I forgot that Liam Neeson made an appearance in this underrated fantasy movie from 44 years ago. Today, Neeson is mostly ᴀssociated with action films, but the Taken star has actually tackled a lot of genres over the decades, carving out a richer cinematic legacy than some may realize.
It’s easy to forget that Neeson was once an award-caliber actor, scoring an Oscar nomination for his performance in Schindler’s List. But the trajectory of his career changed entirely with one movie, the original Taken, and arguably with one scene from that film, the iconic “particular set of skills” speech.
Before menacing his daughter’s kidnappers in his gravelly phone voice, Neeson was a prestigious dramatic actor who would take the occasional role in a genre film. Afterward, he settled in as a grizzled action star, churning out mediocre film after mediocre film, with the odd good movie mixed in.
Liam Neeson Played One Of The Knights Of The Round Table In Excalibur
He Was Sir Gawain
Neeson’s action hero phase has seen him become comfortable with an array of firearms, but he wielded very different weapons in 1981’s Excalibur, John Boorman’s visually stunning take on the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
In the role of Sir Gawain, Neeson gets to engage in plenty of fantasy-style action, using multiple different killing implements. In a centerpiece Excalibur scene, Gawain battles Lancelot for the honor of Queen Guinevere, the armored knights pounding away at each other with maces, then finishing the fight with lances.
Excalibur has a 73% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and was a box office hit in 1981, grossing $34.9 million to place 18th for the year.
The Excalibur cast is indeed loaded with stars who, like Neeson, would become familiar faces in later years. There’s Helen Mirren as Morgan la Fey, Patrick Stewart as Leodegrance, Gabriel Byrne as Uther Pendragon, and Ciaran Hinds as King Lot.
Liam Neeson Has Actually Contributed A Lot To The Fantasy Genre
He Has Played Some Truly тιтanic Characters
Excalibur would not be Neeson’s last foray into the fantasy film arena. He returned there just two years later in Krull, a noble attempt at merging sword-and-sorcery and sci-fi that failed at the box office but has become a cult classic.
1988’s High Spirits saw Neeson take a supporting role in a comedic fantasy inspired by the folklore of Ireland. The star would then take a long hiatus from the fantastical, during which time he would become one of the biggest names in movies, thanks to dramas like the aforementioned Schindler’s List, as well as Rob Roy, Nell and Michael Collins.
Neeson’s biggest contributions to the fantasy genre would indeed come after his peak period as a star of prestige dramas, when he was perhaps ready to tackle some lighter fare. In 2005, he gave voice to Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, reprising the role in the 2008 and 2010 sequels.
There was only one way Neeson could top playing the lion responsible for creating Narnia, and that was to play the Greek god Zeus in the remake of Clash of the тιтans. The effects-heavy fantasy film grossed $493 million worldwide, so the star got to play Zeus again in Wrath of the тιтans.
By the second тιтans film, Neeson’s action hero phase had begun in earnest, and he was deep into it when he again took a voice role in a fantasy movie, playing the тιтular Monster in A Monster Calls.
So the next time Neeson flashes his skills in a B-grade action movie, don’t forget that the star has also played iconic characters in some A-grade fantasy films, including the classic Excalibur.
