Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

best movie i've ever seen.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

After watching this cinematic masterpiece, I couldn't understand why this wasn't released as a feature film. James Callis (of CSI fame) delivers the performance of a lifetime as he brings the fabled Merlin to life. Unlike other reviewers, I found his accent authentic and his drugged appearance reminiscent of the stories of old. The only reason I rated this movie a 9 (and keep in mind, I have exceedingly high standards), is that in one scene it appears that a bird is not carrying anyone, yet they all appear at the sorcerer's palace. Aside from this blunder, no doubt caused by their rush to send this to our screens, it was impeccable. As an aside, I thought that Laura Harris never looked better, but I will accept arguments for "A Mighty Wind" (2003). Her latent love for Lancelot provides a bubbly subtext for this brilliant work.

First of all, this is NOT a re-telling of the Arthurian legend. Set in a later time, when the knights' children are grown, this is a fantasy piece that merrily mixes a lot of different sources, with little regard to historical or mythological accuracy. Nor does it matter; it's jolly good fun.Unfortunately, it suffers from bad sound; James Callis remains largely mumbling and unintelligible throughout. A pity, since we know from "Battlestar Galactica" that he has an excellent voice and good delivery. I can only conclude that the grumbling and mumbling were his choice, and the poor recording makes it even worse. Apart from that, it's one of the best of Sci-Fi's "made for TV" movies. Special effects are several cuts above average, which is a breath of fresh air in such pieces.

Despite this is a TV movie, I thought, it should have some quality, as James Callis, who was great as Gaius Balthar in Battlestar Galactica re-imagined, plays here the said Merlin.It's the story of an old magician/warrior who turned his back on the world, but has to fight a last time against a young, but well-known enemy, together with the daughter and sons of his former comrades of the Artus-saga.So far so bad, because it turns out that the plot, which has some potential for an entertaining fantasy movie (remember 'The Raven' with Vincent Price), is executed in a very cheap and unpleasant way, the directing has no feeling for unintentionally ridiculous moments, which are happening astonishing often.James Callis as Merlin is completely out of place, he overacts far too much, maybe he tried to save the movie, but he hasn't yet the caliber to save a lost production, regardless how wide he opens his eyes, how heavy with meanings he dons his hood.The rest of the crew is trying hard, but also fails against ridiculous dialogs, pathetic scenes and a script apparently from a children's book author or even his/her teen progeny - no pun intended.From a children's view the movie may be entertaining, but I don't think it was intended for this audience, which should not be older than, say, 10 to 12 years. And if it did, I wouldn't welcome to see my children watching a movie made that sloppy...

There are few movies that I have enjoyed as much as this one. This is an absolute masterpiece. The directing of this movie was wonderful, great script, incredible acting and a beautiful musical score. The movie is full of music from beginning to end. The kind of music that gets stuck in your head all day long. I especially liked the scene where Avlynn battles herself in the lake and I hope I am not the only one who got a Dark Link reference from the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time out of that. The ending of the movie was very satisfying and left me a sense of comfort. I am officially putting this movie as one of my favorites