The 7 Samurai go North?

Rating: 6/10 (4 January 2001)

This movie was supposedly taken from a Michael Chrichton book, but it looked to me like a scene-for-scene remake of the Seven Samurai. Even the wooden stockade and tall peaked houses were the same. The fighters were not so sophisticated, but miraculously there were more of them left at the end, since there were thirteen instead of seven to start with.
For a Nordic/Celtic fantasy battle film, it was more convincing than many - not that it made any sense. It had great looking warriors, costumes, and sets, and some nice touches - learning Norse, the boy messenger. I could watch more films shot in British Columbia! I kept getting irritated by the cramped framing, but the general momentum of the picture was fine, with a nice shot of the boat in the fjord at the end.
Antonio Banderas doesn't much resemble an Arab, but he is cute as a button, so I'm not complaining, just so no-one tries to persuade me this was a *good* movie.