With Ormond as a wonderful Guinevere and Connery as a good older version of Arthur, the film is not entirely miscast. Ormond's portrayal of a woman who is struggling to do right not only for herself but for her people is one that many can relate to. The fact that she repeatedly becomes little more than a damsel in distress is something that many may find objectionable.
For his part, Connery, as a former action star, looks and feels exactly right as a battle-weary leader. He is sometimes less convincing as a man who is losing the love of his life, but his stately, somber presence more than makes up for the shortcomings.
That being said, as a whole, First Knight seems uncomfortable in its own skin. It never fully succeeds as a love story and while the fight scenes are enjoyable, there aren't enough of them to call it an action-adventure movie.
The new "Special Edition" release of the film contains several behind-the-scenes featurettes, audio commentary with Jerry Zucker and producer Hunt Lowry, as well as deleted/extended scenes. While nominally interesting, there is nothing overly dramatic in any of the features, and the sound in some of the featurettes is horribly muffled.
In the final summation, First Knight has so many of the elements necessary to make a great movie — it has wonderful actors, a great story to tell, romance, and action. However, much like the "green screen" scenes in the movie itself, it just feels fake and overdone. The inauthentic look of the green screen work, like the dramatic scenes in the film, only serve to remove the audience from the piece rather than draw them in. First Knight is certainly watchable, but those looking for an Arthur story can find far better.
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