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Excalibur (film)

1981 film by John Boorman

Excalibur (1981) is a fantasy film based on the legends of King Arthur, Excalibur and the knights of the Round Table, directed by John Boorman.

It is the doom of men that they forget...
Forged by a god. Foretold by a wizard. Found by a king. Taglines

Uther

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Behold! The Sword of Power! Excalibur! Forged when the world was young, and bird and beast and flower were one with man, and death was but a dream!
  • Merlin, I am the strongest! I am the one! The sword! You promised me the sword!
  • Talk! Talk is for lovers, Merlin. I need the sword to be King!
  • Nobody shall have the sword! Nobody shall wield Excalibur...but ME!

Arthur

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Any man who would be a knight and follow a king, follow me!
  • Any man who would be a knight and follow a king, follow me!
  • Merlin if only you were at my side my old friend to give me courage. There are no war tricks that will fool Mordred and Morgana. More than I ever did I need you now.
  • Where are you Merlin? If only you could see me wield Excalibur one more time.
  • Where have you been these many years... are you just a dream Merlin?
  • Ready my knights for battle. They will ride with their king once more. I have lived through others for far too long. Lancelot carried my honor, and Guenevere, my guilt. Mordred bore my sins. My knights have fought my causes. Now, my brother, I shall be... king.
  • I was not born to live a man's life, but to be the stuff of future memory. The fellowship was a brief beginning, a fair time that cannot be forgotten. And because it will not be forgotten, that fair time may come again. Now once more, I must ride with my knights, to defend what was... and the dream of what could be.
  • I have often thought that in the hereafter of our lives, when I owe no more to the future and can be just a man... that we may meet, and you will come to me and claim me as yours, and know that I am your husband. It is a dream I have...
  • Do... as I command! One day, a King will come, and the Sword will rise... again.

Merlin

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I have walked my way since the beginning of time. Sometimes I give, sometimes I take, it is mine to know which and when!
 
Come father. Let us embrace at last.
  • I have walked my way since the beginning of time. Sometimes I give, sometimes I take, it is mine to know which and when!
  • Behold! The Sword of Power! Excalibur! Forged when the world was young, and bird and beast and flower were one with man, and death was but a dream!
  • You will be the land, and the land will be you. If you fail, the land will perish; as you thrive, the land will blossom.
  • Anál nathrach, orth’ bháis’s bethad, do chél dénmha.
    • The Charm of Making, an incantation repeatedly uttered by both Merlin and Morgana, is in an Old Gaelic dialect that translates to "Serpent's breath, charm of death and life, thy omen of making."
  • Look upon this moment. Savor it! Rejoice with great gladness! Great gladness! Remember it always, for you are joined by it. You are One, under the stars. Remember it well, then... this night, this great victory. So that in the years ahead, you can say, "I was there that night, with Arthur, the King!" For it is the doom of men that they forget.
    • Merlin, following the decisive British Victory over the Saxons at the Great Siege and Battle of Mount Badon.
  • I once stood exposed to the Dragon's Breath so that a man could lie one night with a woman. It took me nine moons to recover. And all for this lunacy called, "love", this mad distemper that strikes down both beggar and king. Never again. Never!
  • It is a lonely life, the way of the necromancer... oh, yes. Lacrimae Mundi — the tears of the world.
  • The days of our kind are numberèd. The one God comes to drive out the many gods. The spirits of wood and stream grow silent. It's the way of things. Yes... it's a time for men, and their ways.
  • Remember, there's always something cleverer than yourself.
  • When a man lies, he murders some part of the world.
  • Looking at the cake is like looking at the future – until you've tasted it, what do you really know? And then, of course, it's too late.

Percival

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  • I can't give up hope, Lancelot. It's all I have.
  • You and the land are one.
  • Drink from the chalice and you will be reborn and the land with you.
    • To Arthur after the Quest for the Holy Grail has ended in success
  • The fog is lifting.
    • To Arthur at the conclusion of the Battle of Camlann/Slaughterbridge
  • I saw nothing but the wind on the water.

Others

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Guards! Knights! Squires! Prepare for battle!
  • Ector: [before the battles of unification] All these men are loyal.
  • Morgana: [to Merlin] You fool! You thought you would trap me. You are trapped yourself, by the same sorcery you used to deceive my mother. You're nothing. You're not a god, you're not a man. I shall find a man, and give birth to a god.
  • Kay: [following Percival's success on the Grail Quest] Guards! Knights! Squires! Prepare for battle!
  • Mordred: [to Arthur during their battle] Come, father. Let us embrace at last.
  • Uryens: In the name of God, St. Michael, and St. George, I give you the right to bear arms and the power to mete justice.

Dialogue

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You shall have it; but to heal, not to hack...
 
One day, a King will come, and the Sword will rise... again.
Merlin: Uther...
Uther: Merlin?
Merlin: Uther.
Uther: Merlin! I am the strongest! I am the one! The sword! You promised me the sword!
Merlin: And you shall have it; but to heal, not to hack. Tomorrow, a truce; we meet at the river.
Uther: Talk! Talk is for lovers, Merlin! I need the sword to be king!
Uther: Where have you been?
Merlin: I have walked my way since the beginning of time. Sometimes I give, sometimes I take - it is mine to know which and when.
Uther: You must help me, Merlin!
Merlin: Must I?
Uther: I am your king!
Merlin: So you need me again, now that my truce is wrecked. Years to build and moments to ruin, and all for lust!
Uther: For Igrayne! One night with her. You don't understand, you're not a man. Use the magic. Do it!
Merlin: [considering] Igrayne... You will swear, by your true Kingship, to grant me what I wish. Then you shall have it.
Uther: [kneeling] By Excalibur, I swear it!
Merlin: What issues from your lust, shall be mine. Swear it again!
Uther: I SWEAR IT!
Merlin: Shall I tell you what's out there?
Arthur: Yes, please.
Merlin: The Dragon. A beast of such power that if you were to see it whole and all complete in a single glance, it would burn you to cinders.
Arthur: Where is it?
Merlin: It is everywhere. It is everything. Its scales glisten in the bark of trees, its roar is heard in the wind, and its forked tongue strikes like, like... [lightning strikes a nearby tree] whoa! — like lightning! — yes, that's it.
Merlin: You have a kingdom to rule.
Arthur: But how? I don't know how.
Merlin: You knew how to draw the sword from the stone.
Arthur: That was easy.
Merlin: Was it? I couldn't have done it.
 
In the name of God, Saint Michael, and Saint George... I give you the right to bear arms, and the power to mete justice.
Arthur: [holding Sir Uryens at swordpoint, during the siege of Leondegrance's castle] Swear faith to me, and you shall have mercy! I need battle lords such as you.
Uryens: [sarcastically] A noble knight, swear faith to a squire?
Lot: Never! Never!
Arthur: You're right. I'm not yet a knight. You, Uryens, will knight me. Then, as knight to knight, I can offer you mercy. [hands the sword Excalibur to a shocked Uryens, kneeling before him]
Merlin: [astonished] What's this? What's this?
Lot: Keep it, Uryens!
Uryens: [after struggling with his thoughts for several seconds] ...in the name of God, Saint Michael, and Saint George...I give you the right to bear arms, and the power to mete justice.
Arthur: That duty, I will solemnly obey...as knight...and king.
Merlin: [still astonished] I never saw this!
Uryens: Rise, King Arthur. [kneeling, as do all the other knights] I am your humble knight...and I swear allegiance to the courage in your veins. So strong it is, it's source must be Uther Pendragon. I doubt you no more. [kisses Arthur's hands]
Arthur: Move aside! This is the king's road, and the knights you joined arms against were his very own!
Lancelot: I await the king himself. His knights are in need of training.
Arthur: I am King. And this [draws the sword] is Excalibur, Sword of Kings from the dawn of time. Who are you, what do you seek?
Lancelot: I am Lancelot of the Lake, from across the sea. And I have yet to find a King worthy of my sword.
Arthur: That is a wild boast. You lack a knight's humility.
Lancelot: Not a boast, sir, but a curse. For I have never met my match in joust or duel.
Arthur: Move aside.
Lancelot: I will not. You must retreat, or prove your worth in the test of arms under the eyes of God.
Arthur: Then may He give me the strength to unhorse you, and send you with one blow back across the sea!
Lancelot: Then come across, sir.
Arthur: Merlin! What have I done?
Merlin: You have broken what could not be broken! Now, hope is broken.
Arthur: My pride broke it. My rage broke it! This excellent knight, who fought with fairness and grace, was meant to win. I used Excalibur to change that verdict. I've lost, for all time. The ancient sword of my fathers, whose power was meant to unite all men... not to serve the vanity of a single man. I am... nothing.
Arthur: For years, peace has reigned in the land. Crops grow in abundance, there is no want. Every one of my subjects enjoys his portion of happiness and justice. Tell me, Merlin, have we defeated evil? Because it seems we have.
Merlin: Good and evil — there never is one without the other.
Arthur: Where hides evil, then, in my kingdom?
Merlin: Always... where you never expect it. Always.
Perceval: You and the land are one. Drink. [holds the Holy Grail to King Arthur's lips]
Arthur: [listlessly] I am wasting away. I cannot die...and I cannot live.
Perceval: Drink from the chalice. You will be reborn, and the land with you.
[Arthur sips from the Grail]
Arthur: [becoming quickly revived] Perceval. I didn't know how empty was my soul...until it was filled.
Merlin: You brought me back. Your love brought me back. Back to where you are now. In the land of dreams.
Arthur: Are you a dream, Merlin?
Merlin: A dream to some. A nightmare to others!

Taglines

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  • Forged by a god. Foretold by a wizard. Found by a king.
  • Sword of power! Sword of kings!
  • No mortal could possess it! No kingdom could command it!
  • [from trailer] Their magic is Merlin. Their king is Arthur. Their power is Excalibur.
  • [from trailer] A wizard's ancient spell and the lust of a lord give birth to an empire.
  • [from trailer] A world of wizards, kings, warriors, queens, swords, sorcery and desire.
  • [from trailer] Forged of splendour and magic, where future meets past, flesh meets steel, and the only fear is the pain of love.

Cast

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