Here is one of the great Viking movies. It is strange that a comedy
should do a better job with Vikings than most of the 'serious' films I
have seen on the era.
Erik (Tim Robbins) is a conflicted Viking. He understands the need for looting and pillaging but has been unable to get into the spirit of raping. On his latest raid, he meets a girl who gets him to question the looting and pillaging too. Back in Ravensfjord, he consults with the wise woman, Freya (Eartha Kitt). It is the Age of Ragnarok and the fighting will continue until the world is destroyed unless the gods are awakened to call off Fenrir the Wolf. Wow, that's some actual Norse Mythology, not some made up nonsense. Cool. So, Erik and his comical band of Vikings set out to find the land of Hybrazil, recover the Horn Resounding, and awaken the gods to end the Age of Ragnarok.
Written and directed by Terry Jones of Monty Python, you know to expect some tongue-in-cheek silliness. Terry stars as the goofy King Arnulf and John Cleese is the villainous Halfdan the Black. The Gods, when finally we meet them, are played by children, which is strangely appropriate.
This wouldn't be an appropriate review if I didn't lodge a few historical complaints. Vikings didn't use double-headed axes. Though a Viking preferred a sword, axes were cheaper. If a warrior could afford a double-edged weapon, he'd buy a sword. Viking longships were not equipped with opening jaws that crunched other ships. Nor did they have harpoons that could be used to reel an enemy ship into those jaws.
The movie is lots of fun. It is entertaining to compare the Vikings of this movie to those of Pathfinder.
Erik (Tim Robbins) is a conflicted Viking. He understands the need for looting and pillaging but has been unable to get into the spirit of raping. On his latest raid, he meets a girl who gets him to question the looting and pillaging too. Back in Ravensfjord, he consults with the wise woman, Freya (Eartha Kitt). It is the Age of Ragnarok and the fighting will continue until the world is destroyed unless the gods are awakened to call off Fenrir the Wolf. Wow, that's some actual Norse Mythology, not some made up nonsense. Cool. So, Erik and his comical band of Vikings set out to find the land of Hybrazil, recover the Horn Resounding, and awaken the gods to end the Age of Ragnarok.
Written and directed by Terry Jones of Monty Python, you know to expect some tongue-in-cheek silliness. Terry stars as the goofy King Arnulf and John Cleese is the villainous Halfdan the Black. The Gods, when finally we meet them, are played by children, which is strangely appropriate.
This wouldn't be an appropriate review if I didn't lodge a few historical complaints. Vikings didn't use double-headed axes. Though a Viking preferred a sword, axes were cheaper. If a warrior could afford a double-edged weapon, he'd buy a sword. Viking longships were not equipped with opening jaws that crunched other ships. Nor did they have harpoons that could be used to reel an enemy ship into those jaws.
The movie is lots of fun. It is entertaining to compare the Vikings of this movie to those of Pathfinder.
It looks like my recent viewing of How to Train Your Dragon got me interested in seeing this film again. There are lots of funny bits and surprising stars. I particularly enjoyed the repartee between Sven the Berserk and his father. The seating arrangement on the longship was hilarious. That Mickey Rooney plays a Viking is too funny. Samantha Bond has a small but defining role; she went on to become a great Miss Moneypenny for Pierce Brosnan's James Bond and, more recently, Lady Rosamund Painswick in Downton Abbey.
No comments:
Post a Comment