Review of Knight`s Tale, A

Introduction

Can a man really change his stars? Of course he can, if he wants it enough a man can accomplish almost anything. This is exactly what William Thatcher intends to do, to change his stars and mount the insurmountable. Going in the guise of Sir Ulrich, William enters jousting tournaments as a nobleman to win, and to prove that he can. No matter what your background, you can achieve whatever you set your heart to. This is the thrust of the story being told here.

Video

Presented with a 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer A Knight`s Tale looks very good. The colours are well balanced throughout with good levels of detail coming through. There is a marginal amount of grain that you won`t really notice unless you put your face two inches from the screen. This is the same with the US version too.

Audio

Sound works well in the film. All the way throughout the movie you can hear the horses heavy galloping, swordplay and music coming from around you. It`s very clear and punchy, definitely one soundtrack to pump up a little.

Features

Slick menus lead us the way to Special Features which contains: Commentary with director Brian Helgeland and Paul Bettany (Chaucer), Behind the Scenes Featurette, 6 Deleted Scenes (with Filmmakers` introductions), HBO Making Of, Robbie Williams/Queen Music Video and Filmographies.

The commentary track is very good (read `extremely entertaining`) and worth listening to. Never a quiet moment with Helgeland and Bettany around. Behind the Scenes contains 11 featurettes covering different aspects of the movie. All combined it`s about 40 minutes or so and quite interesting. My only gripe is the lack of a `play all` button. The HBO Making Of is the usual 15 minutes of fluff.

There are also two trailers, one for the film and one for Final Fantasy. The Final Fantasy trailer is a better example of how to make a trailer over A Knight`s Tale without giving away too much.

There`s just a couple of DVD-Rom features here, a 3D screensaver and weblinks to the official A Knight`s Tale website. The website itself is interesting to peruse but I think it would have been a better idea to include most of this on the DVD instead as the website can be heavy on the bandwidth.

Conclusion

A Knight`s Tale is a very entertaining film. The opening Queen song sets the mood for the opening scene and you know straight away that this isn`t a serious medieval movie. It has a good blend of comedy, action and romance with a fitting cast. This is the first time I`ve seen Heath Ledger and he seems suited to the part of William Thatcher, as for Shannyn Sossamon playing Jocelyn, she`s simply gorgeous and it`s nice to see her. Mark Addy, Alan Tudyk and Laura Fraser as Will`s band of merrymen (and woman) all add character to their parts and don`t forget the antagonistic Rufus Sewell. Special mention for Paul Bettany as Chaucer who I think has the best lines and steals the show with his performance.

The story of overcoming the odds is simple enough, so the whole jousting thing is a different and interesting setting for it. The story is well written and becomes more enjoyable after one viewing despite some of the romantic cliches. It`s all good fun, afterall, what romantic story doesn`t have what we`ve not heard before? If you don`t take this film seriously, I think you`ll have some fun with it. I have to say though that I thought it was a little longer than it should have been. Clocking in at just over two hours long the pace of the film slowed a little in the middle.

Is this a comedy? Not outrightly so, it`s more to do with the acting and dialogue which always makes me crack a wry smile. As for the romance, this isn`t dripping in it but there are some memorable moments that add to the whole. Then of course you can`t forget about the action too. "Boy on a horse with a stick", as Jocelyn eloquently calls it. There`s enough action to balance the other elements with some good stunt work in play.

People will always remember the contemporary music in this film, from the opening Queen track onwards there`s a wide selection of 70s music but not too much as to make the film one long music video. I think it works surprisingly well. Finally there`s good production design, costume design, and loads of armour too.

The UK version of A Knight`s Tale is identical in terms of features with the US disc. Having watched both versions side by side, the UK picture is a little better thanks to the increased PAL resolution and colours seem to be a little richer, otherwise there`s little to tell them apart.

On a last note, watch the film till the very end after the credits. It`s an interesting way to determine who buys in the next round... ;-)

I enjoyed watching A Knight`s Tale and listening to the commentary was worthwhile also. If you`ve seen and enjoyed this film already then I can heartily recommend the DVD. If you`ve not seen it and want to take a chance on buying it, I can also recommend it. It`s all round good fun.