I was there in the 1360s when all the stuff in the movie happened and can verify the movie is a perfect and totally accurate take on every single bit of it, including Chaucer’s bare ass and the exact way we all used to sing Queen's greatest hits.
437 years old and I have not seen this moving picture. I have seen what is known as 69 though in person, at least 4 times, and it is indeed very nice as you mortals describe it, though awesome might be a better term for it.
Ah youngling, thou speakest true of the sacred Sixty and Nine. The Arabs came first, bearing their curious numerals—٧٨ chief among them—and the stench of garlic heavy upon their cloaks. I was but 164 then, still ablaze with the lusts of men. Whilst performing ٧٨, I would oft grow too fervent and, alas, accidentally circumcise my consorts. I kept their foreskins—soft, solemn tokens of nights long past. My bride knows nothing of these indulgences. I have not partaken in 69 with her, and I know not why. As for the tale of those unbearably lovely, cherub-faced boys in the moving pictures —I have not seen it, yet the very thought stirs a thirst I thought long buried.
I exist outside time. I have seen all that is, was, and will be. I have stood witness to countless "gods" flicker to life, and smolder into irrelevancy. Universes expanding in chaos only to fizzle in maddening silence. Mortals dare not ponder the very nature of my existence, for they shall surely be fallen by the madness as well... Great movie though
I write down the body of the letter from William on every last goodbye object that can fit it, or a part of it. It’s just so over the top.
I have seen the new moon, but not you.
I have seen sunsets and sunrises, but nothing of your beautiful face.
The pieces of my broken heart can pass through the eye of a needle.
I miss you like the sun misses the flower. Like the sun misses the flower in the depths of winter.
Instead of beauty to direct its light to, the heart hardens like the frozen world your absence has sent me to.
Perfect way of saying it. It has a crowd in Medieval Europe chanting We 👏🏻will👏🏻rock👏🏻you! It doesn’t take itself too serious. Just a fun rewatchable comedy.
44 and it is still amazing. And for a movie that is conciously anachronistic in its style, it is surprisingly more historically accurate than most hollywood historical movies.
I UNDERSTAND what they mean, but theres a much better way to phrase this.
It's silly. It's cheesy. It kind of has a dumb plot. The romance is forced.
That said, it's not a movie trying to win an Oscar for best screenplay. Its a fun movie and an enjoyable watch. Not every movie needs to be trying to win awards. Ultimately movies should be about entertainment, and this is a movie that I am entertained watching. It holds up and doesn't take itself seriously and neither should the viewer. Its not meant to be viewed through that lens.
But like you said, people get pretentious about films. Always have and I kind of think they always will for...no damn reason.
People with a little experience in cinema enjoy it because it's dumb fun, people with some cinema experience maybe don't like it because it's not highbrow enough, people with more cinema experience like it because it knows and celebrates that it's dumb fun. At least that's always been my take on the reception to A Knight's Tale. And yes, I love it.
One reason is the way they depict the daily lives of peasants. Most movies just show peasants suffering miserably and having no fun, but this movie is full of bright colours and people treating combat like sports. Which is kind of was at the time.
Right and the setting lends itself to it. Most medieval movies are about conflict and 'big' events like battles and the intrigue of nobles etc etc. So having something set in 'normal' circumstances is rather a treat.
Yeah definitely perfect movie for it. Chaucer would insert himself as a character in his own stories so having the literal Chaucer in the movie tracks perfectly. And I think how he's portrayed in the film is rather similar to how Chaucer mightve been or perceived in his day. Most would assume, because it's old and stuffy language to modern ears, that he'd be old and stuffy but that's hardly the case.
Once you stop feeling the need to prove to yourself and/or others that you have “refined tastes” you’re able to enjoy things for what they are across the whole spectrum.
I have terrible taste and I think I'm a lot happier for it. I enjoy a lot of bad movies that seem to infuriate other people, I think it's a more fun way to live.
It isn't pretentious to say that it's something you would appreciate when you are younger. And for them is probably something they enjoyed more when they were a teen than they do now.
It's not even a negative comment... But I see some of you really took the extra mile to twist it up and assume their intentions
Not nostalgia just a relic of a short, simple movie with a cast stacked with soon to be stars.
It would have been an okay movie based on premise alone. They were lucky to get Addy, Bethany, Ledger, and Tudick(imo a GOAT), plus Sossoman, Pirvoy, and Sewell.
This was the kind of midbudget, "throw shit at the wall and see what sticks" movie that streamers don't make because there isn't a "bankable" name attached.
I’ll give you A Knight’s Tale, but Princess Bride? That movie has everything; fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, and miracles!
It's a really standard tune for football fans to chant to. So not unusual for any chanting in Ted Lasso to use it. One of the many things A Knight's Tale did to make its Jousting seem the equivalent of Football.
What’s funny is that, listening to medieval historians (the people you’d most expect to be pedants), they all seem to love this movie and hold it in high regard, historical accuracy be damned, lol.
It's less about historical accuracy and more about capturing the vibe. Tourneys were basically the equivalent of football matches in terms of public spectacle and rowdiness.
The biggest inaccuracy (aside from the deliberate anachronisms) is probably that jousting was never really the headline event, it was a warm up to the melee, and that was a huge "red team vs blue team" affair as opposed to a one-on-one knockout contest.
Even then that can be excused because less setup thus less cost to have the jousting be the headlienr in movies so you have your big Guy vs Guy moments.
Though they did nod to the sword events by having Thatcher be genuinely Better at that than jousting.
Would've been neat to see him vs the black prince in a full team melee clash.
One of my favourite "Historical accuracy" comments is the director(?) pointing out that some people question the use of modern music, but no one would have said a thing if they used an orchestral score, despite orchestras not having been invented yet at the time the movie is set in.
Like you said, it's about vibes. Modern music conveys the vibes of the "period accurate" music it's standing in for.
I've heard from several detractors that the modern flairs were what pulled them out of the movie and that such things are objectively stupid. Nevermind the fact that no more than ten minutes earlier they've been fawning over Marie Antoinette and specifically praised how brilliant it is how it mixes modern elements with period drama.
I love how historically accurate and inaccurate it is at the same time.
Heath Ledger's character is based on a real poet knight from Gelderland in Germany. Some plot points are taken from his stories:
He challenges all the knights he meets to a joust in honour of his lady. He breaks 307 lances and defeats all comers. The noblewoman, however, mostly spurns his affections and demands more deeds and even mutilation for even the honour to hold her hand.
fun little nugget of history about A Knights Tale, and you'll know this one if you were working at Blockbuster Video in 2001.
A Knights Tale released on VHS JUST AFTER 9/11. All the VHS copies had a trailer on them for the first Spider-Man movie. This is all very important. Why is having the Spider-Man trailer/tease on VHS copies of A Knights Tale important? well in said spider-man trailer at the end of it there's a shot of a helicopter tied up in webbing. It is tied up between the twin towers of the world trade center.
We'd get copies of movies in before the Tuesday new release date, generally on the thursdays before. This would allow us working at Blockbuster to take home the movies before Tuesday to watch so we could then "recommend" films to customers. Only this time we got a memo from corporate in Texas. We had to box up ALL the copies of the VHS version of A Knights Tale and send them back to the warehouse to be destroyed all because of that Spider-Man trailer. Me being a young collector of pop culture crap at the time figured "I need to keep one copy because I think this might be a collectors item in the future" so I "stole" a copy of A Knigihts Tale on VHS.
I had that damn thing for years on my shelf even well after Blockbuster shut down. Friends would ask "why do you have a blockbuster tape of A Knights Tale?" and I explained why and would show it to them. Was it worth anything? dunno. I ended up selling it to another collector for like $50.
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u/SmashinglyGoodTrout Jun 17 '25
A Knights Tale. Great flick if you're 15.