Movies-TV

Great aspirations, poor reality.

"Quest For Camelot" is one of those movies that looks good on paper, but when is completed, it just kinda falls short. Sure, it's a good movie... don't get me wrong. But think of it as tarnished gold.My main problem with this movie is the characters' singing voices. I love the cast... Jane Seymour, Pierce Brosnon, Bronson Pinchot, Jaleel White... but they SING WRONG. Sure, Celine Dion is a great singer, but her singing voice doesn't match Jane Seymour's talking voice for Lady Julianna. Same with the talking/singing voices of Kayley and Garrett (forget the actors' names... sorry). Either one sounds great... but they just don't go together.The other thing that irks me about this movie is the enchanted forest. Yeah, its cool, what with all the walking plants and magical waterfalls... but where are all the ANIMALS? Half this movie takes place in the forest, with all the dancing flowers and walking trees... but is there a single sign of a unicorn, a faun, a fairy, or even a bunny rabbit or squirrel? It's an unbalanced eco-system for sure, and it takes away from the reality of the story.Well, I guess that's about it... Nitpicky things, sure, but things that take the reality level waaaay down. Other than those two problems, tho, "Quest For Camelot" is a good movie with great characters (I love Julianna and the Dragon/s), nice music, and a fun story.

Great for kids

This is a great movie for kids and adults. If you're not into musical cartoons then yes you should probably pass. Anyway, the plot is a tad predictable and the animation is fairly good (way above straight to vid) The songs were the high point having lots of good vocal talent. The only thing i did not like was the hatchet chicken. He seems to be put there to dumb down the high concept plot in case it shoots over the kids heads. No i don't understand either. Anyway, the kids liked it and I did not want to hide it after the first viewing. Also this is the first time my kids used the words "evil minion."

The Magic Sword: Quest For Camelot

I've seen The Sword in the Stone, what's the point of making another animated film about King Arthur, or at least the sword he removed from the stone. Basically the legendary Excalibar sword belonging to King Arthur was stolen by a big black bird belonging to Baron Ruber (Gary Oldman). He wants the sword so he himself can become the new king. Trying to find the sword (it was dropped in a "place of untold danger") and return it is Kayley (Jessalyn Gilsig), accompanied by Garrett (Cary Elwes) and Cornwall (Don Rickles) and Devon (Eric Idle), the two headed dragon. Also starring Jane Seymour as Lady Juliana, and Céline Dion as her singing voice, Pierce Brosnan as King Arthur, John Gielgud as Merlin and Gabriel Byrne as Sir Lionel. When I was a kid it was quite funny and entertaining, but times have changed. It was nominated the Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Song for "The Prayer". Adequate!

A disappointment in many respects

I rented this tape for my 4-year-old son who loves anything to do with Knights. While he liked it, I, as a parent, was not pleased. The story is simple, which is good, but in order to make the movie longer, it becomes a relentless string of fairly violent confrontations and there are an awful lot of monsters. It's a much darker film than I'd expected. The light-hearted antics of the dragons seem out of place alongside the dark intensity of the evil characters and the almost constant destruction and violence.

My favorite cartoon flick!!

Quest for Camelot is one of the best Non-Disney animated movies I have EVER seen. The animation is superior, the plot is great, and the characters are really worth knowing. It is my favorite and I recommend it to EVERYONE to see!!

This movie has everything,laughther,sadness, romanticism

A must see! the songs, interaction of the characters and the art of this animation is excellent. I think i will have to buy another copy before my video tape gets wear out.:)

A lot of things wrong with this movie, although its not all bad...

I was really disappointed with this movie. Unlike allot of animated movies, I'd never seen it as a kid, but the story sounded really interesting, so I thought I'd give it a watch.The movie started off really well, they did a really good job of setting the story off, its when the real plot starts that the movie starts to become… well, boring and pointless. Everything happens WAY to fast, things happen without reason. For example, the relationship between Kayley and Garrett - where did that come from? One second they hate each other, then after spending, what - a couple of days together? their in love. They only fell in love because in a movie like this the main male and female characters typically fall in love, there's no development to their relationship, it only happens because its expected. Why does Ruber want to take over Camelot? Little motive towards the main villains actions make for a really poor villain, kids movie or not. Why is he even a knight of the round table anyway? By the looks of it, he only ever cared for himself, so how did he ever manage to get to that position - you don't need to be a great judge of character to see that's a bad guy. Devon and Cornwall were incredibly useless, I mean, I know all kids movies have the annoying sidekicks - I hated sidekicks when I was a kid - but they didn't do anything. They saved Garrett a ten minute run to Camelot because they miraculously learned to fly. Don't get me started on the hammer chicken thing… I still don't get what that was about. Plus, was I the only one who thought that Lionel died a bit to easily? I had to go back and see what killed him, only to find that he gets thrown across the table. He's supposed to be Arthur's most trusted knight, is he really that weak?Now, the characters. I've already gone into the Ruber, Devon and Cornwall. Kayley was a terrible main character. She didn't really do anything productive. I was expecting her to be a really great lead character, but in the end all she did was get captured and needed rescuing by Garrett and those useless dragons. Garrett was a great character though, as was Juliana, Arthur and Lionel. Most of the songs were great, especially "The Prayer," "On my Father's wings" and "I stand alone." Its ashamed that the characters voices don't fit with the singing voices. The animation was average. The voice acting was pretty good to. I know its just a kids movie, but there's still no excuse to some of the things I brought up. It seems that Warner Brothers just wanted to create a Disney-like movie, but missed a lot of the key things that makes Disney movies great. I'd give it 5/10.

Great Movie

I chose to buy this DVD depsite some of the poor reviews and I'm glad I did. I'm constantly lending to my coworkers who have all enjoyed it. It's an excellent movie for any kid or kid at heart.

Well... at least they tried

This movie was a uge disappointment and I even had to change the channel sometimes from the pain. Sad, but true. The plot has a little potential, but in my opinion, this is nothing more than another Disney wannabee. The characters were not the well developed at all and the singing voice actor for the hero of the story didn't fit him well... at all. The movie lacked that feel good feeling that you feel after even some of the worst animated movies. The songs are not memorable at all and most of them weren't very good. The romantic relationship between the two main characters was a bit dull and nor lively or witty. The only good thing about this movie was the comic relief at times and for that, I'll give it a 2/ 10.

an excellent animated film

This is an exceptionally well-done animated film for its relative obscurity. Most people I ask have never seen it; though the majority has heard at least one song from it whether they know it or not. Although the animation itself may not be on par with Dinsney's classics (most likely due to budget) the excellent characters and beautiful, catchy music more than make up for it. The plot is not even all that bad. I have thoroughly enjoyed this film over the years (including as an adult) and will continue to recommend it to any animated-film aficionado. Beautiful music (Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner), fun characters, entertaining plot, great cast: what more could you ask for?!

will make you smile and laugh...along with great music

I first saw Quest For Camelot when I was ten years old (I saw it in theaters) and it was one of my favorite movies. I'm seventeen now, and yesterday, I watched this movie with my little brother. Of course, it was a lot more immature than it was when I was ten, but I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. This is truly a fun, wholesome movie.The story centers on Kayley, a young girl who wants to become a knight in Camelot. When King Arthur's sword Excalibur is stolen by the evil Sir Ruber, and then lost in the Forbidden Forest, Kayley sets off to recover the sword and save Camelot. Her quest is also crucial because Ruber had killed her father ten years before, and has now taken her mother hostage. In the Forbidden Forest, Kayley is joined by Garrett, a blind hermit who doesn't welcome her company at first, and his falcon Ayden. They are also joined by Devon and Cornwall, an odd and bickering two headed dragon, while being followed by Ruber and his metal minions.This a movie that is a cute relief to many Disney movies, and I love the music in it much more than most Disney sing-along songs. While some songs are simply silly and fun, like "If I Didn't Have You" sung by Devon and Cornwall (which I laughed all the way through due to its nudges at 20th century pop culture), many of the songs express morals and feelings that the audience can take to heart. "United We Stand" is sung by the knights of the round table, saying that "no one shall be greater than all", something that the villain Ruber doesn't like very much. "I Stand Alone" tells how Garret does not trust the world around him, having been shunned for his blindness, yet at the same time, he is opening his world to Kayley. And my very favorite song is "Looking Through Your Eyes", the love song between Kayley and Garrett, which is honest due to the fact that neither let Garrett's blindness stand in their way.The emotions in Quest For Camelot are also real because although there are plenty of funny moments, these are balanced by dark and serious moments. These include Kayley's father's death scene, his funeral, and Ruber's witchcraft scene. Ruber's song is creepy and dark, and seriously scared me when I was younger. And one scene that really jerks the tears for me is when Kayley and her friends reach the end of the forest, with Excalibur in hand. Garrett tells Kayley to go on without him, because he does not "belong in that world", and thinks that he doesn't deserve to love Kayley. After he leaves, Kayley says "but you belong in mine" before going on. It's really pure of heart, and made me sad. Or maybe I'm just a sap. Oh well.All in all, I think that everyone should give this movie a try, even teenagers. Heck, I'm a teen and I love this movie. I won't pretend to be "too old" for a cartoon sing-along movie. (In fact, I love these songs so much that they stay in my head forever and drive me crazy) Quest For Camelot may not be the best made movie, and yes, it does have plenty of flaws, but if you look past that, you're guaranteed to laugh and smile, and it leaves you with a good feeling at the end.

Get past Marxist ideals, and it's a fun movie

"...to each according to his need."

This is straight out of the Marxist handbook, and we all know how that idealistic/naive endevor went.

Other than that one scene, I found this movie highly enjoyable.

Pros:
-Characters were rememberable
-Cool bad guy/guys
-Talented singers for soundtrack
-Loosely based on King Arthur legend
-Not too scary for kids over 3(Your milage may vary)

Cons:
-Despite seemingly original characters, it seemed very formulaic
-Communist propoganda in one scene, so obvious, I felt the need to explain to my seven year old, why that just doesn't work

I love it!

i loved this movie when it came out when i was 8 or 9. it was my favorite. i had the movie unwatched in my closet for at least 7 years, and i was cracking up at the corny jokes and predictable plot lines but its a great movie to watch with younger-ish kids around. i was surprised at the cast of people in the movie. when i first saw the movie i had written the names and the characters down in a notebook. i don't know why. but i was looking through the notebook recently and was like omg, Garrett is Westley ! from the princess bride. so i thought that was pretty cool. a knowable cast for adults, and a good humorous movie in general for the family.

Romantic Adventure

Quest for Camelot is my favorite movie. I love how a blind man can be so efficient and how a young girl can see him beyond his abilities.

Painfully Bad

With the impressive cast & my love for the Arthurian legend, I was very optimistic to see this DVD. It was, however, one of the worst movies I've seen. What little story there was was mutilated by the multitude of songs. The script was painfully bad -- Camelot meets the "transformers" -- with an over-the-top evil villain that reminded me of a red-haired Riff Raff a la Rocky Horror. Only Eric Idle, as one head of the two-headed dragon, was funny. The best part of the DVD was the "making of" featurette, showing the incredible voice talent: Gabriel Byrne, Jane Seymour, Cary Elwes, Gary Oldman, Eric Idle, Pierce Brosnan, and Bronson Pinchot. I was also impressed by the beatutiful singing voices of Celine Dion, Andrea Corr, and Steve Perry. I can't imagine why so many talented performers got involved with such a dumb project. Don't waste your money on this version of Camelot.

Not bad, but...

I could start this comment by comparing this movie to a Disney movie, but I won't. I think that to critizise or to complement a movie you shouldn't compare it to others, it has to stand on its ownLet me start by saying that I never saw this in theatres, I saw it for the first time last night on DVD. I was a bit disappointed. I was expecting something better.Let me start to comment on the story. It's not bad, but, honestly it was not that great either. The concept was really good, but it all happens too fast. I believe that it should have been more develloped and show us more about certain characters. Also, they shouldn't have atempted so much humour moments, because most of them failed. It would have been better to make the story a bit more deep and dramatic and not attempt to make humour.As for the voices of the characters. I really have nothing to say. The voices suit the characters just fine.The soundtrack is quite good. The celtic feeling put into it really gives the movie a certain feeling. I specially like the song "My father's wings", sang by The Corrs.Well, to sum up it had everything to be a great movie, but it can only be reasonbly good. But it's worth seeing anyway, and worth having in your DVD collection.

I Agree with tuftedpuffin

This is a wonderful movie and one of my favorites. The animation in better than Disney (sorry Disney) and the songs are wonderful. And it has a great storyline.

Moronic Dreck

This has to be one of the worse attempts to tell what should be one of the truly beautiful legends from English "mythology". It is a cutesy, politically correct, 'let's all join hands and sing pop songs while we fight against the (very two-dimensional) villians'. This is while nothing of the might vs. right concept is imparted... Sheesh.

Disney's "The Sword in the Stone", based on T.H. White's novel, "The Once and Future King" is a far better choice for your dollars. Better yet, buy White's book for your children and read it to them, or read it together. Far more enlightening and entertaining than this garbage.

A lot more watchable than Richard Rich's King and I

I too enjoyed this movie. It isn't flawless, but few movies are. The animation is good, if a little bland in the musical numbers, with exception of the splendid witchcraft scene. As for the songs, they aren't actually that bad. My favourites were "The Prayer", "Looking Through Your Eyes", and "If I didn't have you." The other songs were not as good. The biggest problem was the singing voices, they didn't match the voice acting. Celine Dion is a very good singer, but her voice is too powerful for Julianna, but it's good they didn't ask someone like Barbara Streisand, another excellent singer with a too-big voice for the character. Same with Andrea Corr. Another problem was the script, which had its ups and downs. The reasons why some children didn't laugh at the two-headed dragon, which was the best character, is because they wouldn't in a million years have understood the pop culture references, though they were funny. As for the voice talents they were a mixed bag. Jessalyn Gilsig and Cary Elwes started off a little bland, and Gary Oldman relishes his role as the villain, if a little over the top at times. On a positive note, Eric idle and Don Rickles were hilarious, and Jane Seymour made a sincere Julianna. Pierce Brosnan was also an interesting choice, but if I were a director, I wouldn't have picked John Gielgud to voice Merlin, although he would have been good if it was live-action. In conclusion, an average movie, with a story that started off well, but ran out of steam too early. If I wanted to see it again, I would. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Just plain rank.

First of all, I realize this wasn't exactly a word for word re-telling of the Arthurian legend, but for what it's worth, Excalibur was NOT the sword supposed to have been pulled out of the stone AND anvil.That said, this still stunk. I can count the good parts more easily than the bad, possibly on only one hand. I liked the dragons. Their loathing of each other matched how I was feeling about the movie by the time they showed up. The music was manipulative, emotional, typical of its kind... common. The hero's speaking voice indeed did not match his singing voice, but all I really wanted was to smack the hair out of his eyes. The girl was annoying too, what with being the typical "man wanna-be" and lucky her, she gets to be a knight. Good ol' medieval King Arthur breaks out of his archaic mold and says girls can fight as well as men. In other words, it's all just so perfect in the end, isn't it? Yes, it's for kids, and it should be happy and dreams should come true... but I've seen all this accomplished much more successfully, and in movies whose makers had the sense to not try for so many kinds of happy endings all in one flick. In short, it seemed like it was written by a 12 year old. Of course, since I have a 4 year old daughter, it's clear that there's a place for movies written by 'tweeners.