The Sword in the Stone Review

 

The Sword in the Stone Review

To celebrate this film's 60th anniversary, here is my review of The Sword in the Stone. As a kid, I loved this movie, and it's based on the King Arthur Legend and the novel by the same name. The film is about two things: Merlin as a teacher to a young Arthur and King Uther is dead, and England is without King until someone pulls the sword from the stone. In the film, Arthur learns how to plan, use his head, and learn about gravity and love from Merlin. The film's animation is good for its time because this movie came out in 1963. This film had some funny moments and pretty cool moments too like Merlin and Archimedes are funny together, I liked the ending, and I liked Sir Hector and Kay in the film. I did find it weird that Arthur's voice changed a lot, but that was because the actor hit puberty.   

It is true. 

I also enjoyed the scenes when Arthur and Merlin are animals, and we see them face off against not villains of the film but just threats like a killer fish, a wolf, and of course, Madame Mim. Madame Mim, at one point, was going to be the film's main villain, and she usurpers the throne. She even tries to kill Arthur when he's a baby. That would have been interesting, and hey, maybe the live-action remake will adapt that. 

Hail King Arthur, Long Live The King!

I liked the ending when Hector and Kay both apologize to Arthur for how they treated him and accepted him as their king. When Arthur becomes King of England, Merlin comes back, and I love that line he says, "One modern mess." I'm like yeah, modern-day times are pretty brutal now. Merlin tells Arthur he will become a great legend and they will make films about him...

Some were good, and some were bad. 

According to Screen Rant, Monty Python is the best King Arthur film. 

The character Merlin would go on to be in Kingdom Hearts, and he's the best character in the film. 

To this day, everyone feels sad for this squirrel after Arthur turns back into a human. 

Merlin says love is more powerful than gravity. He's right, too. Nostalgic Critic even pointed out in his review that maybe the scene with the squirrel hints at Arthur's tragic love life. If you read the Arthur Legends, you know he has a sad love life because his wife and best friend fall in love. Maybe when they make the live-action remake, they will reveal the squirrel is actually Guinevere. Arthur's wife.   

Overall I still enjoy this film because it's just fun, and that's all it needs to be.

I give a B.

I'm still waiting for that live-action remake they're working on. There has been no news like they got a director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and a Game of Thrones writer, but yet no casting news or a release date? 

This is coming from me, a guy who doesn't like live-action remakes, excluding Cinderella and Jungle Book. I think Sword in the Stone would be a good live-action remake because they can expand on the story add more character development; and it is based on the book, and they should use the storylines they scarped for the live-action film. The Sword in the Stone Live Action film could be an epic fantasy film.