Screen Format	16:9 Enhanced (1.78:1)
	Audio Tracks	English DD5.1 (Default) French DD5.1
	Subtitles	English, French, Dutch
	Region Code	4
	Chapters	20
	Running Time	129 minutes (PAL)
	Classification	M 15+

With the amount of money some of these Hollywood actors are paid, you would  think they'd make the effort to take elocution lessons to change their accent if a role required it (I mean Meryl Steep does it, Anthony Hopkins does it, so does Nicole Kidman-Cruise (or is that Cruise Kidman, that always confuses me).  But then again, the last time we saw an American actor speaking with an American accent in a role that was English, people didn't seem too fazed by it, so why should they care if history is repeated.

First Knight heads an all star cast with Richard (Why did Cindy leave me) Gere, Sean (I'm over 60 but I'm still sexy to the women....and some men)Connery, and Julia (I'm always part of a love triangle in movies) Ormond.  The three are caught in a love triangle where Julia loves Richard and Richard loves Julia, but Julia also loves Sean and Sean loves Julia and Richard also loves Sean.........okay so the last part isn't true (unless that gerbil story really is true!!!)
Mr Gere plays Lancelot the rebellious sword fighting hero, who has no fear of dying and will ultimately protect those in need, expecting no favours in return.   While in real life he is in his forties, he shows a great deal of energy and stamina for a role that is really suited to a person of a younger age, and with the rather sexy Julia Ormand (playing Lady Guievere) who CAN do a real English accent and is somewhat younger, the two have great on-screen chemistry, as she does with the much older Sean Connery (playing King Arthur of Camelotf) ......These three really provide for a lethal combination with each giving all they can to the respective roles making this a fun movie to watch...But of course a film of this nature really needs a dark side to balance things out and that is supplied with mean spirited gusto by Ben(remember me, I was in Chariots of Fire)Cross playing the evil Prince Malagant, who left "the knights of the round table" to be his own leader.  While his role isn't a big one, thanks to three main leads, he does have a great screen presence, and you simply can't wait for him to f%^king-well die!!!!!!!

If the idea of a romantic/sword fighting/medieval costume drama doesn't appeal to you, it's probably not too much to worry about here as there is so much more here to enjoy.....The production values are top notch with what appears to be no expense spared to bring this film to life (although you'd really expect something darker than what you get here, being a medieval piece and all...too hygienically clean really:-), and if that doesn't impress you then hang around for the fantastic music score bought to the screen by Uncle Jerry.....while at times I could here undertones of Air Force One and Star Trek First Contact, it really seemed that he bought the best of both out in this film.

So How Does This Transfer Hold Up???   
As with nearly all Columbia produced DVDs, this one is encoded as 16:9 enhanced with a screen ratio of 1.78:1.  By watching the film you can clearly see it's a Columbia DVD, however I found quite a bit more dirt specks than you normally see.....if you watch the opening logo you'll see far too much of it, as you do in the film itself, that doesn't go to say that it's blatantly obvious, but if you look for it, you'll easily see it.....Flesh tones also seemed a bit off, not by a great deal, and it may have been intentionally shot this way as it was quite consistent, but after seeing some truly great transfers on DVD, it's something I picked up on from the start....even adjusting you contrast and colour settings doesn't help the situation.  Other than that the presentation is full of rich and beautiful colours that just cry out even more so when viewed in it 16:9 glory......the image is also very sharp with great detail, as on most CTS DVDs, so these attributes pretty much make up for the other areas that let you down.

Unlike the piccy, the soundtrack here is first rate.....I found this nothing but a pleasure to listen to....it was something of a refreshing change to listen to this type of soundtrack over some the wizz bang action flicks that populate my collection, as the subtlety and delicate nature of the music is what bought it to life.  There is a terrific balance between the music and the dialogue and is at all time totally intelligible.  With a lack of harshness to the overall soundtrack its the kind of soundtrack you can play really loud and still thoroughly enjoy, especially since it's encoded with 5.1 channels of Dolby Digital sound, with all channels constantly active, mostly due to the music.  This is one real room filler

Typical of Columbia, this is a bare bones DVD, you have you usual menu selection where you can select your audio track of choice (with the default being English DD5.1, and the second French DD5.1). For a change this DVD is NOT encoded with a MPEG5.1 track, and as a result I didn't have any pauses in the movie!!!!!  Also as part of the menu is chapter selection, subtitles (English, French and Dutch(??), and the Columbia DVD promo trailer...

Priced at $34.95, this DVD, while not the ultimate in picture quality (which is still pretty damn good), comes with a soundtrack that made it worth the price, at least for me..

Review Equipment: TV: Toshiba 48" RPTV & Mitsubishi DIVA 68cm TV, DVD: Samsung DVD905, Receiver: Marantz SR870, Speakers: Front - B&W 602's, Rears - Jamo, Subby - M&K V125 (grumble- growl-BOOM). Cinema Chairs (Gilberton Recliners....okay so there not REALLY cinema chairs but they're very comfy..)

- Reveiwed 11th sept 1998