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King Arthur: Legend of the Sword(2017)
Warner Bros. May 12, 2017 | Wide
Robbed of his birthright, Arthur comes up the hard way in the back alleys of the city. But once he pulls the sword from the stone, he is forced to acknowledge his true legacy - whether he likes it or not.
Releases
Original Release | May 12, 2017
Box Office
Results
$15,371,270
$39,175,066
$110,000,000
$149,175,066
Director & Top Cast
Technical Specifications
Sound Mix: Dolby Surround 7.1
Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1
Other Details
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Summaries
Plot Summary
- Mordred (Rob Knighton), an iron fist warlock, and his armies lay siege to Camelot, seeking to establish the dominance of magic-wielding Mages over humankind. Uther Pendragon (Eric Bana), king of the Britons, infiltrates Mordred's lair and beheads him, destroying his forces and saving Camelot. Later that evening, Uther's treacherous brother Vortigern (Jude Law), who covets the throne, orchestrates a coup and sacrifices his wife Elsa (Katie McGrath) to moat hags in order to summon a demon knight, who kills Uther's wife and slays him in combat. The only survivor is Uther's son, who drifts away in a boat and eventually ends up in Londinium, where he is found and raised by prostitutes, who name him Arthur (Charlie Hunnam).Years later, Vortigen is now king and finds that the waters around the castle have dropped, revealing Arthur's sword which is embedded in stone. Vortigen summons the Demon knight again, who tells him of the return of the King. The demon asks Vortigen to find the boy Arthur & to extract the sword, which will then only answer to its lord.Arthur grows into a skilled fighter and man of the streets, alongside his friends Tristan (Kingsley Ben-Adir) and Backlack (Neil Maskell). The three confront a group of Vikings headed by Kjartan, who had mistreated one of the prostitutes, forcing them to pay her a year's wages for their behavior. Afterwards, the brothel is raided by the Blacklegs, Vortigern's minions, and Arthur learns that the Vikings were guests of the king and attacking them, therefore, constitutes a crime against him personally. Arthur tries to escape the city but is caught and put on a ship with hundreds of other men. He learns that a mysterious, magic sword has appeared near Vortigern's castle, and the Blacklegs have been forcing all men of Arthur's age to try to pull it from the surrounding stone. When Arthur tries, he pulls the sword out and is quickly overwhelmed by and passes out from the vast power it contains. Vortigern meets with him in the dungeon, revealing his true lineage. Meanwhile, a woman, identifying herself as an acolyte of Merlin, meets with Uther's former general, Sir Bedivere (Djimon Hounsou). She is referred to only as the Mage (Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey).At Arthur's execution, planned by Vortigern, the Mage uses her magic to stage a diversion while Percival (Craig McGinlay) and Rubio (Freddie Fox), two of Bedivere's men, rescue Arthur. Taken to Bedivere's hideout, Arthur initially refuses to help them, but soon collapses again when he tries to wield the sword. Suspecting that he lacks the willpower to control it, the Mage persuades Bedivere to take Arthur to the "Darklands", the realm where, years earlier, Merlin destroyed Mordred's tower in defiance of his darkness. It is revealed that Vortigern was responsible for persuading Mordred to rebel against humanity, having grown jealous of Uther's power. Arthur, having restored the sword's magic, returns determined to destroy Vortigen for his crimes.Together with his friends and Bedivere's men, Arthur stages a series of ambushes and attacks to force Vortigern out of hiding. Aware that his maid Maggie (Annabelle Wallis) is a spy for Bedivere, Vortigen announces plans to meet with his barons in Londonium, sending a body double in his place. The rebels quickly realize the deception but attack anyway which was all part of his plan. In the process, Rubio is captured while Backlack is severely wounded and left behind. The others take refuge in a fighters' school, run by Arthur's mentor George (Tom Wu), where they are quickly overrun by the Blacklegs. Seeing the Mage being held at knife-point, Arthur is overcome by his rage and unleashes Excalibur's potential, by killing all of the enemy soldiers all by himself. As night falls and riots break out all over Londonium, the rebels take shelter in a safe house, where they are soon joined by Backlack and his son Blue (Bleu Landau).Knowing that he is mortally wounded, Backlack urges the others to go on and promises that he will be coming after them soon. Unbeknownst to them, the Blacklegs' commander, Mischief John, has been following the wounded Backlack, and he and Vortigern interrogate him for information. Blue sneaks back and, when caught, tries to bluff them that he is simply a worker coming to do his shift. But he can't maintain the masquerade when his father is threatened. Arthur comes back and manages to save Blue, but not before Blue watches his father die.Afterwards, Arthur, ashamed of his failures, throws the sword into a lake and runs into the forest. When he stops at a small marsh, the Lady of the Lake (Jacqui Ainsley) pulls him into her realm and shows him a vision of the future, where England has been ruined by Vortigern's rule and the people are left to suffer in misery. Recognizing that only he can put an end to his uncle's reign, Arthur reunites with Bedivere, George, and Percival. When they return to the rebel hideout, however, they discover all of their allies dead, Vortigern having found them thanks to information provided by torturing Rubio. They encounter the captain, who delivers a message from the king: If Arthur does not surrender himself by nightfall, both the Mage and Blue will die. Bedivere is able to get the former released in exchange for Arthur surrendering both himself and the sword.Just as Vortigern is about to kill his nephew, a giant snake summoned by the Mage attacks and devours the captain and his men, while the others free Vortigern's prisoners and lead them in a revolt against the Blacklegs. A desperate Vortigern sacrifices his only daughter Catia (Millie Brady) and is transformed into the demon knight, confronting Arthur in a separate dimension.Despite his fighting skill, Arthur is quickly beaten. Just as he is about to submit, he witnesses a flashback of the moment when his father was struck down, having turned his own body to stone to prevent Vortigern from seizing the sword. Arthur snatches the sword before it impales Uther, who gives him the right to wield it. Arthur then defeats and kills Vortigern violently but blesses him as he dies.In the aftermath, Arthur, George, and Percival begin building the round table, where Arthur and his knights will meet. Arthur also dissolves Vortigern's pact with the Vikings, declaring that they must respect England's power if they wish to avoid war. Blue and the prostitutes arrive with the crown of Uther, which Arthur accepts. King Arthur then addresses his new subjects, holding the sword aloft in the air.
Storyline
- An alternative version of the King Arthur legend. As a boy, Arthur is left orphaned after his father, King Uther Pendragon, and mother are killed in a war waged against them by Vortigern, who then assumes the throne. Arthur flees and is raised in a brothel, knowing very little of his birthright. Vortigern wants Arthur dead, to ensure there is no claimant to the throne. The legends foretell that only the next king will be able to draw Excalibur, Uther's sword, from the rock where it is lodged. So, in an effort to identify Arthur, Vortigern forces all the young men of Arthur's age to attempt to draw out the sword. Now it is Arthur's turn. — grantss Mordred, an iron-fist-ed warlock, and his armies lay siege to Camelot, seeking to establish the dominance of magic-wielding mag-es over humankind. Uther Pendragon, king of the Britons, infiltrates Mordred's lair and beheads him, saving Camelot. Uther's treacherous younger brother Vortigern, who covets the throne, orchestrates a coup and sacrifices his wife Elsa to moat hags to become a demon knight, who kills Uther's wife Igraine and slays Uther in combat. The only survivor is Uther's son Arthur, who drifts away in a boat and ends up in Londinium.. Struggling to eke out an existence in Londinium's squalid and perilous streets, the orphaned young fighter and Uther Pendragon's only son, Arthur, is utterly oblivious to the fact that he is England's rightful ruler. Nearly two decades after his traitorous uncle, Vortigern, usurped the throne, Arthur is now the only one who can pull out from the magical boulder the legendary and long-lost blade of Excalibur; however, Vortigern is hell-bent on identifying him, and then, stopping him. Can the evil tyrant stand in the way of Arthur's true destiny? — Nick Riganas
