Customer Ratings & Reviews

I have been looking for this movie for years! Acting is superb and the story is fantastic. Camelot revisited ! Definitely recommend for anyone that likes the story of King Arthur.

Originally saw this on tv. Glad to have found it again

Bought for my mom. She is happy to have it to watch. Came quickly. Thank you.

This film was delivered promptly. The price of this film was amazing.

I bought it for my wife because she loves it, Best Buy had a good price. Very happy.

Great movie! Awesome price. Glad Au found it at Best Buy.

This was given as a gift..,.......................

The Mists of Avalon follows Marion Zimmer Bradley's book very closely and faithfully. Bradley is not trying to be Sir Thomas Mallory, but rather, she tells the tale from a Wiccan perspective, with Morgaine, rather than Arthur, as the hero. I found this refreshing, and the quest for religious freedom is a very important theme in both the book and the movie. We are so used to seeing Morgaine as a villain, but here she is a cleric who seeks religious freedom and respect, not for herself, but for all people. I was offended by the brief blasphemous scene at the beginning of the movie in which both a crucifix and a statue of the Wiccan Goddess are defaced by enemy raiders, but this troubling scene showed the importance of the world's need for religious tolerance and religious freedom. Anjelica Houston shines as the stern no-nonsense Viviane, the Lady of the Lake. Here, Viviane is the "Voice of the Mother Goddess on Earth", apparently a Wiccan equivalent to the Pope or the Archbishop of Canterbury. She chides her sister Morgause (Joan Allen) with some very good advice: "No man or woman can live another's fate." There is an underlying gentleness beneath her iron hand, but everything she does has a strong purpose, and she shows great respect for the Christian priests and for the Christian religion. Her father Merlin (Michael Byrne) also gives some great wisdom by telling his young grandchildren Arthur and Morgaine "Sometimes what you want to do and what is right to do are different things." Julianna Marguiles, who looks somewhat like Katharine Hepburn, is a very strong and powerful Morgaine. We see how Morgaine struggles with her destiny as a Priestess and her desires as a human, and rejoice with her as she rides about the countryside with her beloved husband Uriens (David Calder). After he dies, she continues to be faithfully loyal to her purpose in life. Michael Vartan is the best Lancelot I have seen, as he is a fun-loving, but wise, prince who just so happens to be Vivienne's son - and Merlin's grandson! Rather than prancing about and brandishing his sword and trying to prove his love for Guenevere, he is genuinely sensitive, kind, and loyal - the way I imagine Lancelot in both Mallory's and Bradley's telling of the tale. Likewise, Samantha Matthis is a very graceful Guenevere. The movie is clearly set in ancient, rather than medieval, England, and the costumes and sets show a ruggedness that we do not normally see in a King Arthur movie. I believe this enhances the story by making it probably the most believable Arthur story I have ever seen. I found the entire movie thought-provoking, breathtaking, well-written, well-acted, and meticulously faithful to Bradley's book. It is utterly magnificent!