“Excalibur” quotes

(1981)
Movie Excalibur
John Boorman directed this movie in 1981
Title Excalibur
Year 1981
Director John Boorman
Genre Drama, Adventure, Fantasy
Plot – Excalibur is the magic sword and symbol of the king’s power, “forged by a god, announced by a wizard, found by a king”. The director recalls King Arthur’s legend, who was born from Uther and Igrayne and immediately given to the sorcerer Merlin. The wizard prepares him to extract the magic sword, ‘Excalibur’, that is stuck in a rock. Although many knights tried in vain, Arthur is successful, so he is crowned king. In the kingdom, the bloody fights and the magic witchcrafts are over and the epic era of the Round Table begins. However, a new phase in Arthur’s life begins when Lancelot and Guenevere’s love blossoms.
All actors – Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren, Nicholas Clay, Cherie Lunghi, Paul Geoffrey, Nicol Williamson, Robert Addie, Gabriel Byrne, Keith Buckley, Katrine Boorman, Liam Neeson, Corin Redgrave, Niall O'Brien, Patrick Stewart, Clive Swift, Ciarán Hinds, Liam O'Callaghan, Michael Muldoon, Charley Boorman, Gerard Mannix Flynn, Garrett Keogh, Emmet Bergin, Barbara Byrne, Brid Brennan, Kay McLaren, Eamon A. Kelly, , Hilary Joyalle, Prudence Wright Holmes
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  • “- Uryens: In the name of God, St. Michael and St. George, I give you the right to bear arms and the power to mete justice!
    - Arthur: That duty I will solemnly obey, as knight and king.”

    Keith Buckley - Uryens
    Nigel Terry - King Arthur
  • “- Lancelot: Your rage has unbalanced you. You, sir, would fight to the death, against a knight who is not your enemy. Over a stretch of road you could easily ride around.
    - Arthur: So be it. To the death!”

    Nicholas Clay - Lancelot
    Nigel Terry - King Arthur
    [Tag:enemy, fighting, rage]
  • “I must ride with my knights to defend what was, and the dream of what could be.”
    Nigel Terry - King Arthur
    [Tag:defense, values]
  • “- Merlin: What are you afraid of?
    - Arthur: I don't know.
    - Merlin: Shall I tell you what's out there?
    - Arthur: Yes, please.
    - Merlin: The Dragon. A beast of such power that if you were to see it whole and all complete in a single glance, it would burn you to cinders.”

    Nicol Williamson - Merlin
    Nigel Terry - King Arthur
    [Tag:fear, monster]
  • I once stood exposed to the Dragon's Breath so that a man could lie one night with a woman. It took me nine moons to recover. And all for this lunacy called "love", this mad distemper that strikes down both beggar and king. Never again. Never.
    Nicol Williamson - Merlin
    [Tag:danger, love]
  • “Ready my knights for battle. They shall ride with their King once more. I have lived through others far too long. Lancelot bore my honor and Guenevere my guilt. Mordred bore my sins. My Knight have fought my causes. And now my brother, I shall be... King!”

    Nigel Terry - King Arthur
  • “I am your humble knight, and I swear allegiance to the courage in your veins. So strong it is, its source must be Uther Pendragon's. I doubt you no more!”

    Keith Buckley - Uryens
  • “- Arthur: Which is the greatest quality of knighthood? Courage? Compassion? Loyalty? Humility? What do you say, Merlin?
    - Merlin: Hmm? Ah. Ah. Ah, the greatest. Uh, well, they blend, like the metals we mix to make a good sword.
    - Arthur: No poetry. Just a straight answer. Which is it?
    - Merlin: All right, then. Truth. That's it. Yes. It must be...” (continue)
    (continue reading)
    Nigel Terry - King Arthur
    Nicol Williamson - Merlin
  • “Remember, there's always something cleverer than yourself.”
    Nicol Williamson - Merlin
  • “- Lancelot: I gave up my castle and my lands. This is my domain. Within this metal skin. And I pledge all that I still own. Muscle, bone, blood and the heart that pumps it.
    - Arthur: And a great heart it is. Sir Lancelot, you will be my champion.”

    Nicholas Clay - Lancelot
    Nigel Terry - King Arthur
  • “The future has taken root in the present.”
    Nicol Williamson - Merlin
    [Tag:future, present]
  • “- Uther: You must help me, Merlin!
    - Merlin: Must I?
    - Uther: I am your King!
    - Merlin: So! You need me again now that my truce is wrecked! Years to build and moments to ruin! And all for lust!
    - Uther: For Igrayne! One night with her. You don't understand, you're not a man. Use the magic. Do it!”

    Gabriel Byrne - Uther Pendragon
    Nicol Williamson - Merlin
    [Tag:love, lust, magic]
  • “- Lancelot: My salvation is to die a Knight of the Round Table.
    - Arthur: You are that. And much more. You are its greatest Knight. You are what is best in men.
    - Lancelot: It is the old wound my King. It has never healed. Guinevere. Is she Queen again?
    - Arthur: She is Lancelot.”

    Nicholas Clay - Lancelot
    Nigel Terry - King Arthur
    [Tag:admiration, love]
  • “Good and evil, there never is one without the other.”
    Nicol Williamson - Merlin
    [Tag:evil, good]
  • “I have often thought that in the hereafter of our lives, when I owe no more to the future and can be just a man, that we may meet, and you will come to me and claim me as yours, and know that I am your husband. It is a dream I have...”

    Nigel Terry - King Arthur
    [Tag:husband, love]
  • “When a man lies, he murders some part of the world.”
    Nicol Williamson - Merlin
    [Tag:lies, lying]
  • “- Arthur: What is the secret of the Grail? Who does it serve?
    - Perceval: You, my lord.
    - Arthur: Who am I?
    - Perceval: You are my lord and king. You are Arthur.
    - Arthur: Have you found the secret that I have lost?
    - Perceval: Yes. You and the land are one.”

    Nigel Terry - King Arthur
    Paul Geoffrey - Perceval
    [Tag:king, power]
  • “- Arthur: Move aside!
    - Lancelot: I will not. You must retreat, or prove your worth in the test of arms under the eyes of God.
    - Arthur: Then may He give me the strength to unhorse you. And send you with one blow, back across the sea.
    - Lancelot: Then come across, sir.”

    Nigel Terry - King Arthur
    Nicholas Clay - Lancelot
  • “- Arthur: I am wasting away. I cannot die and I cannot live.
    - Perceval: Drink from the chalice. You will be reborn and the land with you.
    - Arthur: Perceval... I didn't know how empty was my soul... until it was filled.”

    Nigel Terry - King Arthur
    Paul Geoffrey - Perceval
  • “Looking at the cake is like looking at the future, until you've tasted it what do you really know? And then, of course, it's too late.”
    Nicol Williamson - Merlin
    [Tag:future, regret]
  • Remember it always, for you are joined by it. You are One, under the stars. Remember it well, then... this night, this great victory. So that in the years ahead you can say, "I was there that night, with Arthur, the King!". For it is the doom of men that they forget.
    Nicol Williamson - Merlin
    [Tag:glory, victory]
  • “I was not born to live a man's life, but to be the stuff of future memory.”
    Nigel Terry - King Arthur
    [Tag:glory, normality]
  • “- Morgana: Your eyes never leave me, Merlin.
    - Merlin: Can't I acknowledge beauty?
    - Morgana: Can't you acknowledge... love? Perhaps you ache for what you've never known.
    - Merlin: Perhaps you lust for what you cannot have.”

    Helen Mirren - Morgana
    Nicol Williamson - Merlin
    [Tag:beauty, love, lust]
  • “- Sir Ector: You are king, Arthur; the more so because you are not my son, and I am not your father.
    - Arthur: Not my father? Then Kay is not my brother?
    - Sir Ector: Merlin the magician brought you to me when you were newly born, and bade me raise you as my own. At first, I did so because I feared Merlin, but later because I loved you.”

    Clive Swift - Ector
    Nigel Terry - King Arthur
    [Tag:fear, love, son]
  • “- Arthur: I am King. And this is Excalibur, sword of kings from the dawn of time. Who are you? What do you seek?
    - Lancelot: I am Lancelot of the Lake, from across the sea. And I have yet to find a king worthy of my sword.
    - Arthur: That is a wild boast. You lack a knight's humility!
    - Lancelot: Not a boast, sir. But a curse. For I have never...” (continue)
    (continue reading)
    Nigel Terry - King Arthur
    Nicholas Clay - Lancelot
Highlights