Missing the point

Rating: Null/10 (15 September 2004)

Most of the reviews I've read here miss the point of the story. "The 13th Warrior" is a movie adaptation of Michael Crichton's "Eaters of the Dead," which is a retelling of BEOWULF, for heaven's sake. Crichton's approach was to assume that the Anglo-Saxon poem was a fancied-up version of an Arab traveler's history. So you have Beowulf as it might really have happened, etc. etc.
The Wendol are Neanderthals surviving in colder climes into historic times. They stand in for the ogre Grendel, and the Wendol mother is Grendel's dam. The idol is a recreation of an actual prehistoric mother-goddess talisman. The Fire Worm is an attack by the Wendol bearing torches. It stands in for the dragon that kills Beowulf in the poem. But, hey, other than the Arab, it's all there -- the underwater cave, the coast guard who challenges Beowulf's ship on arrival, the antlers atop the great hall named Heorot, the insults bandied back and forth between the hero and the snarky champion in the hall, etc.
The movie is a solid 'B'-type movie. A bit hokey, but well-played by all -- it's a nice way to blow an evening. Seen as a direct screen adaptation of Beowulf, it's too over-the-top, but as an adaption of Crichton's novel, it's pretty good.