First Knight (1995) – Richard Gere and Sean Connery

Within the first 5 minutes we get Richard Gere giving an entertaining exhibition of competitive swordsmanship, ending in a deep martial arts truth that was also the key lesson behind Bruce Lee’s unfinished movie Game Of Death from over two decades prior, and it’s already clear that First Knight (1995) is a set to be a classic with a strong cast and a strong script working in tandem to create a memorable, adventurous action movie set in the realm of King Arthur of Camelot.

There is a bit of drama genre between the action scenes, but it’s generally very well composed – well poised, engaging and not irritating. Actors are as fine as the script they’re following.

The action itself is not too monotonous either – this movie features scene after scene of creative action concept – each one quite different from the next. The creativity & excitement dries up slightly towards the back end of the movie as the mood turns to warfare and betrayal, and the scenes become a bit overly intense, suspenseful and elongated – but only slightly. Then ending is not a bad one, compared to most action movies which usually have underwhelming endings. There’s still a respectable level of plot twisting and creativity towards the end – some would even call it a masterpiece ending – whatever floats your boat. For me, the first two thirds of the movie are considerably more fun than the last third.

First Knight is a good story well played – it’s a long, fairly enjoyable movie. But it doesn’t give the same buzz of the movies rated Pretty Good so I’ve ranked it one step lower than them. But it’s more than just OK. I’d say it’s a Decent movie for action hero movie connoisseurs.

While Richard Gere (as Lancelot) is by far the main figure in this movie, and Sean Connery‘s role (as King Arthur) is comparatively minor, it’s still a significant role – enough to call him a co-star of the show, considering his star power. The lead female (Julia Ormond as Guinevere) is also a major figure in this movie – you could call her a co-star too. The chief baddie is played by Ben Cross (as Maleagant). All four core cast members fit in well and perform fantastically. I’m by no means a drama genre connoisseur, but this movie blurs the boundaries between action to drama more than I can usually tolerate, yet without problem in this case. Well done to everyone involved.