Appendix: Knights Templar Films, Television and Video Games

Ivanhoe 1913—British (Film)

This British production is the first film adaptation of Sir Walter Scott’s novel and was released in July. This silent film is directed by Leedham Bantock and stars Lauderdale Maitland as Ivanhoe, with Ethel Bracewell as Rebecca and Nancy Bevington as Lady Rowena. The role of the villainous Templar, Brian de ­Bois-Guilbert, is played by Harry Lonsdale.

Ivanhoe 1913—American (Film)

This American adaptation was released in September, a few months after the release of the British version. This silent film is directed by Herbert Brenon and stars King Baggot as Ivanhoe, with Leah Baird as Rebecca and Evelyn Hope as Lady Rowena. The villainous Brian de ­Bois-Guilbert is played by Wallace Widdi-combe.

Ivanhoe 1952 (Film)

Directed by Richard Thorpe, this MGM production is in color and sports a ­star-studded cast of Robert Taylor as Ivanhoe, Elizabeth Taylor as Rebecca and Joan Fontaine as Rowena. In this adaptation the role of de ­Bois-Guilbert is played by George Sanders.

Ivanhoe 1958–1959 (TV Series)

This British production from Screen Gems Television and Sydney Box Productions ran for one season of 39 episodes. The series stars Roger Moore as Ivanhoe and Robert Brown as Gurth and Andrew Keir as Prince John. The series is based loosely on Sir Walter Scott’s novel.

The Revenge of Ivanhoe/La rivincita di Ivanhoe 1965 (Film)

This Italian film is the first non–­English-speaking film adaptation of Ivanhoe and is directed by Tanio Boccia. The film stars Clyde Rogers as Ivanhoe, with Gilda Lousek as Rowena of Hastings and Audrea Aureli as the villainous knight Bertrand of Hastings. This adaptation differs from Sir Walter Scott’s original novel with changes to many of the character names and removal of key characters from the novel. Most significantly, the film removes the character of Rebecca and has Rowena on trial in her place.

Ivanhoe 1970 (Miniseries)

The BBC adapted Sir Walter Scott’s novel into a ­ten-episode miniseries directed by David Maloney. The miniseries stars Eric Flynn as Ivanhoe and Anthony Bate as Sir Brian de ­Bois-Guilbert. Vivian Brooks plays Rebecca, while Rowena is played by Clare Jenkins.

Tombs of the Blind Dead 1972 (Film)

Amando de Ossorio directs this Spanish/Portuguese horror film, which unleashes evil, undead Templar knights upon terrified teenagers. These undead knights are blind and wear the iconic white surcoat and red cross (although a variation on the original) and are called Knights from the East in the original version. However, they are referred to as Templars in the ­English-dubbed version. These knights may be blind and slow but are still accomplished horse riders, and when Virginia White (María Elena Arpón) unknowingly camps near their tombs, these evil knights ride after her and feed on her.

Ivanhoe 1982 (TV Movie)

This American production is the first English language ­feature-length adaptation of Sir Walter Scott’s novel since Thorpe’s 1952 Hollywood feature film. This version from Rosemont Productions and Columbia Pictures is directed by Douglas Camfield and stars Anthony Andrews as Ivanhoe and Sam Neill as Brian de ­Bois-Guilbert. Rebecca is played by Olivia Hussey with Lysette Anthony as Lady Rowena.

The Ballad of the Valiant Knight Ivanhoe/Ballada o doblestnom rytsare Ayvengo 1983 (Film)

This Soviet production is the second non–English major production of Ivanhoe released (not including the 1971 Italian film Ivanhoe, the Norman Swordsman/La Spada Normanna, which features a character called Ivanhoe as the titular character but has an entirely separate story set in a separate time period). The ­Russian-language film is directed by Sergey Tarasov and starred Peter Gaudins as Ivanhoe, Tamara Akulova as Lady Rowena, with Boris Khimichev as Brian de ­Bois-Guilbert.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1989 (Film)

Harrison Ford returns as Indiana Jones in Steven Spielberg’s third film in the series. Although the story features the ultimate MacGuffin, the Holy Grail, Indy is searching for his father, Henry Jones (Sean Connery), who has gone missing during his quest for the grail. Aside from dealing with villainous Nazi soldiers, Indiana must contend with the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword, a Templar in all but name order, whose purpose is to protect the grail at all costs. After three trials, Indiana comes face to face with the last surviving Knight of the Cruciform Sword (Robert Eddison), one of three brothers who found the grail during the Crusades. Although the knight’s garb includes grail imagery, the knight is dressed with the iconic white tabard and red cross.

Ivanhoe 1997 (TV Miniseries)

This adaptation of Ivanhoe is an American and British joint production from A+E Networks and the BBC and spanned six episodes. Directed by Stuart Orme and starring Steven Waddington as Ivanhoe, Susan Lynch as Rebecca, Victoria Smurfit as Lady Rowena and Ciarán Hinds as Brian de ­Bois-Guilbert. Steven Waddington would go on to play the Templar Grand Master Torroja in Arn: The Knight Templar (2007).

The Minion 1998 (Film)

Dolph Lundgren stars as Lukas Sadorov, a Templar knight who has been sent by the Order to find a lost key that will open the gates of hell. In 1999 this key is discovered in New York City and is also sought by The Minion, a servant of the Antichrist who can possess and take control of human bodies, meaning The Minion could be anyone. Wielding a spiked gauntlet, Lukas must prevent the Minion from opening the gates of hell and unleashing the Antichrist upon the earth. The film currently has an audience score of 16 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Dark Knight 2000 (TV Series)

In this New Zealand/British joint production adaptation of Sir Walter Scott’s book, Ivanhoe is a returning Crusader dressed in full Templar garb. This TV series reimagines Ivanhoe to include fantasy elements. Templar Ivanhoe played by Ben Pullen must fight the tyrannical Prince John’s soldiers and battle against John’s ­magic-wielding servant Mordovr (Jeffrey Thomas), who can use his powers to reanimate the dead as monsters.

National Treasure 2001 (Film)

Nicolas Cage stars as Benjamin Gates, born into a family of treasure hunters who have for generations searched for the lost treasure of the Knights Templar. Gates must follow a series of cryptic clues that lead him to American Independence heritage sites and even steal the Declaration of Independence. Gates must find the Templar treasure before fellow treasure hunter and criminal Ian Howe (Sean Bean) while dodging the American authorities.

Revelation 2001 (Film)

A British film by Stuart Urban delves into the Templar myth by introducing their ­modern-day successors called the Order. The Order is searching for the relic known as Loculus, which has been hidden from this evil, shadowy group by Magnus (Terence Stamp), who before his death at the hands of the Order tasks his codebreaker son, Jake (James D’Arcy), and Occultist Mera to find the Loculus before the Order. The Loculus contains Christ’s DNA, which the Order will use to clone Christ, but which the Order can control through splicing Christ’s DNA with that of the grand master (Udo Kier).

Kingdom of Heaven 2005 (Film)

Ridley Scott’s Crusades epic depicts the loss of Jerusalem to Saladin, a crisis that launched the Third Crusade. This historical epic stars Orlando Bloom as Balian of Ibelin, an agnostic Crusader, and Ghassan Massaoud as Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt; both these men lead opposing forces during the siege of Jerusalem. However, before the climactic battle, they must contend with Guy de Lusignan’s machinations (Marton Csokas) and Raynald of Châtillon (Brendan Gleeson), whom Scott has reimagined as fanatical racist Templars who are determined to start a war with Saladin.

The Da Vinci Code 2006 (Film)

The ­best-selling Dan Brown novel is brought to the silver screen by director Ron Howard and stars Tom Hanks as the ­clue-finding Harvard professor of symbology, Robert Langdon. When Langdon is falsely suspected of murdering Louvre curator Jacques Saunière (­Jean-Pierre Marielle), he and police Cryptographer Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou), who is also Saunière’s granddaughter, must flee from the authorities and the fanatical Opus Dei. With the help of grail historian Sir Leigh Teabing (Ian McKellen), Langdon and Neveu follow the clues to find the resting place of the Holy Grail, which is revealed to be Christ’s lineage on earth, a secret which brought down the Knights Templar and was kept hidden by secret society the Priory of Sion.

Assassin’s Creed 2007 (Video Game)

This game is the first in Ubisoft’s series of a globally popular game series, which contains two narratives, one of bartender Desmond Miles and his ancestor Altaïr ­Ibn-La’Ahad. In the modern day, Desmond is kidnapped and forced to relive his ancestor’s memories through the animus machine. The majority of the game is set in the Holy Land during the Third Crusade, where this ­open-world, ­action-adventure, stealth game sets the players against the Knights Templar as a member of the Assassins. The player takes on the role of Altaïr, who must assassinate nine members of the Templar Order. During these assassinations, Altaïr learns that the Templars are searching for a relic called The Apple of Eden, which belonged to a forgotten civilization.

The Last Templar 2009 (TV Series)

The race to find the Templars’ lost treasure begins when four men on horseback dressed as Knights Templar steal a Templar decoder from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This attack sets Archaeologist Tess Chaykin (Mira Sorvino), who is half Indiana Jones and half Robert Langdon, off on a quest to retrace the steps of the Last Templar and find the Templars’ lost treasure. Like The Da Vinci Code, the treasure turns out to be a revelation that would shake modern Christendom to the core. Based on the ­best-selling book by Raymond Khoury, The Last Templar is a Canadian ­two-part mini television series.

Arn: The Knight Templar 2007 (Film) and Arn: The Kingdom at the End of the Road 2008 (Film)

These two films tell the story of Arn Magnusson (Joakim Nätterqvist), a Folkung nobleman who is banished to the Holy Land for 20 years by the church for having premarital relations with his lover, Cecilia Algotsdotter (Sofia Helin). Both are forced to take 20 years’ penance, Cecilia in a convent and Arn as a Templar knight in the Holy Land. In the Holy Land, Arn battles against Saladin’s (Milind Soman) forces and gains the Sultan’s respect and support when gravely needed. After the devastation at the Battle of Hattin, Arn returns to Sweden as a ­battle-hardened Templar, having served the ­20-year penance, and is reunited with Cecilia and meets his son Magnus (Martin Wallström). Arn must use his martial abilities he honed as a Templar knight to lead the Folkung soldiers in a battle against a Sverker/Danish invasion.

The First Templar 2011 (Video Game)

This ­action-adventure game developed by Haemimont Games lets the player play as Celian d’Arestide, a Templar knight searching for the Holy Grail but has lost his memory of who he is. There are other playable characters, but Celian is the game’s main protagonist. The game is set at the turn of the 14th century and the Templars’ downfall, featuring levels where the player must escape the siege of Acre and King Phillip IV’s forces. Celian learns that he is, in fact, the first grand master of the Templars, Hugh de Payns, and had used the grail to prolong his life. Celian had hidden the grail as its power was too great and must fight against the Templars to stop them from finding the grail.

The Cursed Crusade 2011 (Video Game)

The Cursed Crusade is an Xbox 360 ­co-op, ­action-adventure game set during the Fourth Crusade by Kylotonn, where the player can play as Denz de Bayle, a Templar who can use demonic curse powers to boost his combat abilities, who is searching for his father. Like The First Templar, this game is nothing on the Ubisoft predecessor; IGN gave this game a negative review and a score of four out of ten.

Ironclad 2011 (Film)

James Purefoy stars as Templar Knight Thomas Marshall, who must fight against overwhelming odds to hold Rochester Castle against King John (Paul Giamatti ) and his mercenaries. Marshall and a small group of defenders must hold out against hunger and repeated attacks by King John’s forces until a relief force from France can arrive.

Dracula Untold 2014 (Film)

This Dracula origin film stars Luke Evans as Prince Vlad, who gains supernatural powers to fight the Turkish Empire, thus becoming the infamous vampire Dracula. The Templars feature in a montage of images showing Vlad the Impaler defeating the Turkish Empire’s enemies. However, the film opens with a ­voice-over telling the setting of the year 1442, which is over 100 years since the Knights Templar were abolished.

Assassin’s Creed 2016 (Film)

Michael Fassbender stars as Callum Lynch/Aguilar de Nerha in the ­live-action Assassin’s Creed film adaption, directed by Justin Kurzel. Although the past narrative is set in the year 1492 in Spain, it follows the same story direction as the original game, stopping the Templars from getting the Apple. Aside from the change to the protagonist and his ancestor’s name, the significant difference from the game’s story is that the majority of it is set in the modern day. The film adaptation is the opposite of the hugely successful game and focuses far more on Callum’s incarceration by the Templars than on the historical Assassin action that the franchise is famous for.

The Mummy 2017 (Film)

The latest remake of the horror classic directed by Alex Kurtzman includes zombie Templars. These undead knights are risen from their graves by the film’s mummy monster Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella) to act as her minions. Ahmanet is hunting Nick Morton (Tom Cruise), whom she wants to use as a vessel to summon the deity Set. The Templars are featured in this ancient Egyptian horror action film as the Templar tomb contains a red jewel that Ahmanet needs to acquire to summon Set.

Knightfall 2017–2019 (TV Series)

This television series depicts the final years of the Knights Templar and the quest of the Master of the Paris Temple, Landry de Lauzon (Tom Cullen), to find the Holy Grail. Aside from Landry’s quest, the Templars face hostility from the French monarchy when King Phillip IV (Ed Stoppard) begins to see the Templars as a potential threat to his sovereignty over France. The political fallout is put into further crisis when the king discovers Landry has been having an affair with his wife, Queen Joan (Olivia Ross), and she is expecting Landry’s child.

Robin Hood 2018 (Film)

Taron Egerton stars as Robin Hood in this Iraq War commentary adaptation. The film starts with Robin of Lockley’s anguish at being called up to fight in the Third Crusade, where he and a group of soldiers patrol a ruined city in the Holy Land. The revisioning of medieval warfare includes the Crusaders using their longbows as if they were rifles and taking cover behind walls from the Saracen’s guerrilla ­warfare-style attacks with ­rapid-fire crossbows. If the comparison was not clear enough, the Crusaders call for artillery support via flags for catapults to rain debris down on the Saracen troops within the city. Robin is discharged from the Crusades when he tries to prevent the Crusaders, led by Guy of Gisborne, from executing Saracen prisoners tortured for information. The Crusaders’ base is decorated with Templar flags, implying that these Crusaders are part of the Knights Templar.

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