Well-worth-the-ride cleaver and unique action-thriller.

Rating: 7/10 (21 February 2000)

I Finally got to watch this movie as it was just released to video here in Norway. Either I missed it somehow when it was in the theaters it never was released to theaters here. What can I say more than that I LOVED IT!! I thoroughly enjoyed nearly every detail.
Without spoiling it for those that haven't seen it yet here's a summary followed by my review and take on it:
This is the story of an Arabian diplomat played by Antonio Banderas and his adventure in the land assigned for him to diplomat: "The North". Today this would be called Northern Europe, Scandinavia or even more specifically: Norway. ;o)
He takes with him his trusted advisor and interpreter, Melkisedek (sp?) to try to communicate with the Norse leaders and assess the situation of their country. In doing so he meets up with a group of Norsemen (Vikings) during a celebration for the coronation of their new king and funeral of their late king.
During his stay with these Vikings a young boy from one of the villages of northern Norway comes to seek their help. Several of the neighboring villages had been destroyed by mysterious creatures and king of this boy's village sent him to find some warriors to assist them in defending themselves against these creatures.
A fortune teller is summoned to advise them to how they may defeat the creatures. She says 13 men must travel to the village, the 13th not being a Norseman. Antonio is obviously chosen to be the 13th warrior and they set off together for the quest.
It isn't as gory and full of violence as one might expect. I for one was pleasantly surprised by it's tactful balance. They showed enough for you to get the idea that the creatures were cannibals and to sort of frighten you, but they didn't over do it and make it into a "hack and slash" horror flick.
It was an intelligent thriller that required some thinking. I wondered, "How in the world are they going to defeat these guys?" and was mostly satisfied by the answer (which I won't give away now anyway).
As one who can objectionably critique this film's accuracy to true Norse lifestyle and legend I must say they did a pretty darn good job!
The language spoken by the Vikings was mostly Norwegian. While one of the 12 spoke it with a Danish accent and at least 5 or 6 others had quite strong American accents it was still mostly accurate. The only problem with this is that the true language of the Norsemen/Vikings wasn't really Norwegian as we know and speak it today. It was a very Old Norwegian much more similar (I assume) to Danish while yet very different from both languages. However, giving credit they probably could not have made an accurate imitation of it and if they did it would have been so unintelligible that we couldn't have understood it nor could they have found actors to accurately portray it.
The costume detail was terrific! I loved the armor and weaponry used by the Vikings. Their ships were also quite realistic and true to history. One thing I really appreciated was the strange rituals and superstitions of the Vikings. The way they "buried" the Viking's leader in the beginning by sending him out in his ship along with his armor and sword and burned it (the ship) is 100% true to legends. In addition they sent a young maiden (likely a virgin) along with him for this "journey to paradise" which is also Norse folklore. Also many of their sayings and habits were typical of this culture - especially for back then. Basically I was very impressed with the consistency.
What some people may call a lack of plot I call a cleaver and unique story with a historical background without the need for an excessive abundance of plot twists and Hollywood fluff.
To my benefit I haven't the incredible book to taint my judgement. There are most certainly many differences and some may be disappointed (they always are) with the result, but frankly I can't see why they complain. This is the MOVIE VERSION!! Get over it!
I highly recommend it for anyone that enjoys a good action-thriller with a twist of historical nature. It's almost a combination of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and BRAVEHEART.
Long live the VIKINGS!!