LANCELOT, GUARDIAN OF TIME (1997)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *poor*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *metaphysical, sociological*                                                                                                                          Six years after Marc Singer reprised his Beastmaster character in this 1991 flick-- which cut its costs by eschewing fantasy-settings and placing most of the action in modern times-- LANCELOT GUARDIAN OF TIME attempted a similar "fish out of water" plot with the actor. Despite decent production values and an assortment of "name" actors, LANCELOT failed to score with the same "dumb fun" approach as BEASTMASTER 2, nor did the 1997 film find its own identity. This may be because the credited writer and director had little previous experience in filmmaking, and LANCELOT evidently didn't improve their fortunes, since IMDB doesn't list any subsequent credits for either raconteur.                                                    

There are a few indications that the script wanted to come up with a more rounded approach to its time-travel scenario. Back in pre-Camelot England, when the future king is still a snot-nosed kid who has yet to pull any swords from any stones, evil sorcerer Wolvencroft (John Saxon) learns of young Arthur's destiny. The evildoer kidnaps the youth to twist the tail of good sorcerer Merlin, so Merlin sends for the foremost knight Lancelot (Singer) to beard Wolvencroft in his lair. There's a seemingly interminable conversation between the villain and the knight, in which Wolvencroft tells Lancelot about planning to take Young Arthur to some future era. The medieval warrior seems to understand the concept of time-travel without batting an eye, but he doesn't manage to stop Wolvencroft from doing exactly what he planned to do. But it's OK, because Merlin then sends both Lancelot and his horse to 1997 as well.                                                                                                     

   

As is standard in these stories, Lancelot quickly falls in with some denizens of modern-day times who help him realize his goals. Here it's a brother and sister in L.A. Brother Michael is a nothing character, not even providing comedy relief, but sister Katherine (Claudia Christian) just happens to be disillusioned with modern metrosexual men and yearns after traditional heroes-- so that Lancelot just happens to fill her dance card. However, since Lancelot is destined to return to his historical period, nothing really gets going with the couple.                                                                         

    The script fails to clarify Wolvencroft's evil scheme, but I think it has something to do with his gaining access to the sword and the stone. He's not able to do this in his own time, because Merlin has mystical safeguards over those items. But by traveling to the far future, the villain can masquerade as a rich 20th-century guy, contact the authorities in Great Britain, and get modern Brits to loan the antiques to an American museum. Once the sorcerer gets hold of the relics, he can use them to summon a demon or something like that. Lancelot duly prevents the sorcerer's evil plot and then returns to his own time with the kidnapped Young Arthur. Instead of foreshadowing Lancelot's tragic love affair with Adult Arthur's queen Guinevere, the doughty knight just happens to meet, in his own era, a dead ringer for Katherine. Happy happy joy joy. It's a rather pokey fantasy, but might be worth a watch if one likes any or all of the three main performers: Singer, Saxon and Christian. Maybe someone else will make the ideal movie about discontented modern women finding their knightly heroes. Though there is some magical stuff here, the setting in modern times keeps LANCELOT from qualifying for my "reign of wizardry" category.