A Knight's Tale

When this film first had a theatrical run, on the way to work I would pass by about 100 bus stops which had posters advertising it plastered all over them. They were a simple design, just Heath Ledger's face front and centre with the words “HE WILL ROCK YOU� emblazoned across it.

You got the impression that they almost didn’t care whether you saw the film or not, just as long as you remembered his face for the future. Alternatively, maybe they were hoping all the teenage schoolgirls waiting for buses would get excited by his big head staring down at them. Either way, because of these posters, and the television ads, I decided that the film looked crap and refused to go and see it.

Now, with the release on DVD upon us, I have the opportunity to actually watch the film and possibly re-evaluate my position. So, has my opinion changed? Or was I right all along?

Heath is William Thatcher, a knight’s squire. He’s served the knight since he was a young tacker, but has always dreamed of making a better life for himself. The opportunity arises one day when the knight dies following a nasty blow to the head. William decides to pretend to be the knight and wins the joust in his place. Getting a taste of a better life and full of beans, he convinces his buddies to go on with the deception and go on to a bigger tournament to win even more money. But these tournaments aren’t open to just anyone, you must be a noble knight to qualify. So they conveniently happen across someone who fakes papers of nobility which lets them travel around winning even more tournaments, making money and becoming famous. Along the way, he happens to catch the eye of a young lass who’s a dead set ringer for Lisa Bonet and tries to woo her. Unfortunately, she’s also getting the moves put on her by the jousting world champion and all round bad guy clad in black, Count Admehar (Rufus Sewell). Now, William is more determined than ever to win the championship from Admehar and the girl as well. But will the dastardly Count discover William's not really a knight? Can William defeat the Count at the World Championship? Will William get the girl and live happily ever after? Watch this DVD and all shall be revealed for your edification.

What can I say? This is one great looking transfer that will make all the money you took out of your kids' education fund and spent on a telly or projector instead seem worth it. With a 16:9 enhanced 2.35:1 picture to really frame the jousting at its best, the picture is beautifully detailed and clear. Watching the jousting scenes, as the lances explode against armour into hails of tinder, every single little piece looks clearly defined. The background detail, whether it be the crowds or the forest, is well rendered and solid looking, with vibrant colours throughout. Top marks for this one, you’ll be very happy to show it off.

And it doesn’t stop there. The 448kbps DD5.1 audio track does everything right as well. The tournaments get a nice boost with plenty of bass to give your room a rumble as the horses run by and lances shatter. There’s a nice sharp metallic clash with swords against armour and the rock music soundtrack thumps along hard. The characters are easy to understand, with the soundstage nice and balanced. The surrounds are given a bit to do, from ambient effects in the forests or towns to enhancing the tournaments.

A right royal swag of extras is stuffed onto this disc. There’s a jabberjaws commentary from director Helgeland and actor Paul Bettany, with Helgeland having something to say about everything and coming across as a right happy chap. Then we have no less than 11 behind the scenes featurettes (The rock music scene in 1370, Sexy armour and a rock band on tour, You never know what you’ll find in a Czech prop house, School of hard knocks, Tournaments - A cross between pro football and stock car racing, The marquee event, The world’s first sports promoter, Stories for the people, The rules of love, Heath Ledger profile, A director's quest). But don’t get too excited as these only run for a few minutes each for a total of around 33 minutes. Still, that’s better than a poke in the eye with a rusty sword, as I always say.

There’s also six deleted scenes you can watch with either the normal audio or with a filmmaker's introduction and running commentary. The HBO Making Of is a standard issue 15 minutes effort. Nothing too revealing as expected, but watchable none the less. A music video is included with Robbie Williams performing the Queen hit We are the Champions in typical Robbie Williams fashion in a medieval rock concert setting. The trailers section has one for A Knight’s Tale and another for Final Fantasy and finally there’s a filmography for cast and crew, web link and a PC-DVDROM-accessible screensaver.

You can’t say they didn’t try with A Knight’s Tale. Even though the film tries hard, it just seems to struggle with the hollowness of two guys on horses smacking the crap out of each other for two hours. There’s a bit of humour to get you laughing, some fine action which gets repetitive, but in the end it’s not enough because there’s no real story that you could give a damn about. So I guess my opinion of the film gets a minor revision, upgrading my original “crap� assessment to “it’s okay, but forgettable�. Please feel free to disagree.

This DVD on the other hand comes up trumps. Saddled with a great picture to show off what DVD is all about, sound destined to get a few loud runs on your kit and enough extras to satisfy the hungry masses after some added value for their dollar, A Knight’s Tale has what it takes to knock the opposition off their horse.