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Prince Valiant (1997 film)

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Prince Valiant
VHS cover
Directed byAnthony Hickox
Screenplay byMichael Frost Beckner
Anthony Hickox
Carsten H.W. Lorenz
Story byMichael Frost Beckner
Based onPrince Valiant
by Hal Foster
Produced byTom Rosenberg
James Gorman
Bernd Eichinger
StarringStephen Moyer
Katherine Heigl
Thomas Kretschmann
Edward Fox
Udo Kier
Warwick Davis
Joanna Lumley
Ron Perlman
CinematographyRoger Lanser
Edited byAlexander Berner
Music byDavid Bergeaud
Distributed byEntertainment Film Distributors (United Kingdom)[1]
20th Century Fox (United States)
Release dates
  • July 24, 1997 (1997-07-24) (Germany)
  • December 19, 1997 (1997-12-19) (United Kingdom)
Running time
91 minutes
CountriesIreland
United Kingdom
Germany
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20 million[2]

Prince Valiant is a 1997 Irish-British independent sword and sorcery film directed by Anthony Hickox, written by Michael Frost Beckner, and starring Stephen Moyer, Katherine Heigl, Thomas Kretschmann, Joanna Lumley, Ron Perlman, and Edward Fox. It is a loose adaptation of the long-running Prince Valiant comic strip of Hal Foster, some panels of which were used in the film. In it, Valiant must battle the Vikings and a scheming sorceress to save the kingdom.

Plot

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The story is based on the myth of King Arthur. A young, inexperienced squire Valiant, masquerading as Sir Gawain, is sent to accompany the Welsh princess Lady Ilene, a guest at Camelot, on her way back home. Little does he know that meanwhile, Arthur's wicked sister Morgan has retrieved a spellbook from Merlin's tomb and convinced the Viking warlord Sligon, ruler of the kingdom of Thule, to steal the magical sword Excalibur during a jousting tournament.

Valiant and the princess become part of the struggle of "he who holds the sword rules the world" which leads them both to love and Valiant to his princely destiny, as it turns out he is the rightful heir to the throne of Thule. The usurper is killed by his also evil brother Thagnar. During the final confrontation, with the help of Thule's ruler Boltar, Morgan is destroyed, Thagnar is slain, and Valiant rescues the princess and recovers Excalibur.[3][4]

Cast

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Production

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The film was recut by German producer Bernd Eichinger without the knowledge of director Anthony Hickox.[5] In his autobiography Size Matters Not: The Extraordinary Life & Career of Warwick Davis, Warwick Davis, an actor in the film, called it an "absolute disaster" which was "premiered, panned and bombed", and "even the wonderful Joanna Lumley - who still managed to put in an amazing performance as Morgan le Fay - couldn't save it". He blames this on the director, who he says "seemed intent on partying all night long and giving roles to his friends".[6]

Reception

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The film was generally poorly received.[3][4][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] Empire gave Prince Valiant two stars out of five and wrote that "a promising, swashbuckly romp is entirely scuppered by some indiscriminate broadsword editing, thereby removing any fun the name cast might have had, and leaving a poorly dubbed, effects-lacking film disappointingly limp".[14] Some other reviews, however, were more positive.[15][16][17][18] The Telegraph included it among top ten Arthurian films in 2014.[19]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Prince Valiant (1997)". BBFC. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  2. ^ Jones, Alan (March 1998). "Prince Valiant". Cinefantastique. Fourth Castle Micromedia. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  3. ^ a b Prince Valiant. "Prince Valiant - Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  4. ^ a b "AllMoviePortal.com: Prince Valiant (1997) by Liz Braun". 7 March 2012. Archived from the original on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  5. ^ Harty, Kevin J. (10 January 2014). The Vikings on Film: Essays on Depictions of the Nordic Middle Ages. McFarland. ISBN 9780786486380.
  6. ^ Warwick Davis (2013), Size matters not, Aurum Press, p 211.
  7. ^ "Prince Valiant". Sky.com. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  8. ^ Programming EPICO www.epico.info. "Apollo Movie Guide's Review of Prince Valiant". Archived from the original on 13 November 2005. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  9. ^ "Prince Valiant (1997). Director - Anthony Hickox. Comic-Strip Adaptation. Stars: Stephen Moyer, Katherine Heigl, Joanna Lumley. Moria - The Science-Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review". Moria.co.nz. 27 April 2003. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  10. ^ "Prince Valiant review | GamesRadar". Gamesradar.com. 19 December 1997. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  11. ^ Matthew Sweet (21 December 1997). "The Critics: Cinema: Valiant, prince of the Europuddings | Lifestyle". The Independent. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  12. ^ Taylor, Deborah. ""Just the Ticket: Spicing Up Your Cinema; Cinema" by Taylor, Deborah - The News Letter (Belfast, Northern Ireland), December 26, 1997".[dead link‍]
  13. ^ "Arthurian Film | Robbins Library Digital Projects". D.lib.rochester.edu. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  14. ^ Darren Bignell (14 October 2015). "Prince Valiant Review | Movie - Empire". Empireonline.com. gb. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  15. ^ "Prince Valiant, directed by Anthony Hickox | Film review". Timeout.com. 10 September 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  16. ^ Liese Spencer (19 December 1997). "New Films: Prince Valiant Directed by Anthony Hickox (PG) | Lifestyle". The Independent. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  17. ^ Paul Howlett; Richard Vine. "Watch this | From". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  18. ^ "6 Movies like Robin Hood (1973): Medieval Magic • itcher mag". Itcher.com. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  19. ^ Billson, Anne. "The 10 best films about King Arthur". Telegraph. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
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