Search - Merlin: The Return on DVD

Mary M. from TYLER, TX
Reviewed on 12/25/2009...

An interesting version of the Merlin/Arthur legends.

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MERLIN THE RETURN

K. Jump | Corbin, KY United States | 05/28/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Written and directed by Paul Matthews and brought believably to life by a terrific cast of performers, Merlin the Return is a surprisingly fun movie for Arthurian buffs, dreamers, and kids of all ages. In this story the reports of King Arthur's (Patrick Bergin) death at the hands of Mordred (Craig Sheffer)have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, Merlin the Magician (Rik Mayall) was able to stave off Arthur's defeat by magically throwing Mordred and his army into a dimension of eternal darkness, while at the same moment placing Arthur and his knights into suspended animation to await the day of final reckoning. Now, thanks to the machinations of an overly ambitious scientist named Maxwell (Tia Carrere), that day is at hand. As Maxwell prepares to use Earth's magnetic energies to break open Mordred's otherworldly prison and unleash hell on earth, the awakened King Arthur must steal back Excalibur from Mordred before all is lost...and only the traitorous (?) Sir Lancelot (Adrian Paul) can help him.Aimed primarily at kids, this movie may not be high art but it is entertaining, particularly for those of us who are always hunting for a fresh look at the Arthurian myth. The film mixes action and comedy quite efficiently, and the sight of King Arthur and his knights attacking a lumbering semi (quoth Arthur: "Yon beast is big, but slow!")is a moment of absurd genius. While the SFX are not lavish, they are good enough, and the sorcerous duels between Merlin and Mordred are spectacular in their own way. Also, the scenes of Mordred's ghostly agents possessing local townspeople are genuinely scary--and perhaps a reason why only fairly mature kids should see this particular movie. But the actors make this movie. Bergin is a stalwart Arthur, Carrere is ravishing (which hardly goes unnoticed by Sir Gawain!), and Paul is a more than believable Lancelot (here more repentant than usual). Sheffer does go a bit over the top as archvillain Mordred, but he makes a manacing antagonist all the same.No, this is not Excalibur; but it wasn't meant to be. It is good escapist fun, and sometimes that's good enough."

Cute, but lacking...

Robert Tatge Jr. | Noblesville, IN USA | 04/30/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is a rather amusing take on Merlin - Rik Mayall plays an affable but rather bumbling Merlin, who lives in modern-day England - and has to awaken a Hibernating Arthur and company to battle Mordred, who is trying to break free from a magical prison. The flick is produced well enough, but in watching it, I get the feeling that it's culled together from selected clips from a TV series or some such - end result being that I feel like I've witnessed an 'insider joke' - it's amusing overall, but you just don't have the whole story. I'm also taking away a star for the producers not being able to find anything for Adrian Paul to do, other that the expected gratuitous swordfight or two. Points off for Typecasting. All in all though, there's worse ways to drop ten bucks..."

Merlin: The Return

Robert Tatge Jr. | 02/12/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Fun fantasy movie, with some sci-fi added. Didn't always hang together but was enjoyable and fun. If you liked Stargate and The Mists of Avalon, you will like this."