Gawain and the Green Knight

This film has to be one of the most underrated films ever. And in some ways I think this could be due to it being a British film made with a reasonably low budget...in other words a prejudice against it.

I admit it does have it's flaws such as some of the fight scenes (but not all) being a little silly, a few deviations from the plot of the poem, and the occasional line of cheesy dialogue (though on this count we there is not that much of this at all).

This film had a small budget however the filmmakers accomplish a great deal despite this. The set designs I have to say are rather good. As for the costumes, they do indeed look like 'Monty Python And The Holy Grail' costumes in some cases. There are two reasons for this that are over looked...these are the facts that Monty Python spoofed this film (aswell as others) with their film...The other fact is that the costumes are based on Medieval Costumes and so it's obvious that some will look similar.

I have seen a lot of people on this site say how bad the effects are, and I have to respectfully say that their comments are baloney on this matter. The effects are no worse than most other films of that time and genre.

Also it should be noted that this is a British film and most of the cast were fairly well known in the UK at the time, so they are only a 'No Name' cast to people abroad (not in the UK) in the USA...etc...People forget that films are always predominately made for their own countries and not generally foreign markets...and this film is the same.

Over all this is quite a good film...I will give it full marks just because everyone else are giving this film such ridiculous marks on these reviews.

I dunno why I wrote "the knights who say ni!" as my summary. I suppose it was to be creative. Anyway, this movie is very close to the original story, but another half hour of this crap I would've been ripping my hair out. Well, at least I think that is what I might have done had I not been a huge fan of Murray Head.

But Murray's the man, so I watched and I got a kick out of him running about punching people and hitting them with sticks, rocks, himself, swords, and anything else he found laying about. The cinematography is stinky and the script/ interpretation of the tale is sorta crappy. But if you like Murray, by all means go ahead and watch.

These reviews heighten my need to get hold of a copy of this film. I've been looking for it ever since the videotape was invented, hoping to relive the glorious three weeks spent as an extra on Gawain and the Green Knight during my art-school days in Cardiff Wales. Costumes? how can you criticise chain mail knitted from silver sprayed string? Combat scenes? bad acting! I was personally involved in hand to hand combat with Murray Head! Awful scenery? Don't let the Welsh hear that.. mainly Cardiff and Caerphilly castles. Terrible SFX? How about covering the set in artificial snow only to have to delay filming because it snowed for real. A masterpiece.

I managed to catch this movie on cable yesterday afternoon. Yeah, sure, it stinks, but it was made in 1973, so whaddaya want?

I would not be surprised, however, if this movie was the inspiration for many of the scenes in Monty Python's Holy Grail. There are many small similarities, and while watching this movie you can just hear the Python troupe's twisted gears turning in their heads.

"wouldn't it be funnier if Sir Gawain was wandering in a forest and then came across a castle of virgins...?"

A bored and listless viewer sat through a boring and listless movie today. As others before me have said, I waited in vain for the Monty Python troupe to come charging out of the bushes and breathe a little life into the proceedings. GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT is, I suppose, an honest attempt to portray the legendary exploits of a Knight of the Round Table, however it fails to generate any excitement or even any interest in the characters. Badly acted and unconvincing combat scenes, dreary scenery and a vastly overblown musical score become tedious rather quickly. Overall, this is a real yawner by any standard one cares to apply.