Camelot
Warner Brothers (1967)
Musical, Romance
In Collection
#581
0*
Seen It:  Yes
(6/13/2011)
085391223825
IMDB   6.3
179 mins USA/English
DVD  Region 1   G
Richard Harris King Arthur
Vanessa Redgrave Guenevere
Franco Nero Lancelot Du Lac
David Hemmings Mordred
Lionel Jeffries King Pellinore
Laurence Naismith Merlyn
Pierre Olaf Dap
Estelle Winwood Lady Clarinda
Gary Marshal Sir Lionel
Anthony Rogers Sir Dinadan
Peter Bromilow Sir Sagramore
Director Joshua Logan
Producer Joel Freeman
Jack L. Warner
Writer T.H. White
Alan Jay Lerner

Joshua Logan's 1967 film of the hit Broadway musical about the love triangle between King Arthur (Richard Harris), Guenevere (Vanessa Redgrave), and Sir Lancelot (Franco Nero) is strong on star emphasis and weak on such fundamentals as story and sets. Except for a handful of solidly dramatic scenes--such as Guenevere grieving, late in the film, for the ruination she and Lancelot have caused--there's not a lot to get excited about. (The story's theme of a lost, great society, however, certainly struck a chord in the 1960s.) The Lerner-Loewe songs ("If Ever I Would Leave You," "Camelot") pretty much sell themselves, even if they are, at best, only proficiently performed in this movie. The special-edition DVD release has a widescreen presentation, two documentaries, Dolby sound, an alternate music-only track, and optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles. --Tom Keogh
Edition Details
Chapters 36
Release Date 7/1/1998
Packaging Snap Case
Screen Ratio 2.55:1
Subtitles English; French; Spanish
Audio Tracks ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 [CC]
Layers Single Side, Single Layer
No. of Disks/Tapes 1
Personal Details
Purchase Date 7/1/1998
Owner Thomas Eisenmann
Store Best Buy
Purchase Price $14.94
Condition Excellent
Reviewed Widescreen Review
Bit Rate 384 KB
Anamophic Yes
Links IMDB

Features
Anamophic
Color Closed-captioned Dolby Widescreen

Widescreen Review
Story Synopsis:
Based on the wildly popular Broadway musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, which was based on the book, “The Once And Future King,” by T.H. White, Camelot brings the color and gallantry of the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. The film was awarded three Academy Awards® (Adapted Score, Art Direction and Costume Design) for its telling of the tale of the illicit and destructive love affair between Lancelot (Nero) and Guenevere (Redgrave)-who was married to King Arthur (Harris) at the time. And you thought cheating was a product of our times!

DVD Picture:
The dual layered DVD, when viewed in the component anamorphic format and compared to the new Special Edition LaserDisc, exhibits sharper and more detailed images with increased resolution. In the opening scenes in the fog, the entire picture looks hazy on LaserDisc, even close-up shots. Images are crisp on the DVD, when they appear soft on LaserDisc. Colors are also more fully saturated, with natural fleshtones, rich and vibrant colors, deep blacks and white whites. Contrast and shadow detail are nicely rendered on both versions, but the DVD excels in its rendering. The LaserDisc looks slightly dated in comparison. Only minor digitized noise is apparent, but there are no distracting artifacts. The DVD is sure to please and is preferred. The letterbox and anamorphic DVD aspect ratio is framed at 2.42:1. The LaserDisc aspect ratio is overmatted at 2.50:1.

Soundtrack:
The soundtrack is credited as remastered in Dolby® Digital 5.1, but actually it is a 5.0 mix, without .1 LFE. While no mention is made to the source soundtrack element, the 70mm element was six-track magnetic with monaural surround. The discrete soundtrack on the DVD and Special Edition LaserDisc has apparently been electronically enhanced with de-correlated surrounds and non-directional dialogue. The matrix PCM soundtrack actually sounds more spatially enveloping than the Dolby Digital version with almost constant surround envelopment, often aggressively presented.