Merlin- The New Adventures Vol. 3 - DVD

Film: The new adventures of sorcerer's apprentice Merlin continue! And right at the start of season two, Merlin (Colin Morgan) must contend with an adversary (Mackenzie Crook, best known from the "Curse of the Caribbean" movies) who is currying favor with Prince Arthur (Bradley James) in order to put a particularly vicious plan into action. But that's not all: Morgana (Katie McGrath) learns she has special powers, Lancelot returns to discover his feelings for Gwen (Angel Coulby), who Arthur is also in love with. And finally, King Uther (Anthony Head) finds a new wife, but she is not who she claims to be. Time and again it is up to Merlin and his master, the court physician Gaius (Richard Wilson), to avert disaster from the king's court, always careful not to be recognized as magicians - after all, any form of magic is still strictly forbidden.

At the moment there are several classic tales being reinterpreted for television in somewhat refreshed form. Whether it's "Robin Hood", "Sherlock", "Spartacus" or even "Merlin - The New Adventures", contemporary adaptations are intended to introduce younger viewers to the familiar characters. Even if these modern versions often have little to do with the classic originals ("Sherlock", for example, is set in the present day), they cannot be denied a certain entertainment value. This is especially true for "Merlin", whose new adventures seem like a mixture of the well-known Arthurian saga and various set pieces from fantasy works like "Harry Potter", "Eragon" or "Dragonheart", but can also be compared to "Smallville" in some respects. Because just as young Clark Kent/Superman has to hide his powers from his friends and learn how to use them himself, so too does young Merlin - after all, magic is still brand new to him. And he has to be careful as hell, since King Uther has forbidden any form of magic in his court.

Evil wizards, talking dragons, brave knights and nasty trolls, the new episodes of the popular series have all this and much more to offer. While the humor is all too clearly aimed at a young target audience at many moments, older viewers can enjoy the atmospheric locations, good sets, occasionally very good special effects (the monsters from the opening episode, for instance, are convincingly animated), and the mix of romance, mysticism, and fantasy that makes this series so entertaining.

Sure, there shouldn't be much emphasis on historical accuracy, even the actors, most notably Colin Morgan, come across as a bit pale at times. And the whole thing doesn't really do justice to the actual Arthurian legend either. But as a simple fantasy series "Merlin - The New Adventures" is just damn fun. Because the ingredients are right here and genre fans get exactly what they can expect from good genre entertainment. No question: if you liked season 1, you will love this successful start of the second round. Recommendable!

Picture + Sound: Technically, the series on DVD can definitely convince. The picture is clean and pleasantly sharp, the colors are powerfully mixed and there are only in the darker scenes some visible weaknesses in the detail representation. The audio is dominated by the great music and dialogue, but also has a few nice effects here and there that come across well, although the audio is only presented in a stereo mix. Good!

Extras: On the third disc fans can look behind the scenes of the series for over two hours. It starts here with an approximately 35-minute making of, which offers a worth seeing overview of the creation and background of the series. In addition, each of the seven episodes is accompanied by a shorter making-of documentary (just under 14 minutes each), which deals with specific aspects of the respective episode. Mostly one of the characters is in the focus, but also the work of the make-up artists, the sets or the French film location are illuminated. All in all, more than two hours of insights into the making of this series with several interesting, but also amusing moments. All extras are optionally subtitled in German. Very good!

Conclusion: "Merlin- Die neuen Abenteuer" finally enters its second season with its third DVD. The first seven episodes offer plenty of suspense, some neat special effects, and of course a touch of romance and humor. Just everything that made the first season successful. The DVD box presents the episodes in good TV quality and has over two hours of worth seeing extras on a bonus DVD. For fantasy fans absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp