|
|
|
|
|
A Knight's Tale
Special Edition
|
|
|
Starring: |
Heath
Ledger, Mark Addy, Rufus Sewell, Paul Bettany, Alan Tudyk, Shannyn
Sossamon |
| Director: |
Brian
Helgeland |
| MPAA rating: |
PG-13 |
| Genre: |
Action
- Adventure - Comedy - Romance |
| Studio: |
Columbia
Pictures
(Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment)
|
|
|
|
Movie: B+ |
Video: A |
Audio: A |
Extras: A- |
|
|
|
Summary: Heath Ledger stars as a wanna-be knight whose aim is fame and fortune by winning the jousting tournaments.
With help from his long time friends, he manages to win some tournaments. Though this is a period film, the radical mix of contemporary,
current-day music is hilarious and gives this movie an interesting twist. Those who enjoy action, adventure, comedy, and romances
should give this film a try. The picture quality is top notch and the
soundtrack is one of the best Dolby Digital surround sound I've heard to
date.
| |
The Story
Heath Ledger stars as William Thatcher, a peasant who
desires to be a knight so that he may compete in the jousting sporting
events. When his master suddenly dies, he takes the opportunity to
replace him in the jousting event. Incredibly, he wins a small
prize for his performance at the event, enough to whet his desire and spark
his ambition to compete in more tournaments. With his friends
and an unusual character who makes an unforgettable entrance, William
Thatcher pretends to be Sir Ulrich and enlists in a number of sporting
competitions. As he begins to win some of the sporting events, he
tries to win the heart of Lady Joycelyn (Shannyn Sossamon). Will he win the
tournaments? Will he win the heart of the subject of
desire? Or will he be caught for impersonating a knight?
Though "A Knight's Tale" is situated in the 14th
century, it is not your usual period film. The music is of modern-day
contemporary with the likes of "We Will Rock You". This
gives the movie an interesting perspective. The acting performances
are somewhat uneven. Particularly noteworthy is Paul Bettany's performance as
writer Geoff Chaucer, who makes an on-screen entrance you won't soon forget. If
you're in the mood for a funny and touching, action-drama, give "A
Knight's Tale" a try.
The Extras
"A Knight's Tale" Special Edition DVD contains
a good set of bonus
material:
-
Director Brian Helgeland and actor Paul Bettany audio
commentary
-
HBO making-of special demonstrates how "A
Knight's Tale" is not the usual period film by the cast and crew.
(14 minutes)
-
11 behind-the-scenes featurettes
-
"The Rock Music Scene in 1370" features the reason
for nontraditional period film.
-
"Sexy Armor and a Rock Band on Tour"
-
"You Never Know What You Find in Czech Prop
House"
shows what unlikely props available locally.
-
"School of Hard Knocks" is a five minute segments on
the exciting choreography of the jousting event, lance prop
preparation, and the 8-10 weeks of training to get the stuntmen and
horse synchronized. The jousting is real and the method of the
flying camera man is amazing.
-
"Tournaments - a Cross Between Pro Football and
Stock Car Racing" discusses the rules of sword fighting.
-
"The Marquee Event" talks about the rules of
jousting and the reason for it to be the favorite sport during that
time.
-
"The World's First Sports Promoter" goes into the
historical announcer dryly going down the royal lineage of the
champion versus the fictional announcer for William who is more of a
modern day boxing announcer.
-
"Stories for the People" features director Brian
Helgeland finding the actual Chaucer in that period who writes about
actual circumstances.
-
"The Rules of Love" are love at first sight,
communicating through a messenger, and showing proof of love.
-
"Heath Ledger Profile" is a swift summary of his
acting career.
-
"A Director's Quest" is a five minute summary of how
Brian Helgeland wrote and directed this modernized period film.
-
Deleted scenes with optional filmmaker's intros: many
deleted scenes give more insight into the characters and storyline.
The deleted scenes are entitled, "The Campfire Scene", "Adhemar
Intro", "Chaucer's Second Speech", "Riot", "Chaucer's Wife" (a good scene to leave in to show
Chaucer's personal side), and "The Stocks" (an extended scene)
-
Music video of Robbie Williams and Queen performing
"We are the Champions" and promotional footage for the
soundtrack
-
Filmographies for Brian Helgeland, Heath Ledger, Mark
Addy, Rufus Sewell, Paul Bettany, and Alan Tudyk.
-
Theatrical trailers for "A Knight's Tale"
and "Final Fantasy".
-
Production notes (2 pages)
Video & Audio
The image quality of this anamorphic
widescreen DVD is excellent. The colors are accurate and
saturated, while shadow detail is excellent. The cinematography is
stunningly beautiful. The Dolby
Digital 5.1 soundtrack is one of the best we've heard to date. It
is well balanced, with very aggressive use of the surround sound
channels. The galloping horses in the jousting scenes are very well
mixed, you can hear the thundering sounds of the hoofs as the horse and
jousters approach, and the sounds pan to the surround channels as they
pass.
|
|
|
|
Visit the Columbia TriStar
Home Entertainment web site.
Did you find this DVD movie review helpful? Let us
know your thoughts, send an e-mail to us at Staff@TimeForDVD.com.
Send this review to a friend: click
here and an e-mail will automatically be composed for you with the link
to this page. Just put your friends' e-mail address and click on the
"send" button.
Associated equipment used in evaluation: Sony
DVP-S7700 reference DVD player, Sony
KP-61V45 61" rear projection TV (4:3 screen aspect ratio), Sony ES STR-V444ES A/V receiver, four
B&W CDM 9NTs as left/right main speakers
and left/right surrounds, B&W CDM CNT center channel speaker, Monster Cable M-series S-Video cable MSV-500, Monster
Cable Interlink LightSpeed 100 (Toslink) optical cable, Monster Cable
Interlink 400 MKII interconnects, Monster Cable
Original speaker cables in bi-wire configuration with Monster Cable twist-on gold-plated banana plug
connectors, Lovan Sovereign T HiFi audio
rack, and Sony MDR-V600 studio monitor headphones. Our home theater equipment was calibrated
with the Video
Essentials DVD.
Be sure to check out our Top 10 DVDs of the year
2001 and our list of this year's Oscar winners on DVD.
| |
| |
|
