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Worst Medieval Movies Anyone?

Carol L. Robinson

June 25, 2014

Recently, I was avoiding work (yes, only recently) and surfing the web for completely useless information, when I came upon a list of Worst Medieval Movies.  It listed the following, with annotations to justify each selection, listed according to IMDb ratings (best to worst):

  1. Braveheart (1995)
  2. Timeline (2003)
  3. Young Ivanhoe (1999)
  4. Black Knight (2001)
  5. Beyond Sherwood Forest (2009)
  6. Dark Knight (2000)
  7. The Last Legion (2007)
  8. King Arthur (2004)
  9. Beowulf (2007)
  10. The War Lord (1965)

This list was posted by “dizzy-b” — about whom there is apparently little to know, except that this person seems to have a strange way of defining “movie,”  counting Dark Knight (2000) as a movie when, apparently, it was actually a television series.  By the way, Young Ivanhoe (1999) and Beyond Sherwood Forest (2009) are both made-for-TV-movies (a slightly different genre from the made-for-the-big-screen feature movie).  However, I don’t really care if “dizzy-b” wants to call a television series a “movie”.  What bothers me about the list is this: these aren’t the worst medieval films out there!  Indeed, I’m offended, outraged, alienated, and clinically depressed that this is the worst that “dizzy-b” could find!  I mean, seriously, what about Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1973), or its remake (by the same director), Sword of the Valiant: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1984)?  What about King Arthur, the Young Warlord (1975), Dungeons & Dragons (2000), Knights of the Round Table (1953), Camelot (1967, despite Vanessa Redgrave’s lovely song about the merry month of May), or Pier Paolo Pasolini’s I racconti di Canterbury (1972, X-rated, in the United States, but it isn’t bad because of that)?  Indeed, I find it difficult to make a list of only the worst TEN.  What about you?

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