King Arthur

Blood On The Land is an 18-minute Making Of featurette, which gives a rough guide to how King Arthur was made, with cast, crew and historians on hand to deliver not so much their opinions, but a part of what seems like a pre-written script. There is a very brief background on the historical accuracy of David Fanzoni's rendering of the legend, which is unfortunate as the legend is the most interesting thing about the film, so more time should definitely have been spent focussing on it.

Whilst the Making Of touches on almost every aspect of production, some things are left out, such as scriptwriting and cast and crew selection. There is a strong focus on weaponry and costume, which seems to have been added in order to allow Jerry Bruckheimer the opportunity to bask alone inside his big budget.

The film's epic scale is pushed by producer and director alike and there are some interesting details provided, such as the construction of the battle scene set on ice and how the cast and extras learned how to fight professionally and ride horses.

However, there is nothing that breaks new ground as a piece of filmmaking and the details have been whittled down to what someone, somewhere, has assumed the audience would like to see most of.

The Alternate Ending is much darker than the one used in the film, exposing it for what it really is: a Bruckheimerised ending, attached to the film to make the test audiences happy. Antoine Fuqua sounds bitter about this in the optional director's commentary, which lasts only a few seconds at the beginning of a five-minute scene. It is certainly a better ending, hinting at Arthur and Guinevere's marriage, although Bors's comments are not as heart melting as Lancelot's voice over.

The Producer's Photo Gallery is not of a very high standard, focusing on the costumes and background extras.

Whilst the DVD could easily have carried an interesting documentary on the legend of King Arthur, instead it sticks firmly to the film itself, giving a few disjointed extras, which offer little in the way of enlightenment, or entertainment.