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You could call “King Arthur” the anti-“Excalibur” demystifying a legend that has become larger than life. John Boormann’s epic “Excalibur” cast a romantic sheen on the Arthur legend adding his quirky sense of humor to a strongly cast film full of blood, guts and glory. Fuqua’s take on events tends to the gritty side eschewing the romantic elements of the Arthur legend in favor of stark realism and, with a bit of dramatic license, hewing much closer to what many historians believe is the origin of the Arthur legend. Antonie Fuqua’s unique take on writer David Franzoni’s retelling of the legend is a flawed but still marvelous movie that turns almost every convention of the legend inside out. ***

Artorious Castus (or Arthur to his men sharply played by Clive Owen) whose father is Roman serves the Church and Rome in fighting battles in what will eventually become Great Britan around 500 A.D. He and his men who form the Sarmatian Knights and now include Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd), Gawain(Joel Edgerton), Galahad (Hugh Dancy), Bors (Ray Winstone), Tristan (Mads Mikkelsen) and Dagonet (Ray Stevenson) from legend travel the countryside trying to earn their freedom from Rome as soldiers. Each man was conscripted from different countries as boys and trained to be soldiers in the hopes that they may one day earn their walking papers. ***

Just as Arthur and his men believe they’ve earned their freedom, Bishop Germanius (Ivano Marescotti) with their papers of freedom but a catch; Rome has one last deadly mission for Arthur and his men. They must venture beyond the wall that separates the invading Saxon army to rescue a boy that the Pope hopes will succeed him. Arthur is disgusted as his men were promised their freedom and owe Rome no more but his men agree to this dangerous mission for their beloved commander. Along the way they encounter a Roman prisoner Guinevere (Keira Knightley) and the leader of the local tribe Merlin and a legend takes shape. Even if you’re familiar with the Arthur legend from “Camelot”, “Excalibur” and the novel The Once And Future King, you’ll be surprised at the developments in this fine if flawed movie. ---

As this is the “Extended Unrated Director’s Cut” of the film that didn’t play in theaters (although it was supposed to do so), that by itself is an extra. The story plays out much more convincingly with additional background details on Arthur’s life and the fight sequences aren’t geared for a PG-13 rating but more for an R (the original rating Fuqua was seeking). Luckily, Touchstone threw additional extras into the mix making this a worthwhile addition to a film fan’s library. ***

We get the original ending of the film as well as the alternate “Bodon Hill” ending. The original ending was considered too downbeat after everything that went before and Fuqua assembled his cast and reshot the ending. Although the theatrical ending is much more emotionally satisfying I can’t help but feel that the original ending fit a bit better with the tone of the film. We also get “Blood On The Land” which discusses the making of the film and what inspired the filmmakers to go back and revisit the unretouched origin of the Arthur Legend. There’s a brief but interesting “Cast and Filmmaker Round Table” where the cast and director discuss the different elements they brought to the film to make it distinct and unique from, say, John Boormann’s ultimate romantic version of the Arthur myth. We also get a demo of Konomi’s “King Arthur” XBox game which proves that the game is nearly as compelling as the movie and a lot of fun as well. The “Knight Vision” Trivia Track provides all sorts of interesting production background including information on the various locations the film was shot at and the reuse of Castle exteriors from other films (including “Monty Python and The Holy Grail” among many others). ---