Wolff rating: GOOD
Plot summary: Miniseries that chronicles the wizard from his birth to the end of the Arthur legend.
Biased, pithy comments: Even with an all-star cast and a good budget, this could have been another forgettable TV-movie epic. Instead, the actors and special effects, along with some fantastic source material (you gotta love those Arthurian legends), make for a good watch and a lot of fun. Although the characters are pretty easily divided into ``good guys'' and ``bad guys,'' the portrayal of evil's work is interesteing; rather than bringing down her enemies by outright warfare, mad queen Mab attacks them where it hurts them the most---their marriages, their children, and their basal urges. Great show, good family watch, and fast-paced (sometimes sarcrificing some of the more interesting detail in the origianl legends; likewise, Mab and Merlin seem responsible to for just about everything that goes wrong for Arthur and England, which is not how I read the legends).
Other Notes: All-star cast listed at the beginning has bigger and smaller parts; Jones is probably on screen for all of about 10 minutes, while Hauer plays an excellent king for over an hour.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Sam Neill, Helena Bonham Carter, John Gielgud, Rutger Hauer, James Earl Jones, Miranda Richardson, Isabella Rossellini, Martin Short, Paul Curran.
Directed by: Steve Barron (also responsible for Coneheads, strangely enough)