A victim of the sequel syndrome (details)
Added 12/8/2009
This film is, of course, a sequel to Merlin (Special Edition), a fine movie. Unfortunately, the sequel isn't all that compelling as its progenitor.
The Story: At the outset, Camelot is up and running, King Arthur and his nights of the Round Table are at their pinnacle, peace flows throughout the land, and the Holy Grail is in place. So Merlin needs a rest and retires to his cave where he pulls a Rip Van Winkle and sleeps for 50 years, (and he doesn't age much beyond growing a long beard.) When he awakes, everything has changed, Arthur is dead, the Holy Grail is lost, pagan scoundrels rule the countryside and a new king (nice guy) is making every attempt to revive Camelot, but without much luck. The remainder of the film is devoted to that end. The afterthought of Merlin's new apprentice presents us with the stereotypical bumbling sorcerer's apprentice.
What wrong with the film? Frankly, it's fairly boring and the comedic slapstick moments aren't very funny. The acting is inferior (stilted) and, given today's technology, the special effects are just so-so. There are additionally lots of redundant script issues, ("Take the spell off the secret tunnel, Merlin!"), and the great numbers of flashbacks to Merlin's earlier days simply manifest a distraction.
This isn't by any means the worst film I've ever seen but, now that I've purchased it, I'll likely give it away because I really don't care to see it a second time around. The camera work is pretty decent and the locations are interesting -- beyond that, you may just wish to rent it and take it back to the video store when you're done.
Not recommended.
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Light and enjoyable
Added 10/20/2009
Not a bad kiddie type show. Predictable. Special effects are ok...not the type of movie that would win an award, but, it is the type you can safely watch with your children..and not worry about death and mass destruction being flashed across the screen in technicolor blood.
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Good movie.
Added 8/14/2009
I was sitting in my bed bored, so I flipped through my amazing basic cable. I found nothing interesting of course. But then I cam accross this movie. So I figured: "Hey, I'm familiar with the whole King Arthur, Merlin, Camelot story. Plus I love Medieval movies." So I watched it and it was very interesting. I'd suggest this movie for anyone who shares the same interests.
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Definitely a B movie
Added 7/13/2009
I don't understand how anyone can rate this movie or the original Merlin highly. I bought them both as part of a 5-movies for $5 box at Walmart, and was very disappointed. The plot was awful, my 13-year old daughter and I kept looking at each other during the movie, incredulous at the turns in the movie ("People just don't do that!" trying to kill each other and then turn around and be friends the next moment.) It's like the writers just had another idea, and didn't even bother to go back and revised what they wrote before. Things just don't make any sense. At the end, we just had to start laughing and treating it as a stupid comedy, even though it's not. We were surprised that Sam Neill agreed to act in this movie. The script looks like it was written by an 8-year old.
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A New Spin on Camelot
Added 2/25/2009
This film looks at the time after Camelot when Arthur is no more. Merlin is trying to figure out what happened to Camelot when he finds a young man who shows signs of hidden magical talent. As the film continues Merlin trains the young man who will later take over for Merlin in an attempt to restore the ideals and place of Camelot.
This follow up is well done and it is great to have Sam Neil back as Merlin.
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