User Reviews

Considering the reviews so far are either 'zeroes or heroes', I thought I'd offer a middle-of-the-road approach.

This movie is by no means horrible. It reminds me of a better than average pilot for a TV series (albeit one made in the 80's), or could even pass as 'part-one' of a mini-series.

The leads are unknown, but solid without being brilliant. David Sterne who plays King Vortigern is a better than average TV actor, and he was very believable. Charlotte Brimble who plays Olwen (the lead female) does a very creditable job, and she didn't have to get her kit off to do that job either!

Special Effects were very, very, simple and wouldn't have over-stretched the budget, eg the occasional fog machine got switched on, but that worked in the movie's favour, as it meant that nothing was done 'badly'. ie there was no need to cringe at poorly constructed monsters.

The Story was also very, very, simple, but that meant that it wasn't as rushed as B-Grade movies can often feel, as they try to pack a script worthy of War and Peace into 90 minutes. The last 12 minutes were 'so-so', as endings go, but once again, 'not horrible'.

In summary, you wouldn't pay to go see it at the movies, but you wouldn't regret watching it, if it turned up on Netflix either.

It's not worth much more than an honest 5, but it's definitely not a 1!

Honestly, I have seen far worse adaptations of the Arthur/Merlin legends. The acting is pretty amateur but it's a passable story. I actually quite enjoyed the score. Kudos to whoever was responsible for locations.

This started off promising but as expected, with a low budget, this sort of movie degrades into B movie territory. There is a distinct lack of CGI and special effects especially at the end of the movie where so much more could have been done. The script tries to stick to a twist in the famous legend, but does not build up the protagonists' relationship up enough to make the obligatory battle against darkness believable. In one instance Merlin is dead against joining Arthur, and then all of a sudden gets random inspiration to join... "deus ex machina" galore. There are too many similar contradictions in the plot to make this truly enjoyable for me. One wish for low budget films - at least pay for a good writer, even if the acting is dodgy.

The ratings on IMDb have really gone off the rails now. Please do not see this movie - it's just awful. Cheap and nasty as hell, terrible soundtrack, terrible actors. The other 5 or 6 people that gave this film 10 out of 10 clearly have either worked for the movie, or are under the impression that most of the readers here are utterly stupid. Shame, really, as I used to use them as a guide. The embarrassing thing is all these false reviews end up sounding the same...too much detail, too much worship...10 out of 10? really? This movie is in the same quality bracket as Inception or The Godfather? The IMDb rating system now sucks, and is totally unreliable.

Plot: A young Celtic warrior and a hermit wizard must unite to defeat an evil druid. it is not often you get acting this bad, but when you do it is something to behold. this is yet another perfect example of people abusing the IMDb rating system to their own selfish ends. So basically for the first 5 other "critics" its okay to rate this utter garbage a perfect 10 because you want to support the UK independent bla bla bla. ever think for a second the reviews should be unbiased and entirely based on the movie itself and how you would compare it against other movies in its genre?! apparently that's asking too much. the acting, last night i watched Chain of Command (currently rated at a solid 3.7 out of 10) with Michael Jai White, is he getting worse?! i swear judging by that movie his acting, if you can even call it that, seems like its actually worse, dafq?! now this movie is even worse than that one, my gawd! So the only actor i recognize here is the large British actor, Adrian Bouchet from Predator Dark Ages 2015, which, even though that one was low budget too, was somewhat enjoyable. Sadly this movie had nothing enjoyable, terrible everything, from story telling, pathetic sound (retarded keyboard/ambient organ), acting and the scripts were just awful. just... wow, thanks UK, for showing us just how bad a movie can be. Uwe Boll got nothing on you Arthur & Merlin.

A chosen one bestowed with what seems to be an impossible mission is rich fodder for any storyteller. This fertile premise has proved successful many times over and has stood the test of time with unforgettable protagonists such as Moses, Jesus, Anakin Skywalker, Frodo and Harry Potter coming to mind (quite a mixed bag there). And now Arthur and Merlin can be added to this illustrious list thanks to the imagination of Marco Van Belle, et al., and their fresh re-imaging of the Arthur and Merlin story. Production qualities are up there with 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Game of Thrones,' and what they've achieved for new film- makers is commendable. This is a fantasy feature worth watching for any and all ages.

This movie feels very much like something college students would put together, the acting isn't believable, and the story is a poor adaption. So many things they could of done if they had the creativity or ambition. Still managed to get through the 1 hour and 50 minutes, but i wouldn't recommend this to others. I understand that people want to support these independent films but they should still be honest. You don't need millions of dollars to make a creative or interesting movie. Stop trying to be a big Hollywood action movie! I did enjoy some of the locations, and not all of the acting was terrible (most of it was) but the casting was awful.

P.S. I am a big fan of king Arthur and merlin and i still didn't enjoy this movie.

This concept of the Arthur & Merlin story has a lot of potential. The film draws on the origins of the myth, however discounts a lot of actual history. Post-Roman tribal Britain is depicted rather oddly in this film, not just because costumes, hairstyles and props indicate a lack of research. Everything is a bit clean and tidy to be the dark ages. The acting is okay and a few minor cast members shine out. The script does not lend itself well to the acting and becomes an unintentional goofy comedy. The whole film is carried by the bromance between the two main stars Kirk Barker & Stefan Butler, however the viewers are left wondering where the plot is going. A considerable amount of fairly-decent VFX went into the film, however not enough to remove cars and Victorian buildings from the background of some shots. The lack of believability is a big let down and those watching the film should not take it too seriously. Not sure about IMDb information saying this film was made for $3m as the film's website and numerous articles state the project was made for £200,000. Shot on an Arri camera, Arthur & Merlin has the image quality of a large budget movie, however fails to deliver real quality overall and definitely not a project where £3m would be invested. It seems as though the Director & Producer are more concerned with profit rather than creating a watchable genuine film.

I found this take on the King Arthur Legend very entertaining. The use of colour and the cinematography was the most enjoyable aspect of this film. The story was good enough to get me through the full film despite it's length being close to a Lord of the Rings film. It is clear to see the effort and passion that has gone into this film and it has paid of in the end result.

Although this film may not compete with Peter Jackson's fantasy series, it's budget is a fraction of Hollywood features and it is still very enjoyable.

It works very well as a family film as I watched with my kids and they thoroughly enjoyed it.

Bad acting and poor effects but it was free on YouTube so it was ok. I like the theme.

Thoroughly enjoyed the film, expected it to be a Sunday afternoon easy watching film but it was much more than that.

The film has high production values and is engrossing from the off. It is a bit of a twist on the well known story of Arthur and Merlin which makes the film easier to watch as you aren't whats going to happen next.

The cast will surely go on to bigger things but this will be a big plus on their CV.

Highly recommend it for a wide range of audiences.

A+++++

Could do with more dwarfs though!

This movie kicks Hollywood b-u-t-t. I can see from some fake reviews that it hurts them badly - a movie with tiny little budget far more enjoyable than marvel-like "blockbusters".

I am looking forward to see the Hollyrottenwood crumble and be replaced with more humble movies like this one.

In Arthur&Merlin you simply enjoy the flow of time and immerse yourself inside the adventure. Special effects are used on rare occasions, but still able to make you feel the story is real. Kind of Game Of Thrones style where acting, story and sets alone do the job, not dumb CGI or hundreds of enemies thrown at heroes every other second.

And please don't get me wrong. This is still economic movie, but very good and very enjoyable for every fan of elemental wizardry :)

Best wishes from Poland! Thank You.

Now, I'm a sucker for medieval stuff like this, so I watched it in spite of the reviews.

It's actually not a bad story as these things go (but crying out for a sequel which will probably never happen - if by same writer/director, thank goodness!) but it's desperately marred by some poor story development and very poor dialogue. Apart from the general tenor, it's anachronistic and not always delivered well. It jars and stands out. For an example of tongue-in-cheek medieval dialogue that works look no further than Schwarzenegger's Conan.

And why, oh why, change the names? Arthfael, Myrrdin, and is Olwen supposed to be Guinevere? What's the point? The whole thing's a fiction anyway, so if it was supposed to be for 'historical accuracy' it's a total nonsense.

It's probably getting the IMDb rating it deserves. As a sword & sorcery epic it's not up to much but if you like the Arthur mythos then give it a whirl.

I don't mind bad movies but I made an account just to tell you all not to watch this movie. Some of the worst acting I've ever seen. The CGI is cringy at best and the change of names made me question why this movie is called Arthur and Merlin when they aren't called Arthur or Merlin in the movie??????

Not a fan.

Why is it always people from the UK plugging these garbage UK films, or should I say 'rubbish'? Anytime you see a movie filmed in the UK you should probably question it, almost every time I see a movie like this it's people in this region hyping it up. Why? Probably because no one else will for good reason, there's not too many quality actors from over there to be sure, & it seems people are getting a bit tired of it. Best part about it; we don't have to waste our time and money in North America going to the cinemas to watch this kinda crap, wherein you can seldom understand the dialect; RE: dialogue. I guess it rains so much over there, there's not much else to do eh. The lone thing I do enjoy about the UK movies is the inanimate objects - aka scenery.

This is one of the 3-4 movies in my entire life, that I gave up on. I just shut down the TV after 45 minutes of watching it and at the same time browsing on my tablet...

It's a boring movie about a theme that has been done like a thousand times, with the quality and acting of twenty years ago. A waste of money, and our time, literally. It's one of these movies that is not even good to have it playing on the background whilst you cook or something.

For heaven's sake, it's a movie about a magician with no special effects or no magic at all, at least for the first half an hour of the movie. Only some stupid 80s-like smoke coming out of somewhere and stuff like that.

Don't even waste the time to consider it. My 2/10 was just for the fact that the actors woke up in the morning to get to the set. Nothing more...

This is horrible, the acting is pathetic, the special effects looks like something out of the 90's and i can go on about the rest, but see for yourselves. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE MAKE A PROPER MERLIN AND ARTHUR MOVIE??? The Merlin series (with Colin Morgan) was fantastic! So maybe create a movie in line with the series, or continuing where it ended (forever reigning king)

Maybe due to the fact I couldn't watch more than 20 minutes of this movie I shouldn't be leaving a review, but I just had to. The acting and graphics are terrible . Maybe children could enjoy it but not adults . Please spare yourself !

Probably the worst movie I've ever spend time on. Luckily I decided to fast forward.

It does not deserve more than these there sentences.

I really enjoyed this film, saw the craft and passion that went into making it. It's an indie that was made with very limited funds and still manages to look epic. In this tale, Arthur and Merlin meet as children and their fates are merged then and there. As adults they must combine forces to take down an evil druid. If this film had been made by a Hollywood studio, it would have easily cost 25-50 million. This film was made with 1% of that - the result is a beautiful looking feature that sometimes has a LOTR sweep and sometimes feels like a made for TV family film. I watched it with my kids and they enjoyed it. While none of the actors stood out for me, I have a feeling that the director and the writers will go on to give us bigger and bolder films.

I saw this rated at 8/10 here earlier and thought wow, low budget movie with a genre that I like, with actors I've never heard of.

I had to see it.

Storyline is OK, as it should be as it is based on an ancient story (Atleast I think it is) Actors are bad, sometimes in a comical way, sometimes just in a bad way.

Merlin as a boy in the beginning gives you a cringe on bad acting, but after that its watchable if you like the genre.

There is no "special effects" other than a fog that rises to cover any need for it.

The two main characters have their moments, thats pretty much all there is in this movie.

After wasting my time watching this, I can say this is the worst movie I have watched ever. There is no Arthur nor Merlin in the whole movie, so the title is a big lie. All elements are bad including the weak story, acting, direction, special effects and picture. The weakness obviously appears in the materials and clothes, scenes, editing and movement from one scene to the other which humiliated the story. I couldn't imagine what happened in the minds of this movie's makers to introduce a bad work about two characters Arthfael (warrior) and Myrridin (wizard) after the famous fantastic series MERLIN and what they gained from using a fake title for their work. It didn't meet the minimum of my expectations. It is a bad memory and please don't bother watching it. If there is a rating with minus, I would give it -10.

It's very worrying that such a dreadful, completely awful film has been given decent reviews. I can only imagine that people associated with this feeble production or relatives of the actors have been busy giving it good publicity. It's a slow moving take on the Arthurian legend, clumsily filmed and badly acted. I am trying to be kind, but as others have said, the scenery is the films best feature. It really is painfully bad.

The people from the dark ages are clean, some have modern haircuts, the Wench's make up is full on, complete with false eyelashes, lipstick, highlighted hair and curls straight from her heated tongs. The new wicker fences surrounding the pathways are a dead giveaway that this is a low budget film. Add appalling acting, grimaces and gruff voices trying to convey urgency or danger, accompanied by a dreadful score and you have what amounts to an hilarious parody of the genre. It really is bad. There are no special effects, no magic, no mystery, nothing. This is a very poor man's attempt (think poorer than a Big Issue seller) at a Lord of the Rings type film. You'd be hard pressed to know it was about Merlin and Arthur.

The people writing favourable reviews must have seen a different film. This really is very poor. There is nothing to recommend it. However, if you need a 'bad film yardstick' this is the one to watch.

The story line is awesome. It's not your normal sword in the stone story. It strays in almost every way it can while keeping the same character names.

Cinematography is okay. It's no Lord of the Rings. It tries its best to be but you can tell the budget suffered here.

Directing is okay. Director had a good vision of the story and did well with what he had to deal with.

Acting is TERRIBLE (Yes! I meant to shout. TERRIBLE! It's TERRIBLE!)..... This movie should get a bigger budget, and better actors, and be remade. I'd see it.