Tense battle sequences--poorly developed script and characters. ** out of ****.

Rating: 5/10 (16 September 1999)

THE 13TH WARRIOR (1999) **
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Diane Venora, Vladimir Kulich, Omar Sharif, and Anders T. Andersen Director: John McTiernan Co-written and directed by Michael Crichton 114 minutes Rated R (for brutal warfare violence and gory carnage)
By Blake French:
Michael Crichton is a very good writer. Way too good for being responsible for much of the production of "The 13th Warrior," a brutal Viking film in which everything is first rate except the characters and the story. True, the film does contain a few moments of suspense and tension that work well. However, nothing in this movie even remotely compares to any of his past work, such as "Jurassic Park" or "Sphere." Also, director John McTiernan, who has also contributed his direction to some great movies, such as the original "Die Hard," is completely lost in Crichton's story here, which, in a way, leads to a directional conflict that is almost like the blind leading the blind.
Antonio Banderas stars as a humble Arab poet named Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan, Ibn for short, who lives a pretty normal 18th century life until he is chosen, along with twelve other brave men, to defend a king's plummeting kingdom from vicious, unknown slaughters who consumer the dead. His life dramatically changes as he defends his leaders and his own life by fighting off these man-eating beasts.
Finding out who the villains are in this movie is truthfully the only reason to even consider going to the multiplex to see it; they are mysterious and devilish. Part of their identity is revealed in a dramatic war sequence that gives away the wrong information at the wrong time. If only the filmmakers offered an answer to this provoking question: we never actually find out who they are or where they come from. Too bad, if the audience was provided with answers, we may have had something a little bit noteworthy here.
Another problem I had with "The 13th Warrior" has to do with its plot, which was seemed to be absent for much of the film. The characters are good speakers; they explain most of the story to us, with simple and blank dialogue that doesn't include any dramatic impulse in its being--the plot is never directly shown. This dialogue is also used to develop most of the characters. Banderas is detailed though some neat flashbacks, but not even those scenes will make you care about any of the characters.

There is much to like about the production, however. The battle sequences build up enough tension to make them work well, mostly because of the mystery of the villains. There is a nice (meaning the scene works, not that the scene is "nice") scene in a cave near the end of the film that has lost of smart material in its writing--but again, we just don't care about any of the characters; it is hard to build up tension if we don't care about who lives or who dies. In addition, there is a tremendously over-looked production design worthy of an Oscar nomination.
Antonio Banderas delivers a good performance, one that fits the lead role so perfectly that I myself could not have chosen another actor to fit the role better. His character is too shallow to give recognition to, but Banderas does what he can to make his character bearable.
I do believe that "The 13th Warrior" was destined to succeed. If the writers would have done what they should have done, considering the potential here, this film would have surely worked. There are many ways that would have made this material work. For instance, Antonio Banderas stars as a brute, powerful leader of thirteen warriors who are forced into defending their king's fortune. Or perhaps, Antonio Banderas as the leader of a band of scavengers numbering thirteen who are somehow selected to protect their territory from the legendary "eaters of the dead." But how in God's green Earth could one take such clever potential and write a story starring Antonio Banderas as some meek, insignificant Arab poet who is chosen by some unknown, distant king to fight for a dyeing nation and protected its citizens from man-eaters whose presence is never explained? Well, I'm listening...
Brought to you by Touchstone Pictures.