Fantasy Flix: Prince Valiant (1997)

Writers:

Hal Foster (comic strip), Michael Frost Beckner

In a time now lost in the mists of memory, the great King Arthur rules in the legendary citadel that is Camelot. His Knights of the Round Table commit acts of derring-do and spend their spare time jousting, much to the delight of the local citizens and especially to Princess Ilene, a guest at Camelot. Watching her from afar is a young, inexperienced squire called Valiant, and when the young Welsh princess is sent home to marry Prince Arn, Valiant contrives to accompany her masquerading as Sir Gawain. Meanwhile, the evil sorceress Morgan le Fey, sister to King Arthur, has convinced the tyrannical Sligon, ruler of the Viking kingdom of Thule, that he should steal Arthur's sword, the powerful and magical Excalibur, knowing that its loss could bring about Arthur's downfall. So into the fray comes Sligon's unstable and psychotic brother Thagnar, who manages to steal the sword. Pandemonium reigns. But Valiant is having problems of his own - kidnappers attempt to steal away the Princess, and after various skirmishes, including one with a mysterious character who lives in a cave and purloins treasure, women and other things of value, Valiant manages to return the Princess to her homeland - although he also manages to have a duel with the Princess' jealous fiancé, Prince Arn. All things converge as Valiant is finally informed of his heritage by the stranger from the cave... Boltar of Thule. He informs the lad that he is Prince Valiant, rightful heir to the kingdom of Thule, and with his help, Valiant returns to the land of his birth to rightfully claim what is his. Written by Helen Chavez

Here we have another family-friendly fantasy movie that you can show to your kids. This is generally not my cup of tea, but I quite enjoyed it. Prince Valiant is better than most of the things you'll see on the Syfy channel anyway. Just don't expect to see any blood or skin in this fantasy film.

I'm not very familiar with the original comic strip of Prince Valiant, but from what I do know this seems pretty faithful. Those these days it'd be difficult to find someone who is. If you are, let me know how faithful this is if you've seen it. Here we have a bit of King Arthur with no Merlin except this dead guy here. This seems to take place after the usual Arthur story. We do get a bit of Excalibur as this story generally revolves around the sword.

The acting here is, of course, top notch from this fantastic cast. Unfortunately, they couldn't turn this into an actual good movie. But, It's fun and enjoyable and perfectly acceptable for the kids. I just have a hard time seeing Stephen Moyer and not hearing him say "Sookie". His voice just doesn't seem to match him here.

I've never been a Katherine Heigl fan, but she's absolutely adorable here. As far as the cast is concerned, I would have preferred there be a bit more Ron Perlman and Warwick Davis.

There are some definitely silly moments that will make you groan out load, like the scene here of Valiant walking underwater. The effects are typical for 1997 and not bad at all. The action is good, people die, just no blood.