Paramount Pictures
Today, we’re all very familiar with Liam Neeson for starring in a seemingly endless series of dodgy action movies. Known as the “Old Man Liam Neeson Action Films” to those in the know, these projects have come to define the latter part of the Irish star’s career. But this is just one chapter in Neeson’s story, which has seen him earn Oscar nominations and play some of the most memorable characters in big-budget blockbuster films. It’s also seen him appear in a so-bad-its-good fantasy film called “Merlin and the Sword,” which, today, is teetering on the edge of becoming lost media.
In 1989, Clint Eastwood and Jim Carrey crossed paths in the forgotten comedy “Pink Cadillac,” but this wasn’t technically the first time the pair worked together. That moment came in 1988’s “The Dead Pool,” a silly “Dirty Harry” sequel that also happened to be Neeson’s first major action movie. It was a significant moment for Neeson, who didn’t truly break through until the early ’90s with roles in “Darkman” and “Schindler’s List.” Still, “The Dead Pool” was a much more legitimate project than much of what Neeson had been doing in the years prior.
This is where “Merlin and the Sword” comes in. A 1985 made-for-TV movie that was also a very Hollywood take on Arthurian legend, the movie saw Neeson appear as a barbarian brute who’s barely capable of stringing basic words together. As such, it’s probably not the best movie to watch if you want to see an example of the man’s acting abilities circa 1985 (the film was actually shot in 1982). But it is a fascinating little curio of a movie that, with its quintessentially weird and surreal ’80s visual effects, makes for something akin to a fever dream.
Merlin and the Sword is a bizarre trip through Arthurian legend
CBS
As Liam Neeson movies go, “Merlin and the Sword” is… strange. One of the actor’s earliest roles was that of Gawain in John Boorman’s 1981 medieval fantasy “Excalibur.” His next excursion into Arthuriana didn’t provide quite such a prestigious role, however. “Merlin and the Sword” featured Neeson as Grak, a barbarian who doesn’t last too long and only gets to grunt a bit before being dispatched.
The movie begins with a woman falling into a cave at Stonehenge, only to wake up in Arthurian times. There, King Arthur’s (Malcolm McDowell) wife, Queen Guinevere (Rosalyn Landor), is kidnapped by the King’s evil sister, Morgan La Fey (Candice Bergen). Rupert Everett’s Lancelot is charged with returning the queen, but a love triangle develops after the legendary knight falls for Guinevere himself. At one point, Neeson’s barbarian holds the queen captive before he’s felled by Lancelot, which means that he did at least get a sword fight in before being killed.
You might have noticed that this TV movie has a ridiculously good cast. Aside from an early Neeson appearance, we also got McDowell, “Boston Legal” star Candice Bergen, and the Prince Charming of the “Shrek” movies, Rupert Everett. But by far the most interesting cast member for those who came of age in the late-’80s/early ’90s is Michael Gough, who plays an Archbishop. That is, Alfred Pennyworth himself is in this movie. The actor who portrayed Bruce Wayne’s butler in 1989’s “Batman” and its three sequels made his name with Hammer horror films in the 1950s and ’60s before becoming familiar to British audiences with roles in major TV series such as “Doctor Who” and “The Avengers.” Sadly, he’s criminally underused in “Merlin and the Sword.”
Merlin and the Sword’s weird practical effects are oddly effective
CBS
Is “Merlin and the Sword” one of the best Liam Neeson films you’ve never seen? Well, aside from the fact that he’s not in it that much, the answer depends on whether you like weird 1980s fantasy films with special effects designed specifically to induce nightmares in children. The film is a bizarre thing to behold, but also sort of compelling for its visual style. There are multiple effects shots in the movie, one of which depicts a woman with a pig nose, while another showcases a shoddily-constructed dragon that moves with such a stilted, unnatural manner it’s weirdly upsetting. Both are such quintessential examples of 1980s practical effects for being so obviously fake and yet strangely effective and disturbing nonetheless — much like a lot of the scenes in the creepy, forgotten ’80s fantasy movie that Clint Eastwood “produced” (but really didn’t).
If that’s not enough to pique your interest, Letterboxd users are a mix of perplexed and perturbed by the movie, while many seem to have liked it quite a lot (though, perhaps for reasons the filmmakers didn’t exactly intend). “A perfect unintentional comedy,” writes one, “Ok, wow. This one is quite something,” exclaims another who also touts the movie as having “special effects that are kind of soothing to the person who watched a lot of ’80s TV during their formative years.” Another review simply reads “Liam Neeson is Grak.” That he is. That he is.
If you want to experience “Merlin and the Sword,” it is available to watch in its entirety on YouTube, though the quality leaves a lot to be desired. You might also be able to hunt down a VHS copy of the film, which otherwise seems doomed to become lost media.