Good, but...

Rating: 9/10 (29 August 1999)

Although I truly enjoyed the 13th Warrior, I felt that they left a lot of conflicts unresolved. There are a few subplots that the writers touched on that seemed to go nowhere (like with the eldest son of the king, who just seems to disappear in the film) and left no motivation as to why the Wendol were even attacking the Vikings to begin with (outside of being a potential source of food, but they could have probably fared better by attacking less fortified villages). And why, if the Wendol had not been seen in almost one hundred years, would they suddenly reappear. I have a deep feeling that the reason rumors abound that the director wanted to take his name off of the picture is that he may have shot scenes to explain some of these plot holes, but they were cut out for time constraint reasons or they slowed the action down. Outside of plot complaints, there was little else to be upset about in this film. The cinematography was beautiful, the actors were good, and the action scenes were well-staged. Antonio Banderas did not hog the scenery, and some of the secondary characters were given ample screen time to make an impression, which is rare in film nowadays. There is little in-depth character development, but there is enough that you get to feel for some of the characters and hope they live until the end. The last major battle sequence was brutal and graphic, but well-made. All in all, not a perfect film, but much better than what I was expecting given the history of the film and the rumors surrounding it. Worth seeing at least once if you liked movies like Braveheart and the old Kirk Douglas film The Vikings.