier
Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Hamlet comedy) [FALL 93]
Richard II (late 1300s England)
Richard III (late 1400s England)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1400's France)
A Walk with Love and Death (1400s Italy)
Joan of Arc: A Portrait of a Legend (1428 France)
Henry V (early 1400s England)
1) w/Kenneth Branagh, [SPRING 95]
2) w/Laurence Olivier
The Advocate
The Warlord
Ladyhawke (based on 12C French legend) [FALL 95]
The Sorceress (13-14C France)
The Princess Bride
The Messenger: The story of Joan of Arc
Jabberwocky (Monty Python)
Stealing Heaven (about Abelard & Heloise, early 1100s France)
Black Adder I (British comedy)
The Navigator (from 11/12C Cumbria to 20C New Zealand
King Lear
Snow White (Disney)
Sleeping Beauty (Disney)
Willow
Dr. Faustus

[Bruce N H]

I should add a couple that come a little later historically--Henry V (the '80's version by Branaugh) and A Man for All Seasons. Both great movies. Of course any of the movie-i-zations of Shakespeare's plays would make my list.

Bruce

[TheOrk]

Youve seen more movies than me.
But I recognize most of thos from a bunch of different places.
I'm surprised somone else knew about The Magic Sword and Sword of Lancalot.