First Knight Reviews

Despite desperate efforts to sell this umpteenth recycling of the Camelot legend as a Sean Connery vehicle, it's Richard Gere's film and he's not much of a Lancelot. An era of peace in medieval England is shattered by aggressive, former Camelot knight Sir Malagant (Ben Cross), who's broken with King Arthur (Sean Connery) and has designs on Arthur's idyllic kingdom. Malagant's men attempt to kidnap Arthur's intended bride, Guinevere (Julia Ormond), but are stopped by wandering swordsman Lancelot (Richard Gere), who boldly kisses the lady and disappears into the forest. Guinevere reaches Camelot but is abducted by Malagant's men, who take her to Malagant's lair in a cave beneath a ruined castle. Lancelot rescues her, and Arthur offers him Malagant's vacant seat at the Round Table. After much soul-searching, Lancelot accepts. Arthur and Guinevere are married, Malagant's army invades Guinevere's homeland of Lyonesse and Arthur rallies his army and marches into battle. Lancelot, torn by his love for Guinevere and loyalty to Arthur, decides to leave Camelot, but Arthur witnesses their passionate farewell kiss and demands a public trial for both. This middlebrow rendering of the classic story boasts elegant production design and attractive Welsh locations, but the title is a lame pun and things go downhill from there. Why director Jerry Zucker, who made his name lampooning overblown Hollywood genre fare (AIRPLANE!, THE NAKED GUN), failed to realize that Gere in medieval drag equals instant self-parody is a mystery.