Ladies and gents, friends, and family, tonight, we leave the 300s, and now enter into the 400s. As I’m sure some of you may know, when I’ve resides milestones like 200, 300, 350, or a movie review like those, I’ve tried to watch, or rewatch a film that is important either for me personally, or important in the film industry. Tonight’s review is a more personal one for me, as this specific film was the very first PG-13 rated film that I saw in theaters, and possibly even first PG-13 film period. Surprisingly, I was only seven years old when it came out, and I saw it. Yeah, how often have you heard of kids seeing more adult films at such a young age? Rhetorical, I suppose. Anyway, tonight, let’s talk about what was most likely my very first introduction to PG-13 rated movies, as well as me hearing about actors like Sean Connery, Ben Cross, and Richard Gere, and actress Julia Ormond for probably the very first time ever. The one, and only First Knight, from 1995!
Plot: After winning many battles over the years, and now feeling at peace, King Arthur (Sean Connery) of Camelot desires to take a Queen to rule with him. So he chooses Lady Guinevere (Julia Ormond) as his wife. But peace is not to last long, as the villainous Prince Malagant (Ben Cross), along with a group of former knights, who betrayed King Arthur a while back, plot a coup against Arthur, and his kingdom in an attempt to gain Camelot for themselves. With the help of his new Queen, his army of loyal knights, as well as a newer knight named Sir Lancelot (Richard Gere), will Arthur be able to stand up against Malagant, and his men, and protect the ideals of Camelot?
Now, as a kid, and teenager, I always enjoyed this film. I will also say that Sean Connery became one of my favorite actors after seeing this movie. Also, I didn’t mind rewatching this film quite a few times even on video when I was a kid. After watching this film for the very first time in a long while, does this film hold up even today? Amazingly, it actually does! In fact, I’d say even more so after rewatching it again this last weekend. First of all, if you’re interested in learning about what life was like in medieval times, First Knight could bring in a little education about that. For one, I was surprised to find that there were crosses embroidered into the front of castles, and maybe even other sections of castles that were built back in medieval days. Not only that, but it’s also interesting how say, if you’re in a sword fight that you might want to win, you want to think of your opponent’s weak spots in order to defeat that person. Sort of sounds similar to say trying to win a game of chess, or something like that, does it not? There are also some aspects of First Knight that could apply to modern day times as well. For example, there’s the whole deal about deciding to marry someone for the wrong reasons. As some of us may know, some people may decide to get married to someone either for political reasons, the marriage was arranged, a person may be trying to prove that he/she can grow up, or some reason like those, as opposed to getting married because the man loves the woman, or the woman truly loves the man. Which begs the question, is it safe to say that these may be some of the reasons that not nearly as many marriages, especially in America, are successful in the long run as people would like them to be? Well, it’s definitely a question to think about, that’s for certain! One other thing that should be worth noting in regards to that is how people should learn to make decisions based on what may truly be the right decision, as opposed to making choices just because others are pressuring you to make them, or something like that. Okay, that’s not to say that people shouldn’t take advice from others. Of course they should. So where does one draw that line in regards to that whole deal, one may be wondering? Yeah, that’s definitely something to think about, for sure! Anyway, the movie also has this great symbolism of good against evil as well. I mean here you have King Arthur, who helped begin the good ideals of Camelot that included the good qualities of love, mercy, grace, justice, serving the needs of others, and things like those. Then you have villains like Malagant who, in time, decided to betray those ideals, as well as some of the light choosing to follow his lead, and basically say that self is more important than others around you. Not to mention that it’s an excellent parallel to how the devil, and the fallen angels (now called demons) decided to betray God, and the angles in Heaven back in the beginning of time. Oh, and how about King Arthur, and the good knights wearing blue, and silver armor, while Malagant, and his men wear black, and darker armor to represent the their dark side!?! Hence, the whole deal about good versus evil! In addition to all of this, it is super amazing how much of God, and the things of God are incorporated into this film. I’m not sure how much of that was the case with movies that were released back in the 1990s, or even shortly before, or after. However, one thing’s for sure! We need to go back to having movies like this one, and others like it again. Jerry Goldsmith also provides the score for this film. Not only does his music help provide the emotions during key moments of this film, but he has possibly one of the best musical compositions when it comes especially to the climax of this film. An additional element that makes First Knight really great is that this movie has a magnificent amount of character development. Not only is this true for the main villain, Malagant, but also for the main good characters, such as King Arthur, Guinevere, and Sir Lancelot. Not only are they developed to the best of their respective abilities, but some of their actions show that they are NOT “perfect” characters, but have flaws, and are human just as much as we the people in real life are. However, it comes to show that even if the good guys make mistakes, at least they know to ultimately do what’s right in the end. Oh, and speaking of which, that’s one final great thing to talk about in regards to First Knight. Another other outstanding element about the film is how even when it may not have felt easy to do so, any of the good characters are willing to humble themselves, and do what’s right in the end. Wow, and isn’t it interesting how even Disney would come out a year later with their version of a classic story in 1996, by the name of The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, in which certain protagonists would end up being put in those kinds of positions, where they would do what’s right no matter how easy, or difficult that may have been. Albeit for different reasons than for some of the cases with First Knight, but even so! Not to mention that that movie was also set in Medieval times as well! So how about that! A second to last thing to consider, especially at a specific scene in this film, is that even if we might feel like there isn’t a reason to live anymore, God has a reason for us to live longer than we might anticipate, and for a good reason. Sure, we might not see the bigger picture of why that may be at first. Still, even if it takes a long while for us to know why that may be, then we can likely discover the reason(s) in the end. Finally, First Knight has what may be some of the most memorable lines in this film. One of the best lines in this film is when a character says that, and I most likely quote, “Even if the walls of Camelot were to burn down, Camelot, and it’s ideals, will still live in us.” Now, I’m sure that the person who said that said it not just because of the fact that Camelot, even in this film, stood for good ideals, but also because the character in this film was undoubtedly a Christ follower in this film as well. Plus, it’s a great comparison to how even if churches in America, or even anywhere in the world, were closed down, those of us who choose to have faith in Jesus Christ can, and must continue to hold onto our faith in Him.
And that’s my review for the 1995 Columbia Pictures film, First Knight. Wow, after seeing this film for the first time in what may have most likely been years, I am surprised by how much more I enjoyed it this time around. Looking back, would I say that I enjoyed First Knight even as a kid? Well, even if I did like it back then, I would say that there were more aspects about the film that I came to enjoy about it’s during this rewatch. The characters stand out extremely well, there’s a superb amount of symbolism in this film, and there are plenty of aspects of this movie to think about from a Christian perspective. Yes, Christians will probably end up enjoying First Knight more so than non-Christians. Still, hopefully non-Christians will come to like this film, and maybe see God through not only coming across His Word, and reading it, but also through this film, and movies like it. Also, if you want to see a film with some top notch acting, then that’s another reason to see this film. If you haven’t seen First Knight yet, I would highly recommend that you do so ASAP. It is one of those movies, like say Prince Of Egypt, or the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, or movies like those, that truly stands out from many of your other typical movies. So thanks for checking out this film review, and see you in the next one, and others to come!
Final Grade: A+
P.S. Happy 25th anniversary to Columbia Pictures’ First Knight!
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