Where'd the money go?

Rating: Null/10 (2 March 2000)

For a movie that apparently cost so much (100 million) it was hard to tell where the money went. This movie is very thin on plot and special effects. The storyline is idiotic. An Arab joins a band of Vikings to battle some mysterious "whatevers". Over a couple of nights of beers and weenie roasts Antonio Banderas manages to learn the Viking's language, and what a smorgasbord of dialects it is, there's some Irish, English, Russian, American and who-knows-what thrown in the mix. Antonio Banderas makes the best of the silly dialog and wall street haircut and enough make-up to make the most fearless Viking sleep with one eye open. The battle scenes are poorly filmed, too many close ups and not enough extras. There are no battle scenes ala "Ran". Its nice to see Omar Sharif but his role must have been inserted as an after-thought. If there is a bright spot in this film it would be Vladimir Kulich who doesn't say much (he must have pre-read the script) but has a strong screen presence. I don't think the producers got their money's worth on this movie and I don't think the viewers did either.