The story of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table has been a favorite among writers and filmmakers for many years now. In existence today there are literally hundreds, if not thousands of films and publications retelling these tales of mythological creatures and fearless heroes. Some are historically accurate for the most part, while others are not, and these two films depict this concept quite well. Camelot, on one hand, is plagued with numerous instances that could not, or at least certainly would not have happened in the actual time of King Arthur. Excalibur, on the other hand, provides graphic, detailed accounts of what these times could have actually been like. In each instance, the reason for these inaccuracies is indicative of the time at which they were created.

Moreover, the idea of the need to find a proper balance between free-spirited living and a disciplined lifestyle showed attitudes very similar to what was going on in this country at the time. In the film, King Arthur struggles to find a way to relieve the stresses that plague him as a ruler. He finds th

is answer in his song about the common man, who uses whistling to get through his day. Later, the king is shown torn between what he holds in his heart and what is in his head. As Guenevere is about to be burned with the stake, he is confronted with the realization that if she burns, he loses his life. Yet if she lives, everything he stood for was a fraud. This struggle can be easily compared to that of the extreme liberals and harsh conservatives that were having it out in Congress during the 60s. In each instance, neither side is correct, leaving compromise as the only means of salvation. For Arthur, it was allowing the love of his life to live on but only in the arms of another man, and for Congress it was the system of checks and balances. In both cases, something had to be sacrificed for the greater good of the whole, a notion that the people of this time needed to learn.

As is evident from the information above, these films, while based on the same legend, share very little in common with one another. In each instance, the filmmakers had set out to create a film that would be popular during their time period, as is th

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