King Arthur: Legend of the Sword 2017
The new film: an origin story that strips out Merlin, Guinevere and the Grail and plays like Lock, Stock with a sword in a stone.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Interview
Guy Ritchie and the Challenges of Making 'King Arthur' | The Big Picture (Ep. 12)
May 11, 2017/ 29 min/ Sean Fennessey · Chris Ryan
Sean Fennessey and Chris Ryan trace Guy Ritchie's career up to 'King Arthur: Legend of the Sword,' then Ritchie joins to explain cutting the film from three and a half hours down to two.
16 films across 2 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
Guy Ritchie, from cockney gangsters to CamelotSean Fennessey and Chris Ryan
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels 1998
Ritchie's debut, made small and independent, with Jason Statham early in his career.
Snatch 2000
The wider-seen follow-up that put him on the map. Ryan calls it the Hollywood version of Lock, Stock.
Revolver 2005
The downturn: Ryan finds it incomprehensible and short on the earlier films' energy.
RocknRolla 2008
Fun to watch but where his ability to evolve past the crime template hits a ceiling.
Sherlock Holmes 2009
The franchise renaissance with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, a big hit.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows 2011
The second Downey/Law outing.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. 2015
A cult favorite in hindsight, with Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer.
Excalibur 1981
John Boorman's film. Ryan's pick for the one genuinely good King Arthur movie, because it commits to the romance of the myth.
King Arthur 2004
Antoine Fuqua's historical-realist take with Clive Owen and Keira Knightley as a Celtic warrior Guinevere.
Guy Ritchie on making 'King Arthur'
Guy Ritchie on
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword 2017
Frames it as a man's struggle with himself, with Arthur as the alibi; shot a three-and-a-half-hour cut, then squidged $20M of scenes down to under two hours to keep the momentum.
Guy Ritchie on
Excalibur 1981
Boorman's film affected him deeply, but he saw its second half congest under too many components (Lancelot, Guinevere, Morgana, Merlin) and set out to strip them away.
Guy Ritchie on
300 2007
The reference point for the epic-fantasy license: 'we got 300 for elephants.'
Guy Ritchie on
Django Unchained 2012
Held up as a very confident piece of work, the kind of filmmaking that excites him.
Guy Ritchie on
Whiplash 2014
He says he never sat down watching it, because of the confidence of the expression.
Guy Ritchie on
Aladdin 2019
His next film for Disney: a street kid who becomes a king, and an excuse to make a musical after scoring King Arthur.
Also mentioned raised along the way
In passing CamelotThe Lord of the Rings
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV Game of ThronesThe Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1960s series)
Ads Dollar Shave Club