AllanHy
I you have read the book by Poul Anderson and had the assumption that the book had a shard of intellect as to what 13th Century feudal Englishmen would do if they had access to (what we would regard as) 23rd Century technology, then you are in for a horrifying disappointment with this movie. Apparently the directors thought that if you could take the story of Christ and turn it into a satyric comedy, then you could do the same thing to Poul Anderson's book. At least the "Life of Brian" had some humor. And the special effects were actually better. This movie is a total waste of time. And intellect. And the money I paid to buy it thinking that it had any resemblance to the book which I just bought and read for the third time. Read the book which is about how guile and barbarity can overcome civilized sloth and don't waste your time with the movie.
skookum1
I have to strongly disagree with the previous review, and perhaps it's because I haven't read the Poul Anderson book; in fact I never knew there was one. This is one of the funniest Brit-com pieces I've seen, and it only gets funny once you get past the thick brogues of the dwarf aliens, and of course you have to already have a taste for Python-esquire humour and understand some of the references in the rapidly-delivered alien speech. The madcap slapstick and pathetic buffoonery of the story's "hero" and the villainy of his alter-ego cracks me up every time. I recommend this film quite often and have never considered anything but magnificently twisted. Sorry it's not faithful to Anderson's book; it's not the first time that Hollywood's savaged a novel.
Ary_Monteiro
Thankfully I've not read the book because this incredibly silly medieval comedy entertained me from start to finish. Some friends made a double-feature with this and A Knight's Tale and I Knew next to nothing about it, which added to my enjoyment because the alien focus came somewhat unexpected. Mild Spoilers: It tells the tale of a knight and his soldiers that kidnap a spaceship and try to use it against the Saracens in the Crusades, but the ship ends up heading to an alien planet and they must fight using their medieval mentality. The movie looks nice for a mid-nineties European flick, and even some cheesy special fx add to the fun so, no problems here.The humor is what will certainly put some people off, but if you dig flicks like Monty Python's Holy Grail, Brancaleone, A Knight's Tale or even Kung-Pow, you may find something to like here.The annoying french bard reminded me of Asterix.
Doke
This film has almost everything it needs to be first class science fiction, except a decent screenwriter. The effects, makeup, photography, and direction are all perfectly acceptable for the story. However, the script is a disaster. This is a highly inept adaptation of Poul Anderson's classic sifi novel. Most of the basic premise, and introduction, are preserved. However, the rest is terrible. Anderson's competent crusader knights are replaced by idiots and buffoons. The subtle humor of the original is replaced by inane slapstick. The result is implausible, and embarrassing. If they had simply cut for time, without trying to replace or add, the film would have been vastly better.
AD
