Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1984)

Director: Stephen Weeks

Writers: Stephen Weeks, Howard C. Pen, Philip M. Breen

Composer: Ron Geesin

Starring: Miles O'Keeffe, Cyrielle Clair, Leigh Lawson, Sean Connery, Trevor Howard, Peter Cushing, Ronald Lacey, Lila Kedrova, John Rhys-Davies, Wilfrid Brambell, Bruce Lidington, Douglas Wilmer, Brian Coburn, David Rappaport, Emma Sutton, THomas Heathcote, John Serret, Mike Edmonds, Peter Firth

More info: IMDb

Tagline:  Men of iron...blades of steel

Plot: Gawain was a squire in King Arthur's court when the Green Knight burst in and offered to play a game with a brave knight. No knights stand to defend their king's honor. Except for the valiant Gawain. After being quickly knighted Gawain plays the game, but learns that it's all a trick, and he has lost. But the Green Knight shows mercy, letting Gawain grow a year older before having to face the consequences. Gawain journeys across the land, learning about life, saving damsels, and solving the Green Knight's riddle.

My rating:  6/10

Will I watch it again?  Probably not.

What a cast!  The first half hour is fast paced, exciting and fun.  Connery has one hell of an entrance.  The green glitter on his face and green hair was a bit much but who the hell cares, it's Sean Fucking Connery.   The picture stays fun for a little while after Gawain begins his quest but sadly there are a few too many slow, drab spots.  Connery pops in for a few seconds here and there which helps a lot.  There's a little bit of humor but not enough.  The special effects aren't too shabby.  I'm curious as to what the budget was.  It's a good looking picture with some nice locations, costumes and so on.  And that cast is fantastic!  The ONE big issue I have is the horrid synthesizer score.  It's really bad and hurts the picture.  If the filmmakers had sprung more on the score by getting a better composer and using an orchestra it would've helped this picture a lot.  A LOT.  The really low IMDb score is unjust.  It's not that bad of a film.  The actors are all bringing it.  Connery could've easily phoned it in but he didn't.  He's as robust as ever and plays the part with much vigor.  The same goes for many others.  John Rhys-Davies plays an over-bearing Baron and he relishes in the tyrannical role.  He's awesome!  It's too bad he's also barely in the film.  There are a lot of familiar faces here that you've seen before which adds to the fun when someone new hits the screen for the first time.