A decent action movie

Rating: Null/10 (24 January 2000)

Although this movie was an action movie with very few profundities, there was some irony present in the fact that the vikings,who pillaged much of Europe, found themselves under attack in their homeland by a bear-cult tribe. This movie was an action movie first and foremost and should be judged by that standard. As an action movie, it succeeds for the most part. The battle scenes were frequent and they displayed the necessary quantities of sword play, hand-to-hand combat, and blood. The minor sub-plot of the tension between the lord's son and the warriors wasnt developed very well and probably should have been left out since it added very little to the overall story. More effort could have been spent showing how Banderas' character transformed himself from an Arab poet into a Norse Warrior. As an added bonus, I thought the scenery in the Norse homeland was stunning: endless forests of lush pine surrounded by hills scented by mist. Apparently these scenes were filmed in Canada, which as a Canadian makes me very proud!