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Reviews Want Empire film reviews on your iPhone?
STAR RATINGS EXPLAINED
5 Stars Classic
4 Stars Excellent
3 Stars Good
2 Stars Fair
1 Star Tragic

FILM DETAILS
Certificate
12A
Cast
Sophia Myles
James Franco
Rufus Sewell.
Directors
Kevin Reynolds.
Screenwriters
Dean Georgaris.
Running Time
125 minutes


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Tristan + Isolde (12A)

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Tristan + Isolde
Plot
Tristan (Franco) wins the hand of the Irish princess Isolde (Myles) for his lord and surrogate father, Marke (Sewell), the king of Cornwall. But neither Tristan nor Isolde can overcome their mutual attraction…

Review

To the long list of storytellers this ancient tale of star-crossed lovers has inspired, you can now add star-crossed brothers Ridley and Tony Scott (who produce here), and director Kevin Reynolds (previously responsible for Costner in tights and gills). The story is often linked with Arthurian legend, and while the (muted) fanfare trumpeting the film’s arrival looks to Romeo + Juliet, the story is more closely entwined with the love shared by Lancelot and Guinevere.

Just as Arthur suffers his wife’s infidelity, so too Cornwall’s King Marke, here played with much poignancy by Rufus Sewell, as his bride (Sophia Myles) falls for English knight Tristan (James Franco). As with 2004’s feeble King Arthur, Reynolds eschews the magical to ground the story in a more literal medieval world; gone is the love potion of legend.

It is a noble aim, and Reynolds drenches his movie in earthy, muddy tones. Yet the missing elixir demands that Myles and Franco must muster a convincing passion with facial expressions and dialogue alone, and where Myles succeeds, her dilemma heart-wrenchingly clear, Franco fails, relying on the pouty woodenness that blighted his performance in the Spider-Man movies.

Verdict
By removing the sorcery and operatic excess so synonymous with the story, the filmmakers conjure an affecting, pretty melodrama... with the emphasis more on mellow than drama.


Reviewer: Will Lawrence

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Your Reviews
Average user rating for Tristan + Isolde
Empire Star Rating

Empire User Rating

im giving this badboy a 4, simply because i thought it was gonna suck but i was very pleasently impressed. good stuff, and i thought Franco did a great job. ... Read More

Al Swearengen About me
10:47, 28 June 2008 | Report This Post

Average
Empire User Rating

The story works if you take away the magic, but unfortunately the cast don't. Sophia Myles and Rufus Sewell are quite capable, but James Franco is on poor form. What is done well is the atmosphere and look of medieval Cornwall. ... Read More

Duffski About me
16:29, 06 December 2007 | Report This Post

For Another Generation
Empire User Rating

The plot of this movie is as large as the love Tristan and Isolde share together. Tristan (played by James Franco) a young man raised in England is forsaken for dead put on a ceremonial boat and pushed out to see. An Irish princess, named Isolde (played by Sophia Myles), finds him, and although their two countries were warring, nurses him back to health-but while falling madly in love with him-while he is under the false impression that her name is Bronia. After returning to England, Tri... Read More

Grant Melvin About me
00:19, 11 May 2007 | Report This Post

Tristan and Isolde- Film Review
Empire User Rating

Tristan and Isolde is a romantic film directed by Kevin Reynolds which is set in the dark ages. It is about two people who fall in love but cannot be together because duty comes between them. Tristan, played by James Franco, is a Cornish Knight who was fostered by King Mark(Rufus Seewell), the Cornish King, when his parents were killed when the Irish made a surprise attack. Tristan and Isolde, played by Sophia Myles, meet when Isolde finds Tristan on the shores of Ireland. She heals him and th... Read More

juliaricht About me
13:20, 10 May 2007 | Report This Post

Tristan and Isolde
Empire User Rating

Tristan and Isolde is a romantic film directed by Kevin Reynolds which is set in the dark ages. It is about two people who fall in love but cannot be together because duty comes between them. I didn't really enjoy this movie because it doesn't stick to the original version. It is more of a hollywood film. I think perhaps this film would get a wider audience if it included King Arthur sometime in it, it was all just they meet and have an affair! That was really no point. I would give it no... Read More

juliaricht About me
12:43, 10 May 2007 | Report This Post

Empire User Rating

This film was quite of a love triangle between Tristan( James Franco ), Isolde, Princess of Ireland( Sophia Myles ) and King Marc( Rufus Sewell ). This love is complicating and risking, sometimes stealing the idea from "King Arthur". There were also many disgusting things happening in this film which I personally think is not suitable for children. This 20th Century Fox and Scott Free Productions film are mostly saying about the betrayal of trust, strenght of love and the will of deter... Read More

Kimy About me
14:20, 09 May 2007 | Report This Post

Tristan and Isolde
Empire User Rating

There is a definite feeling of Hollywood coming to Ireland for Tristan and Isolde, a tale which is directed by Kevin Reynolds along with the 20th Century fox and the Scott Free production. Reynolds tried to make this film as excitable as possible and ended up as not too bad for a job. It is set in the dark ages when there are no written records but the legend of Tristan started. Tristan (James Franco), a heroic noble knight, brought up by his Uncle Lord Mark (Rufus Sewell) who treated him as ... Read More

tiffanyng11 About me
10:58, 09 May 2007 | Report This Post

Tristran and Isolde
Empire User Rating

The plot of the film is quite complicated as there are many people involved and they all have important parts. The setting is very realistic: I feel that Kevin Reynolds (director) must have put a lot of effort into the making of this film. The special effects are brilliant and the costumes extremely authentic. It really brings out a clear picture of the dark ages and the possible stories that took place back then. Tristran's life is a sad and depressing tale of how a young boy lost both his pa... Read More

Lizzie Clark About me
08:42, 09 May 2007 | Report This Post

Empire User Rating

Id dont like this film very much because it steals the plot from king Arthiur and Romeo and Juliet ... Read More

peterheneghan About me
08:41, 09 May 2007 | Report This Post

Tristan and Isolde
Empire User Rating

This movie was as adverage as ony other movie from the dark ages. Tristan and Isolde was set in Ierland and England and was directed by Kevin Reynolds with the risky Scott Free Productions and 20th Century Fox. In my opinion, the whole thing was very predictable and definently not even as close as good as the origional King Arthur book. James Franco and Sophia Myles play the two main roles as Tristan and Isolde.Though the two fall in love long before, they betray King Mark and their relationsh... Read More

Kelsey7185 About me
08:37, 09 May 2007 | Report This Post

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