First Knight Plot Summary and Details

Plot

The tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is always ripe for retelling. In this rendition, the sexy Richard Gere is Sir Lancelot, threatening to supersede the aging King Arthur (Sean Connery) by winning the love of his young wife Guinivere (Julia Ormond). This update of the age-old legend succeeds on the strength of Gere's happy-go-lucky sex appeal, Ormond's gorgeous period costuming, and Connery's unbeatable wry nobility. The script focuses on the triangle of the three principals: the older man's reluctance to relinquish his love and power to the younger man destined to supplant him; the young woman torn between her loyalty to her aged husband and her love for his rival; the young man balancing the demands of loyalty to his sovereign with the rewards of true love. This beautiful production forgoes the legend's usual elements of magic and fantasy, leaving Merlin the Magician completely out of the picture.

MPAA Rating:

PG-13 for some brutal medieval battles.

Genre(s):

Drama

Run Time:

133min.

Theatrical Release Date:

07/07/1995

DVD Release Date:

10/07/1997

Director(s):

Jerry Zucker

Starring:

Sean Connery , Richard Gere , Julia Ormond , Ben Cross , Liam Cunningham

Themes:

Heroic Mission,Crowned Heads,Knights and Ladies,Love Triangles

Tone:

Sweeping,Lavish,Atmospheric,Passionate,Rousing

Keywords:

battle [war],friendship,kidnapping,knight,love,love-triangle,marriage,marriage-arranged,rescue,revenge,romance,seduction,star-crossed-lovers,treason,trial [courtroom]

Language:

English