Wonderfully shot old-world movie

ravenus

KNIGHTRIDERS - George A. Romero

This is Living Dead fame director George Romero's tale of a modern day King Arthur, Billy (Ed Harris) and his band of jousting knights. The 'royal' rag-tag entourage, in nomadic fashion, makes its way from place to place, holding jousts. Only instead of horses, these knights ride motorcycles and Merlin is a practicing doctor (who likes to dress up as a shaman type). The story is about how Billy/King Arthur follows a strict moral code regarding the sanctity of the tournaments and vehemently opposes any form of corruption or commercial exploitation. This leads to differences with others from the tribe, principally the knight Morgan (Tom Savini), who at one point breaks off to form his own troop with the intention of attaining fame and fortune by his trade. But the effects of his brush with the material world disillusion Morgan and he returns to the old ways, in the end challenging Billy to honorable duel that will decide leadership of the knights.

It's a very simple and sentimental story, told with a lot of warmth and affection. There are certain caveats: the characters are archetypal, with only Billy and Morgan having any real shades and even these are not explored to any great extent. Given the length of the movie and its VERY leisurely pace, it calls for a certain amount of patience, without really rewarding you in terms of depth/complexity in the narrative. There are some pointless and obviously stretched out moments in the film, most notably after the final duel.

But the movie has some solid strengths, which in my view, effectively offset all its weaknesses. First off, it's likely Romero's most beautifully executed film, with really lush photography and careful splicing of scenes. He has taken a lot of pains to achieve the look of the film and the way he presents, it really gives off a certain old-world charm, a whiff of the times of chivalry and honor. In short, the movie looks AWESOME. The lives of the traveling knights are depicted in a very appealing and credible quasi-documentary fashion, even if the pace sometimes drags. All the actors do a likable job and help tremendously to accept the notion of theirs being an extended family. Special mention goes to Ed Harris and Tom Savini who do right in the principal roles. Hats off also to Donald Rubenstein who comes up with a beautiful medieval score that fits in perfectly with the ambiance of the film.

score 8/10

ravenus 3 October 2004

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0940145/