A movie poster for King Arthur.

King Arthur is a film first released in the United States on June 28, 2004, dubbed as "The Untold True Story That Inspired The Legend", by Touchstone. Download high resolution version (550x815, 157 KB)King Arthur movie poster, deemed fair use This work is copyrighted. ... Download high resolution version (550x815, 157 KB)King Arthur movie poster, deemed fair use This work is copyrighted. ... (Some entries on this page have been duplicated on August 1. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The makers of this film claim that they are presenting a historically accurate version of the Arthurian legends, from supposedly new archaelogical findings. While this is subject to debate, the film itself does provide a (highly inaccurate) view of early British history, and the origins of the Arthurian legend from it, which had only been showcased in cinema once before, in the film King Arthur, The Young Warlord, a series of episodes from a 1970s British TV series, Arthur of the Britons, cobbled together for theatrical showing. The Matter of Britain is a name given collectively to the legends that concern the Celtic and legendary history of the British Isles, centering around King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. ... Britain may be understood in a number of ways (See Britain). ... Arthur of the Britons was a short-lived (1972–1973) but fondly remembered British television show about the historical King Arthur. ...

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, Arthur (as portrayed by Clive Owen) is portrayed as a Roman cavalry officer, the son of a Roman father and a Celtic mother, who leads a military force of Sarmatian cavalry in Britain at the close of the Roman occupation (which had, historically, ended almost half a century before the date given in the film). Antoine Fuqua (born January 19, 1966) is an African-American film director of such films as The Replacement Killers with Chow Yun Fat, Training Day with Denzel Washington, and King Arthur with Clive Owen. ... King Arthur is an important figure in the mythology of Great Britain, where he appears as the ideal of kingship in both war and peace. ... Clive Owen Clive Owen, (born October 3, 1964), is an English actor, now a regular performer in Hollywood and independent American films. ... The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus). ... The word Celtic can refer to: the European Celtic people, ancient or modern the Celtic languages, spoken by these people and their modern descendents the Celtic (Lusitania), Celts from the Alentejo. ... Sarmatian Cataphract from Tanais: compare Pausanias description of armor (text below) Sarmatians, Sarmatae or Sauromatae (the second form is mostly used by the earlier Greek writers, the other by the later Greeks and the Romans) were a people whom Herodotus (4. ... Italian cavalry officers practice their horsemanship in 1904 outside Rome. ... Principal sites in Roman Britain Roman Britain is the term applied to the historical period when Britain was under Roman rule, usually considered AD 44 to 410. ...

As Arthur and his men are expecting to be finally discharged from the service of the Empire, they are dispatched on a final and possibly suicidal mission to rescue an important Roman family from impending capture by the Saxons. In the course of this mission, Arthur encounters and rescues Guinevere (Keira Knightley), a Woadish princess, from the imprisonment and torture of the Roman citizen he is charged with rescuing. The Saxons were a large and powerful Germanic people located in what is now northwestern Germany and a small section of the eastern Netherlands. ... Guinevere was the Queen consort of King Arthur. ... Keira Knightley in Domino (2005). ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

In due course, Arthur and his remaining men forsake Roman citizenship and form an alliance between the Romano-British and the Woads to fight the invading Saxons. The term Romano-British describes the Romanised culture of Britain under the rule of the Roman Empire, when Roman and Christian culture had extensively entered into the life of the native Brythonic, Pictish and perhaps Gaelic -speaking peoples of Britain. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Saxons were a large and powerful Germanic people located in what is now northwestern Germany and a small section of the eastern Netherlands. ...

It would appear that the Arthur depicted in the film is based most closely upon Ambrosius Aurelianus, the Romano-Briton who fought against the Saxons in the 5th century, and was probably the leader of the Romano-British and Celts at the Battle of Mons Badonicus, and events in the film are similar to speculations of those historical events. However, Arthur's full name in the film is Artorius Castus, suggesting a connection to Lucius Artorius Castus, a historical Roman active in Britain in the 2nd century. Ambrosius Aurelianus (incorrectly referred to in the Historia Regum Britanniae as Aurelius Ambrosius ) was a leader of the Romano-British, who won important battles against the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century, according to Gildas and to the legends preserved in the Historia Britonum. ... (4th century - 5th century - 6th century - other centuries) // Events Rome sacked by Visigoths in 410. ... In the Battle of Mount Badon (Latin Mons Badonicus, Welsh Mynydd Baddon) Romano_British and Celts inflicted a severe defeat on an invading Anglo-Saxon army sometime in the decade before or after 500. ... Lucius Artorius Castus (fl. ... (1st century - 2nd century - 3rd century - other centuries) Events Roman Empire governed by the Five Good Emperors (96–180) – Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius. ...

Despite a promising cast and production team, the film opened to mixed reviews.

The movie was adapted by David Franzoni and directed by Antoine Fuqua. Besides the actors mentioned above, it also stars Ioan Gruffudd, Hugh Dancy, Ray Winstone, Stellan Skarsgård and Til Schweiger. Antoine Fuqua (born January 19, 1966) is an African-American film director of such films as The Replacement Killers with Chow Yun Fat, Training Day with Denzel Washington, and King Arthur with Clive Owen. ... Ioan Gruffudd Ioan Gruffudd (pronounced YO-an GRIFF-ith) (born October 6, 1973 in Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Wales) is a Welsh actor. ... Hugh Dancy (born 1975) is a British actor. ... Raymond Andrew Winstone (born February 19, 1957 in Hackney, London, England), better known as Ray Winstone, is a British actor. ... Stellan SkarsgÃ¥rd  listen? (born June 13, 1951, Gothenburg, Sweden) is a Swedish actor and father of Alexander SkarsgÃ¥rd and Gustaf SkarsgÃ¥rd. ...

Criticism

The movie has been heavily criticized for its historical inaccuracies when it claims to be close to the original story. Some examples include:

• The Saxons use crossbows in movie however they historically use bows and spears instead.
• In the film, the Picts are called "Woads".
• The Saxons are shown attacking Hadrian's Wall from Scotland, however they actually were occupying England and never would have invaded Scotland.
• Germanus' second and last mission to Britain was twenty years before when movie claims it took place.
• Pelagius is believed to have died decades earlier than in the movie and was a traditionalist not a reformist.
• When the movie takes place, the Western Roman Empire no longer employed Sarmatian mercenaries; the Sarmatian soldiers used would have been volunteers or sent by the chieftain instead of being drafted.
• The capital of the Western Empire at the time was Ravenna instead of Rome because of ongoing wars with the barbarians.
• The movie implied that the Pope was in control of the empire however it was actually controlled by emperors. The Pope did however have significant influences over the Empire's foreign affairs.
• Lancelot and Galahad are portrayed as similar age while according to traditional versions they are father and son respectively.

A crossbow is a type of weapon that fires projectiles called quarrels. ... The word bow has several meanings and two pronunciations, depending on meaning: Rhymes with low A kind of weapon; see bow (weapon). ... A spear is an ancient weapon, used for hunting and war. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Binomial name Isatis tinctoria L. Woad (or glastum) is the common name of the flowering plant Isatis tinctoria in the family Brassicaceae. ... Hadrians Wall (in Latin: Vallum Hadriani) was a stone and turf fortification, built by the Romans across the width of Great Britain to prevent military raids by the Pictish tribes of Scotland to the north, to improve economic stability and provide peaceful conditions in the south, to define the... Scotland (Alba in Scottish Gaelic) is a country in northwest Europe and a constituent nation of the United Kingdom. ... Germain of Auxerre - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ... For other people called Pelagius, see Pelagius (disambiguation) Pelagius was a British monk who lived from approximately 360 to 435 [1]. Background A preacher, Pelagius visited Rome, and became concerned about the moral laxity of society he saw there. ... The Western Roman Empire is the name given to the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian. ... Sarmatian Cataphract Sarmatians, Sarmatae or Sauromatae (the second form is mostly used by the earlier Greek writers, the other by the later Greeks and the Romans) were a people whom Herodotus (4. ... For other places named Ravenna, see Ravenna (disambiguation). ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Democratici di Sinistra) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,546,807 almost 4,000,000 1... This entry was adapted from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica. ... Sir Galahad pictured in a forest scene with his horse Sir Galahad was one of the knights of King Arthurs Round Table in Arthurian legend. ...

Trivia

• The Saxon leaders, Cerdic and Cynric, survived the battle of Mons Badonicus. They went on to become the first kings of Wessex.
• Dagonet, the knight who dies in the battle of the frozen lake, appears in Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur - as Arthur's court jester.
• This is possibly the only Arthurian film in which Lancelot dies and Arthur does not. In all other films, either Lancelot survives, as in First Knight, or they are both killed at the end, as in Excalibur.

Cerdic of Wessex (c. ... Cynric of Wessex ruled as king of Wessex from 534 to 560. ... Wessex was one of the seven major Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (the Heptarchy) that preceded the kingdom of England. ... Le Morte dArthur (The Death of Arthur)—the title is actually spelled as Le Morte Darthur in the first printing and also in some modern editions—is Sir Thomas Malorys compilation of some French and English Arthurian romances. ... First Knight is a 1995 film based on Arthurian legend. ... 222. ...

External links

• King Arthur at the Internet Movie Database