Banderas best work, a look at Viking culture and battle

Rating: Null/10 (18 March 2000)

This has to be Antonio Banderas's best work. The contrast between the Muslim culture and the Viking culture is wonderful. Banderas is constantly faced with the rowdy Viking attitude. They spit and growl and drink and cuss and fight and kill. Banderas plays an Arab who can't abide much of their behavior, but they grow on him and he becomes `little brother' to them.
Banderas starts to earn his Viking stripes by figuring out their language, then he shows what a brilliant horseman he is, and then ultimately (of course) he is a marvelous swordsman and a brave fighter.

The Eaters of the Dead are even more repugnant to him than his funky brother Vikings, and so he fights them with gusto. It is easy to fall in love with the Viking culture, they laugh constantly, and live fiercely. It would not have been an easy life, but seeing the wolf capes and beautifully carved and crafted boats are just wonderful. This movie is a visual delight. It was just my cup of tea.