DVD | Tristan & Isolde

Rating: M - Contains Medium Level Violence.
Duration: 120 mins.
Genre: Action & Adventure.
Actors: Rufus Sewell, James Franco, David O'Hara, Sophia Myles, Bronagh Gallagher, Jamie King, Tiffany Knight, Thomas Morris, J.B. Blanc.
Release Date: Available now.

Tristan & Isolde is tragic love story, set in tumultus medieval period where Britain is split into four tribes and finds herself under the iron fist of Ireland’s greedy and malice King.

But hope is in the air, as one tribe tries to unite all the tribes together to make Britain strong enough to stand up to the Irish.

Treachery is the name of the game however as one of the tribes leaders has signed a secret pact with the Irish, and the meeting is attacked, and almost everyone killed. What Britain needs is a charismatic fighter, and one of the survivors, A little boy by the name of Tristan would be that fighter.

Fast forward to Tristan the man, and the Irish send another hunting party, stealing all the young women. But it’s here that Tristan’s king allows Trsiten to set a trap, and seek vengeance on the Irish. The trap works, but Trsitan receives what is thought to be a fatal wound, and is cast out to sea on a funeral boat, but the winds douse the fire, and his boat finds shore in Ireland.

The daughter of the tyrannical Irish King finds him, and secretly nurses him back to health. They of course fall in love, but it’s a love that can never be fully realised, due mainly to politics.

It’s a storyline that we’ve all heard a thousand times, but this doesn’t stop Tristan & Isolde from being a gripping yarn of a story, with plenty of bloody action to keep the boys happy, and enough doomed romance for the girls.

James Franco and Sophia Myles bring life to the characters of Tristan and Isolde, presenting the viewer with a believable couple that should be together, if only in a different place and time. Director Kevin Reynolds manages to keep the pace going, with the right mix of action and character development.

Visually the movie is a mixture of windswept highlands, forest greens and wintery coastal locals, with a brooding sense of forbearing that suits the storyline perfectly.

A great underrated adventure.

Food for thought:
Should true love ever be sacrificed?

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