SCA: The real-life inspiration for 'Knightriders'

Too bad the publishers changed the title on that book; I thought Murder at the War had a nice bit of irony, whereas Knightfall is kind of trite. I reread my copy occasionally, and it makes me want to head for Pennsic in August. (To get info on the annual Pennsic War, check out www.pennsicwar.org (the official site) or www.pennsic.net (unofficial but more fun)).

In the commentary track on my Anchor Bay DVD of Knightriders, Romero does mention the SCA. He also took inspiration from the various Renaissance Fairs, and originally wanted to have the troup jousting on horses. But for budgetary reasons the money guys wouldn't go for that, and when Romero half-jokingly suggested motorcycles, they loved the idea. (At least, that's the way Romero tells it.)

Note that in the SCA, we don't joust on motorcycles, but we have just authorized an experimental form of jousting on horses. Of course, most of us don't own horses, so we do our fighting on foot, with weapons made of rattan (about the same weight as the real thing). We wear quite a bit more protection than the characters in Knightriders did, even though the activities in the movies were far more dangerous than the way we fight.

One of my favorite movies, a guilty pleasure I watch at least once a year; should probably be required viewing for SCA people just to keep us from taking ourselves too seriously. One thing that always struck me, though, is that the knights in the movie have pretty drab armor; could have been a lot better looking for not much money.

Since this has become an SCA discussion instead of a discussion on the movie, just a little shout out to the readers that the SCA is not all great and wonderful and has its fill of people with serious issues and those people who hang around them, or as my SCA friends call "fringies." Do your own investigation beyond just the SCA sponsored websites.

As for the movie, when I saw it when I was young I loved it despite being long and in places boring but now while I can still watch it, it doesn't hold up well and that is despite being a GR fan. There was talks over the years of a remake but with the financial issues the original had, I really doubt it will ever be remade.

Romero was inspired when he visited Pennsic in the late seventies. The movie itself is shot around the grounds of Pennsic and fell victim to the same tornado that hit pennsic. The first day of filming was cancelled because the entire set was ravaged by a twister.