User reviews

Being currently enthralled and excited by 'Game of Thrones,' which is airing now, I had high hopes for this.

And being a huge fan of the very over acted but great John Boorman 1981 'Excalibur.' I really couldn't wait for this.

And boy was I disappointed. What were the producers thinking??? Arthur is horrible. Completely miscast, Bower is too feminine, too wimpy, and a wholly ungifted actor. His performance is tedious, two dimensional and draining. In scenes with Eva Green he is getting cooked alive. It made for some very uncomfortable viewing. Chanel 4 what were you thinking buying this.

The writing, too simplistic, more suited to a child's version of the Arthurian legend. Flat, flawed, 2 dimensional and hammy to the bone.

Even Joseph Fiennes performance is lacking, he is too intense, trying to portray this mysterious Merlin but just ends up coming across as a ham.

Eva Green is the best thing in it, although the over acting bug seems to have affected her too, but not as much as the rest of the cast. Although she does come across as playing it too evil.

It looks good, but that's about it.

Not a patch on Game of Thrones, which has solid acting, believable characters and strong writing. Stick with GoT and give this one a miss.

A King with 10 people in his Army! A King that is treated like a peasant by his own men. No battle scenes, just a handful of men, farmers for the most part and castles that are falling apart. Camelot is a place in shambles. In one episode Merlin try to take the whole Pendragon castle and make Morgana pay for her betrayal...with two warriors and a woman, the Queen, what a joke!. Acting in several parts is very poor. I just want to ask the producers: what is wrong with you ? Just stop the airing and try to remake it..correctly. If you have budget constraints do not even waste your time putting this junk together people!

The only reason I gave it one star was for the costuming and the cinematography. The only thing the makers of this travesty stayed true to was the NAMES of the characters. Merlin doesn't seem to be a wizard through most of the first 3 parts - he's scared to use his powers because he can't control his dark side, and he's always getting the snot beat out of him. Arthur looks like he'd be more at ease in a skateboarding competition than in armor. Dude! Guinevere marries someone no one ever heard of in the Arthurian legends- Leontes (who was a character in Shakespeare's "A Winter's Tale") and Arthur acts a spoiled brat because he can't have her. Morgan is the only one who acts even close to the legends as an evil sorceress obsessed with power. Excalibur is not the sword in the stone after all, but Merlin has to have it made for Arthur. Come on!! Why didn't you just tell your brand new story, change the names to protect the revered stories, and play merry hell in the time-honored Hollywood tradition.

I really wanted to like this show. Really, i tried, but watching it became too painful. The writing is bad, almost every scene is overacted, and the show gets bogged down by its many attempts to seem "edgy". I can't really blame them, though. This show was produced and developed by the same studio responsible for the modern Spartacus, and it was launched alongside Game of Thrones. I'm sure they got the memo on the importance of blood and boobs.

i was all ready to get into this show, i'm a fan of the Arthurian mythology, and I've been re- watching its various film incarnations for study. In this series, many elements of the Arthur myth are addressed, but never in the way the myth actually goes. The show goes out of its way to take the details of the original story, and make them more complicated. Much of this is done, quite obviously, to fill screen time.

What really bothered me was this show's interpretation of the classic Arthur/Gwenivere/Lancelot love triangle. In this version, Arthur is the other man, while Gwenivere is engaged to sir Leon. It becomes a major plot point: Arthur and Gwenivere have to hide their love, and the nature of jealousy is explored. I have two huge problems with this:

1) The king can't be blamed for being the other man in a love triangle. He's the king. He could demand sex from sir Kay, and everyone would just have to go with it. If this fantasy universe is supposed to be so dark and edgy, then they could have at least addressed this. 2) It weakens the Arthur character to make him the initiator of a sordid affair. His story represents chivalry in European society, and the element of betrayal in the legends liken him to Christ. It definitely goes against the original story to make Arthur a predatory womanizer.

Also, i couldn't help but notice how much this show ripped off famous fantasy franchises. Within the few episodes I could sit through, I saw this show blatantly copy visual elements from Excalibur (1981) and The Lord of the rings (2001).

If you've never heard the story of King Arthur, or don't know what good writing sounds like, you might be able to enjoy Camelot. Everyone else, though, should just watch Game of Thrones.

Camelot is SO SO so boring... Arthur is the worst actor ever, his too much of a pretty boy to be Arthur. I have never written a review before but this time I just want to let everyone know- there is no point watching this. Camelot is nothing compare to Game of Thrones.

There's nothing about Camelot that sets it apart as being very original or unpredicted; it's just a competent retelling with a few twists. There's no excitement. The plot is slow. This show is a complete waste of time. Merlin is also a rubbish actor,overacting in every scene. Where is his MAGIC anyway, he could of saved so many lives?? The language is also too modern, full of today's use of English, which made it not believable. Bad Dialogue.

If there was an option for 0 out of 10, then this is how I would score it.

Where do I start? Firstly, Jamie Campbell Bower ( who looks uncannily like Anneka Rice from British TV's "Treasure Hunt", complete with wispy beard!), has to be TV and cinema's worst ever King Arthur. His acting and character portrayal is so weak that that alone would ruin the show but it has to be said there are other factors here that make the series so abysmal. The plots are so simplistic and childish; some of them remind me of pantomimes where the characters are looking for the villains and the audience shout out, "He's behind you!" The dastardly Morgan Pendragon hatches scheme after scheme and always gets foiled only to fawn and scrape before Arthur and swear loyalty and live to plot anew. Episode 9 was particularly laughable; Arthur's forces creep up to Bardon Pass and occupy a tumbled down keep and then run away!

I can't see the film company that produce this series letting it run for another season, other, more worthy series have had the plug pulled on them.

When I first heard about this show I was optimistic that it was going to be a darker, grittier take on the legend of Arthur than say the show "Merlin." After 3 or 4 episodes of the show I could not have been more disappointed. The actor who plays Arthur is so bad that he would bring down any show. To see him on the screen trying to act with someone like James Purefoy or Eva Green is like comedy - except it's like hearing the same joke over and over and over and eventually it becomes pure torture.

In the end I had to give up. I can't watch this show anymore. If you're looking for a really good show in the fantasy genre take a look at "Game of Thrones." It is the polar opposite of "Camelot" in that it is actually very very good.

The writing is atrocious, the characters are confused and once again, a period piece tries to interject current social mores and values into its storyline as to pacify and contain certain interest groups. But above all the writing is so phony like maybe some software geeks were let loose.. Again in this time of "Dungeons and Dragons" on all the premium channels, this ranks dead last. Only an extremely over the top Merlin qualifies as an interesting character. The other interesting characters (King Lot, Excalibur, and her father were killed off but managed to inject more emotion and liveliness that all of the currently living characters with Arthur being so unbelievable as to question if he could even lift a sword in the first place

The worst tales ever told of Camelot in the most dark, draggy and dull manner! And why must there be nudity when it serves no purpose whatsoever as it doesn't make the story any more interesting. A pity to waste the talents of great actors like Joseph Fiennes, Eva Green and Claire Forlaine to such poor screenplay.

Merlin (Fiennes) in Camelot is not portrayed as the great magician or would-be great magician as have always been in previous productions. I believe this very much disappoints the audience especially those who are ardent fans of the tale.

As much as the other Merlin series (Colin Morgan, Bradley James, Katie McGrath) has been classified as "B-Grade", it is way better in terms of story line & light-hearted script sprinkled with a dash of humor. Even the casting is good save for Guinevere (Angel Coulby)

First episode was boring and I LOVE almost everything merlin! I watch the next two and no improvement. Just because people get naked doesn't make it a good show. Actors are terrible, Author is ugly and the show sucks. Also the story line is boring and hardly anything happens. I thought OK maybe they will get better and show more magic but after the lady of the lake episode I was so disappointed I will never watch again. look forward to hearing that its cancelled! what a terrible thing to do to the Camelot legend! I will stick with BBCs Merlin as it at least has a more interesting story line, although the acting isn't much better, also it has more magic.

Don't waste your time, your tivo memory, or your share ratio!!! This show covers all the extremes without finding any balance, Merlin is too intense, Arthur a pussy, Morgan too evil, Arthur brother doesn't get any lines; the cinematography, the sets, the camera work and photography are excellent, but the acting on the show just doesn't make up for it. The plot is weak and the episodes are boring, mainly , in my opinion, because of the lack of a decent lead, and the extrinsic twists. I tried to get through the first 3 episodes without falling asleep, i couldn't do it. If you want to watch an epic TV show, don't waste your time on this one. Hope it will get canceled so the network can divert funds to a better or new show!

Finnes should have fought more for Flashfoward.

On the positive side, Eva Green partial nudity!

It's such a horrible series. I stood watching it for 8 episodes but can't anymore even though I am generally a fan of the genre. This is the first time I am writing a review. The only reason is that Camelot is so bad, i decided to spend the time to do so.

Finiess is fine but the rest is quite pathetic. Bad acting, an army of 10 people trying to rule England. Just nonsense. Very very disappointed. Not worthwhile to spend your time.

Acting: 2 (Fieness 8) Story: 1 (Stupidly nothing is happening) Filmography: 6 (Ok) Effects & Graphics: 6 (Not bad, but few environments) Overall: 1

As a great fan of myths and legends I am grossly disappointed with this series. A myth and/or Legend should reflect the morals and scruples of its own time and/or the author(s) of its writing; it loses great swathes of its romance, impact and originality by trying to match it to idioms, lifestyles and moralities of a more modern time than it relates to.

I'm sure if it were possible Geoffrey of Monmouth would be turning in his grave with this unimpressive rendition of his morality tale and its associations with Sangreal {Holy grail] and the Knights of the Round Table along with their own individual morality tales. The Beeb did a much better job with its tongue in cheek series Merlin.

Arthur is an alpha male. The tiny boy they casted is the exact opposite of what they needed. Could have been a good show, but the lead role ruins it. Whoever is in charge of casting should be fired.

Camelot is one of those TV series I stopped watching after an episode or two. I normally don't stop watching a film, but if it's terrible, I stop immediately. So, I think you can all guess how bad this one is.

The Camelot I know is about the king Arthur and Merlin story. So, I considered that it's kind of another story of Arthur and Merlin. When I watched the first episode, I found it quite boring and the plot was not that good. It's bad as there's no thing interesting. The speed is so slow and thus, it becomes boring. After watching 10 minutes, I stopped watching.

I don't know about the others. But as for me, this TV series is so terrible and not worth to watch. So, if you value your time and money, avoid this kind of films.

There are a number of problems with this production which make it unwatchable. King Arthur, the warrior king of legend is a complete ponce in the show. Jamie Bower couldn't be less warrior like if he tried. Then there is the awful writing mixed with the over the top below par acting. The dialogue make you wince at times at the cliché's. It would be better to produce an adaptation of Bernard Cornwell's 'Winter King' that keep inflicting this on the world. This programme is close to the rubbish BBC productions of 'Merlin' and 'Robin Hood' of recent years which have done much to destroy some much loved stories. This does have a lot more boobs in it, which im not complaining about, in fact checking out Guinevere in her full glory is the only plus in the pro column.