The Mists of Avalon |  | Director: Uli Edel
Actors: Anjelica Huston, Julianna Margulies, Joan Allen, Samantha Mathis, Caroline Goodall
Studio: Turner Home Ent
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.97
Buy Used: $5.74
as of 9/8/2010 15:16 PDT details
You Save: $9.23 (62%)
New (34) Used (27) from $5.74
Seller: Media-shed
Rating:  295 reviews
Sales Rank: 4854
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language)
Rating: Unrated
Region: 1
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Running Time: 183 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.5 x 0.4
MPN: 053939663624
ISBN: 0780636139
UPC: 053939663624
EAN: 9780780636132
ASIN: B00005QW5Y
Theatrical Release Date: July 15, 2001
Release Date: December 11, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Retells the legend of King Arthur as perceived by the women central to the tale, from the zealous Morgaine, sworn to uphold her goddess at any cost, t
Amazon.com
This adaptation of Marion Zimmer Bradley's sprawling and perennially popular book, whose retelling of the Arthurian legends focused on the role of powerful females, compresses a wealth of mysticism, family intrigue, and bloody swordplay into three hours. While the plot can meander slowly and can sometimes seem, well, mystifying, the work of three notable actresses holds the production together, and the numerous complications do eventually get resolved. As Viviane, the Lady of the Lake, Anjelica Huston endeavors to perpetuate the old religion as pagan Britain comes into contact with Christianity. The scheming Morgause, played to evil perfection by Joan Allen, conspires to her own ends. And Avalon priestess Morgaine, played by Julianna Margulies, travels the heroine's journey, overcoming tragedies, injustice, and all manner of obstacles in her duty to both "the goddess" and her younger brother, King Arthur. Although the action lags at times, the production is quite lavish for a made-for-television feature and the film is ultimately entertaining. --Robert J. McNamara
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 295
 a stunning fantasy July 4, 2002
Andrew Mayzak (Seattle, WA USA)
14 out of 17 found this review helpful
Okay- so I never read the book, but I love the Arthurian legends and this was much better than any other movie about the time period, namely "First Knight" and "Camelot".
The scenery and costuming was gorgeous and I was amazed at how accurately period living was portrayed. There are no 13th century knights in armor at Arthur's court and the swords aren't the huge 5ft long broadswords that came about 500 years after Arthur's time. Everything is so rich in accurate detail that it's hard to stop watching.
Aside from that, the acting is superb, especially for a made for TV movie. It's definately as good as "Gettysburg" and "Nuremburg" to name a few other landmark TV movies. The balance between action and drama is great and the movie doesn't seem overloaded with too much of either. The computer animated effects of Camelot and Avalon look very real and the musical score is haunting, though a little too modern for my tastes.
I think the only bad thing about the DVD is that there aren't many special features like interviews and behind the scene production work. But with a 3 hour movie on one DVD, it's understandable. Also, some of the plot is a little questionable as far as historical accuracy is concerned, but I suppose that's better explained in the book.
A great movie for fans of the time period or for a rainy Saturday.Update as of August 28, 2002- I just finished reading the book and now I like the movie even more than ever. True, a lot is missing, but it's like that with most movies that are ported to the screen. The book itself is longer than all three of Tolkein's Ring series combined and I for one am glad that they didn't try to follow the The Mists of Avalon too closely. It would have been overdrawn and boring like "The Fellowship of the Ring."
It is kind of disappointing that over 20 years of plot time is cut out of the movie, but it's more tragic when people die young and it keeps the plot moving along swiftly. Also, TNT probably can't afford to make a 12 hour epic that follows the plot inch by inch.
I don't know how Bradley would react if she were alive today, but I think the movie is MUCH more accessible to a wide variety of audiences than the book is. And I think that being able to convey Bradley's message (that all religions are one and the same and that love is blind) is far more important than literary accuracy.
With that idea in mind, the film is much like Christianity is in the book. It's a simpler explanation of things for simpler people.
let's hear it for Morgaine! December 12, 2005
Monarch (San Fran Bay area, California)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
What a great movie! I love the spin on the Arthurian legend that this gives. I was going to say pretty much the same as the person before me, but she took care of it! This is a neat look at the pagan religion coming into a clash with the christian religion (or vice-versa). I definitely agree that Viviane is a compassionate character that got carried away. I would have to rate this movie better than Merlin, though, and agreed-- far better than the slop of "Excalibur."
A Marvelous Tale November 27, 2005
Parthena Black (Oklahoma)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I was absolutely entranced with this movie when it aired on television and read the book soon after. Having studied Arthurian legend in college, I found Morgaine's version refreshing and far more absorbing than some of the rather dry tales I read in school. While the female perspective of the story shifts the meaning of some of the events, I found it far more striking that this version brings Christianity's squelching of the Old Religion to the forefront. This may not be obvious to those who are not familiar with nature based faiths. Those who have studied or practice these religions will spot this immediately. Although Viviane has let power go to her head and misuses that power, other glimpses into the practices of herbalism, shamanism and divination are quite accurate. The film also portrays Arthur as quite the marshmallow, a side of him that had not struck me so strongly in other tales.
The acting is flawless, the scenery is beautiful and the story is one to get lost in. Although it is told in a different voice, it still contains all of the juicy elements we love in medieval tales.
I highly recommend reading the book after seeing the movie, if you haven't read it yet. After seeing the movie, you'll understand the 900-plus pages better and will be able to visualize the story.
I thought this was a wonderful movie. March 18, 2002
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
...Yes, it would have been nice to have *everything* in it, but that's just not realistic. For what they had to work with, time-wise, I think they did a wonderful job. There are very few movies based on books that don't make significant changes because of time constraints.I watched the movie first, then read the book...I enjoyed both immensely. By the way, I highly recommend others to do it this way -- watch the movie FIRST, then read the book. This allowed me to put faces on all the characters as I read, and I could picture each scene with more detail. Only drawback is if you watch the movie again, you might find yourself (as I did) looking for scenes that you thought you saw, only to realize that you'd pictured them in your head while reading the book. But all in all, though I liked the book more, I do love the movie, and I'm planning on buying it on DVD.
Great movie!!! April 8, 2002
Carolyn Reynolds (Ojai, CA United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Great photography! I would watch this one again and again! Good classic of the mythology stories. Nice to see movies about the women behind the men in the myths we all know so well. As in, the rest of the story...
Showing reviews 1-5 of 295
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