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Hmm, Sean Connery.
Generally his name invokes thoughts of some
really good movies. But occasionally he
is involved in a few misfires. I mean, who
remembers “Zardoz” or even “League
of Extraordinary Gentlemen?” Yes,
even the great Connery himself has made
a few duds. What surprises me is that he
has been involved with two movies about
the great King Arthur, both of which fell
just a little short of good. There was “First
Knight”, which is arguably one of
the worst films made about Arthur, but even
before that he starred as the Green Knight
in “Sword of the Valiant.”
Miles O’keefe stars as Sir Gawain
in this semi-rousing tale of that pits Arthur’s
knight against the wit and riddles of Connery’s
Green Knight. Early in the film we learn
the Green Knight is much more than he seems,
and it gives Connery an opportunity to prepare
for his future role in “Highlander.”
(You’ll get it when you see it…)
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This was one of those films that had everything
going for it. It had a fairly good script as well
as boasting a cast made up of Connery, Trevor
Howard, Christopher Lee, and John Rhys-Davies.
But unfortunately at the time the film was made
(1984), O’Keefe was at the height of his
popularity having come off the laughable “Tarzan,
the Ape Man”, in which he co-starred with
Bo Derek. For some reason, the studio got the
mistaken idea that casting him in the lead was
a good idea. Unfortunately, director Stephen weeks
was still new to the game and buckled under the
pressure to cast O’Keefe. I also understand
that the conflicts between Weeks and the studio
went as far as to affect the editing of the film,
so the end result was a bit on the choppy side.
If it wasn’t for these few problems, “Sword
of the Valiant” might have turned out to
be quite a different film. Watching it, one can
see the potential of what it might have been as
opposed to what it became. MGM’s DVD release
doesn’t help matters as the picture is presented
in Full Screen format and so the cinematography
suffers as well.
Directed by: Stephen Weeks
Starring: Miles O’Keefe, Trevor Howard,
Sean Connery, Christopher Lee, John Rhys-Davies
Extras: Theatrical Trailer
Specifications: Full Screen
Studio: MGM
Release Date: 4/6/2004
Region 1
MPAA Rating:
Website
We'll give Sword of the Valiant a D.
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