Time travel is a topic which fascinates us all. It has captured the minds of many directors who have produced some thoughtful and intriguing takes on the subject in the last decade. We confronted the disturbing possibility of splintered reality in Donnie Darko. Makers of rom-coms have also jumped on the bandwagon as we saw the release of 13 going on 30 and The Time Traveller’s Wife. But I don’t want to talk about these films…
I want to talk about the tacky, low budget, slapstick time travel films which never quite made it on to our radar. The premise for these films tends to follow one of two strands: premise one, in which a slightly dumb American gets transported to another time, wreaking havoc in the process (A Kid in King Arthur’s Court anyone?!) and premise two, in which characters from another time are transported to modern day America in the style of Les Visiteurs. There are ample opportunities for shots of Vikings climbing the Empire State Building and for knights to be seen strolling around Hollywood Boulevard having a hot dog. They are the kind of films which make historians weep and cause the general public to be grossly misinformed.
The best film in this category has to be Black Knight. The tag-line is: ‘He’s about to get medieval on you.’ How could it possibly be bad?! The story follows Jamal who, whilst working at an American theme park ‘Medieval World’, finds a magic medallion that transports him back to 14th century England (still with me?). Because of his unfamiliar ‘ghetto’ clothing the courtiers assume he’s French. Having infiltrated the court of an evil usurper Jamal discovers his calling is to restore the rightful heir to the throne.
Perhaps you have to be in the right frame of mind for this to be enjoyable viewing. The first time I happened upon it was after a night out. I came home with the munchies, grabbed a snack and switched on the TV. I read the synopsis for Black Knight: ‘theme park worker goes back in time to 1328.’ Oh God, I thought, it’s one of those films. However, I got sucked in and actually found it refreshingly goofy. It isn’t trying to be meaningful or even vaguely historically accurate; it’s almost like a spoof of itself. So next time you need a pick me up and some cheap laughs, reach for the remote and ‘joust do it!’
