| Prince Valiant | 
| Director: Henry Hathaway
Actors: James Mason, Janet Leigh, Robert Wagner, Debra Paget, Sterling Hayden
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $4.44
You Save: $5.54 (56%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (36 reviews)
Sales Rank: 13778
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 100 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.55:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: D2221145D
UPC: 024543111450
EAN: 0024543111450
ASIN: B0001NBMEE
Release Date: May 11, 2004
Theatrical Release Date: April 5, 1954
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Description
Overthrown and driven into exile, the king of Scandia has fled to Britain with his wife and son, Prince Valiant (Wagner). As a young man, Val hoes to King Arthur's court, where he is befriended by Sir Gawain (sterling Hayden) and trains to be become a knight of the round table. Val also falls in love with a beautiful princess (Leigh) and faces the treachery of the mysterious Black Knight, who is scheming to betray Val's family.
Amazon.com
Cartoonist Hal Foster's medieval hero, the Scandinavian Prince Valiant, comes to the screen in all his Dutch-bob-haircut glory in this 1954 film directed by Henry Hathaway (Kiss of Death). Robert Wagner plays the title role and does a bang-up job of it, convincingly portraying the heroic prince as he enters the court of King Arthur (Brian Aherne) in England and becomes (with some tutelage from Sir Gawain, played by Sterling Hayden) a Knight of the Round Table. Determined to restore his dethroned family to their proper seat back home, Valiant takes on the Black Knight (James Mason), who plans to do away with Arthur and then finish his misdeeds back in Scandia. Under such pressure, the prince, quite understandably, falls in love with Princess Aleta (Janet Leigh). Hathaway proves to be the perfect director for this material, as his fluid skill, moderate forcefulness, and adaptability to genre necessities keep the film from teetering too far in the direction of pulp--or self-seriousness. --Tom Keogh
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| Customer Reviews: Read 31 more reviews...
 Dreamily Perfect October 24, 2008
I was fourteen the first I saw this movie when it was broadcast on NBC Monday Night At The Movies. Having fallen in love with the character when I was five [fifty-five years ago] and reading the comic strip in the Sunday paper, I was quite excited when it came on TV and not dissapointed.
Today, I got my copy of the dvd. I don't care what anyone else has to say, the movie is still as dreamily perfect as I remember it. I LOVE the bonus of widesceen. The color and sound are so very good. It is wonderful.
 Prince Valiant July 27, 2008
Robert Wagner's performance in this story is very weak and forced, one could even say "sappy." This could have been a classic movie, but there's a reason you probably didn't know a movie version of this classic story existed--there are very poor elements to this movie. James Mason is strong as usual, but Janet Leigh's performance is also weaker than any film I've ever seen her in. The cinematography is good. I can only guess that it must have been a poor directing job to get such contrived performances from two of the main actors. If you like well acted classic movies, you'll probably be disappointed in this one. I was.
Could have been so much better . . . June 21, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The "Prince Valiant" series (taken from the comics section of the newspaper) could be the basis for a great action movie. This version, starring a young Robert Wagner in a "really" bad page boy wig, is not that movie.
The plot is straight forward. Valiant's father lost his kingdom to the evil pagan Vikings. He and his family are in hiding in King Arthur's England. Valiant is sent to court to become a knight. He befriends and becomes the squire of Sir Gawain. Through his own pig headed stupidity he screws-up everything he touches (romance, friendship, being a squire, etc.) until he finds out that there is a traitor in Arthur's court and the traitor has delivered Valiant's family to the Vikings. Valiant saves the day and all is forgiven.
As much as I wanted to love this movie, I couldn't. The action scenes are well done and the castles and costumes are fine. Unfortunately, the plot, dialogue, acting, etc, all were sub par. The quality of the acting is particularly disappointing given the cast, all of whom are fine actors. The fact that the language and dialogue all sounded more "1950s malt shop" than medieval was certainly part of the problem. (The actors at your local Renaissance Festival all sound better than the one's in this movie . . . and given the quality of "accents and acting" at Renaissance Festivals, that's saying something.)
Unless you are desperate for a "medieval movie" fix or a movies you can laugh at while you watch it, look for something better.
 High expectations, low talent April 10, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have always been a sucker for a knight-in-shining armour movie, but with this film, even as a child, I had to draw the line. Robert Wagner is a bad actor, always has been, always will be. His Aleta, Janet Leigh is beautiful, graceful, and eager, but even she cannot arouse from our Sir Valiant more than his open-mouthed, handsome, vacant stare. James Mason, the consumate actor, must have wondered what he had done to deserve working with such amateurs. Still, as a child, I was enthralled and thrilled by the sets, costumes, and derring-go. It was just the wooden young man as Valiant that set my teeth on edge. I was much happier to curl on the couch and read my grandfather's original news paper Sunday comics collection of the Prince Valiant adventures, along with his passionate and adventurous family, instead!
Prince Valiant October 2, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Such an enjoyable,action-packed movie. I uaed to have this movie on VHS. I jumped at the change to get it on DVD. If you like action packed movies, based on comic book characters you will like this movie. This is the earlier version. It is not the new cable version.
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