underrated film with a Moslem(!) hero

Rating: 8/10 (22 January 2011)

As far as the swords and barbarians genre of movies goes, this is one of the smartest ones I've ever seen. (Even though the bad guys are goddess-worshipping, vicious decapitators. This seems like an unnecessarily mean-spirited dig at those who would romantically imagine that all goddess-worshippers are peaceful and admirable vegetarian types. On the other hand, every stereotype needs a good, sharp poke to deflate it now and then.)
The film came to my attention when a university professor (can't remember the name) was on the radio talking about his two decades-long quest to find a film, any film, that had a positive Moslem character in it. He viewed hundreds of English-language films with Moslem characters, and found a grand total of two. The Thirteenth Warrior was one of them.
I was also very impressed that they got the horses right. Such films NEVER get the horses right - but in this film, they ride exactly the type of horse that would have been found there at the time, even though they might look a bit funny, with big guys on little horses.