There are many benefits for watching "Merlin" as a home video opposed to watching it when it first appeared on television. First of all, there are no commercials every five minutes, and you are able to rewind it to figure out who any of the countless characters are.
A drawback for watching "Merlin," however, is its length. It originally appeared as a two-night special on television. Each episode has its' own beginning climax and ending, so watching it as a two hour and twenty minute entity, might be a little monotonous. You may have to watch it in two nights as it is.
An old, recognizable Merlin (Sam Neill) tells the story with the typical white beard, but without the cliched conical hat. He might be old, but he tells his story through flashback, when he was a much younger magician. There are many themes that run through Merlin's story such as Good vs. Evil and Christianity vs. Paganism, but above all, "Merlin" is a love story.
In the terrible years of Darkness, Britain has an unstable government with warlords vying for the throne. Christianity is the emerging religion and people have begun to forget the Pagan ways of magic. Queen Mab (Miranda Richardson), a woman of powerful, but dying magic, must try to make people once again believe in magic. Otherwise, all magical entities will die. Mab creates Merlin, a Christ-like figure for the pagans, born to a virgin mother, with the sole purpose to help Mab's cause.
Merlin, taken from his comfortable surroundings of his childhood guardian Ambrosia, travels to the underground cavernous palace of Mab by a driver-less dragon-boat. Here Merlin is taught magic by the mischievous Frik (Martin Short). Frik soon learns that magic is not in Merlin's heart. Mab is furious and takes Merlin back to Ambrosia. Mab makes Ambrosia tell Merlin that he should learn magic, but Ambrosia tells Merlin to do what is in his heart. Mab kills Ambrosia in anger, and Merlin makes an oath to never use magic, unless it is to defeat Mab. Mab hears his oath and decides to trick Merlin into using his magic powers.
The whole Merlin versus Mab plot sets up the events for the rest of the movie. Merlin is forced into helping a King build a castle and to foresee victorious battles. He decides to help another 'good' King instead. He seeks The Lady of the Lake (Miranda Richardson as well). She helps Merlin, by giving him Excalibur, a powerful sword that can only be used by good people solely for pure reasons. As soon as Merlin gives it to the King who he thinks has a good heart, Mab uses her magic to turn the King bad.
Isabella Rossellini plays Merlin's love, Nimue. Mab, bent on making Merlin use his magic on Nimue instead of on herself, devises a plan. She makes the bad King sacrifice her to the dragon of the woods, and makes Merlin watch. Merlin has to use his magic, and defeat the dragon, but before he can Nimue is scarred by the dragon's fire. Merlin takes her away to the misty Avalon. The whole event only made Merlin's anger stronger.
A bloody battle on a snowy field consists of Mab's evil King versus Merlin's "good" King. It's violent, but blood only appears on the snow. Throughout the beginning of the mini-series there is constant fighting and violence, but there is little blood shown. The battle was the conclusion of the first night that it aired on television.
But, what is the Merlin story without King Arthur? Arthur's character isn't even introduced until well into the second half of the movie. The first part only sets up Merlin for the story that involved King Arthur. The major flaw in "Merlin" is that the first part should've been a lot shorter, and the story with King Arthur should've lasted another night.
Merlin brings Arthur to power, but Mab creates Morgan La Fey (Helena Bonham Carter), Arthur's sister, to have his child, Mordrid. Mordrid grows up extremely fast as Arthur goes in search of the fabled Holy Grail. When he is gone Arthur's wife Guinevere cheats on him with Sir Lancelot. The plot is thickened with Mab fixing Nimue's face for a price. She wants Merlin and Nimue to live forever in a magical land. The complex story evolves into a final battle of father against son, right versus wrong, ugly versus beautiful, and Merlin versus Mab.
This epic television movie reportedly used over 40 different legends of Merlin and King Arthur. It is really hard to summarize what is going on without going into so much detail, because the complex story lines and characters. I haven't even mentioned James Earl Jones who plays the voice of a mountain.
Being a Hallmark Hall of Fame move, it is meant for the entire family, and it does have a happy ending. There are many fairy tale elements like dragons, fairies, and magic. But, it is also a very violent. It isn't very bloody, until the snowy showdown, but it is a good family film to watch. The special effects can be stunning, especially for a mini-series. Martin Short's wackiness, Helena Bonham Carter's beauty, James Earl Jones' voice, Miranda Richardson's dual roles, and Sam Neill's believable Merlin, makes "Merlin" a treat to watch.
"Gulliver's Travels," and "The Odyssey" have been good examples of reasons to stay home and watch entertaining made-for-TV-movies instead of going to the movie theater. "Merlin" makes some magic television moments and sets the model for excellent television movies to come.
