Rating: Summary: A slight disappointment, BUT... Review: The 13th Warrior was actually the story of Beowulf (Buliwyf-the head Norseman), told thru the eyes of 'the 13th warrior' aka Antonio Banderas' character.I was expecting a long and moving story like in Braveheart, but all we got was a para-normal episode with Beowulf doing some mercenary work for a besieged village by some mountain dwelling barbarian tribe. Oh, don't get me wrong, the film had an interesting wardrobe and good battle scenes along with some distinguishable characters, but lacked the "What for?" that Braveheart did.
Rating: Summary: Vikings, gotta respect them... Review: I found the 13th Warrior an excellent period piece. While some of the subplots were not expanded upon fully, the movie was truly enjoyable on the depth of the insights into Norse Culture. By and large I would go so far as to compare this film as a modern equivalent to Beowulf. The plot was not really 'frightening' but instead full of 'morality plays' and psychological insights. The action scenes were reasonable well staged, the costumes were decent, and the general pace of the movie was good. Anyone with even the slightest appreciation of a decent expression of machismo will remember the ending to the final battle scene!
Rating: Summary: Great! Beowulf in the theaters! Review: Great movie! very intense.....many parallels to the epic poem Beowulf! Great Action!
Rating: Summary: Great looking non-stop actionfest! Review: I LOVE THIS MOVIE! Brutal action and great sets and locations fire a story that never pretends to be anything other than it is: A tale of clever barbarians battling a horde of vicious barbarians. Banderas deliver a great performance, touched with a little wry humor, and the gang comprising the Northmen are all quite good and a few are truly great in that you can sense from them the fun they had swinging swords about on these fantastical sets. There's a few interesting tidbits of info thrown into the plot, clever bits of Crichton-type research that click nicely and offer a little color to the tale, but let's face it, this one's about swords and blood and courage; and on these accounts it solidly delivers. Strong and colorful cinematic entertainment at its barebones best.
Rating: Summary: 13th Warrior Review: This movie was very good. If you like the stories of vikings and things of old with swords and horses, you too will enjoy it. A must see.
Rating: Summary: 13th Warrior DVD Review: If it weren't for the conspicuously missing plot in this film - I would have really enjoyed it. All the gore, action and good hearted testosterone just couldn't save it for me. I think Banderas gives a great performance and every Viking plays out their roles fittingly - but it felt I was wandering aimlessly from one battle to another. The DVD transfer is excellent, and the sound quality is great too, but the disc offers no extras, and certainly doesn't pump life into such a disappointing film.
Rating: Summary: Lots of Discrete Surround Review: The only redeeming value this dvd has is the sound. Otherwise, don't buy it. The plot is weak and is nothing compared to the epic that braveheart was. The romance that is alluded to in the trailer is all but absent. Cover boasts a Crighton story and MacTiernan direction but even these don't spare this movie.
Rating: Summary: A movie that wouldn't have scared me if i saw it in theaters Review: I didn't like this movie. I had high hopes when I saw this movie yesterday but i ended up with low likeness. The movie had no moral point to it and wasn't very frightning. The enemies are stupid as well as their costumes and i just didn't like this movie. You might like it though. Im just giving my opinion out to people. But if you liked Blair Witch then youll love this movie.
Rating: Summary: Disappointing. Review: Finally, a year after it was finished, we can see John McTiernan's long-awaited "The 13th Warrior." But alas, it's nothing but a cheap gore fest. It's one of those movies where the action and special effects were payed more attention to than the screenplay. In fact, it feels like it was speed-written with McTiernan or one of the producers saying "more action scenes! More action scenes!" Yet, it could have been fascinating considering it's based on Michael Crichton's book, "Eaters Of The Dead," which was inspired by the poem, "Beowulf" and the true story of Ibn Fadahland. But "The 13th Warrior" falls in the trap of being dumb, and by not having a smart story and only action scenes, making us lose interest. There's a difference between an action movie that has lots of action, but also a smart story that keeps us watching and one that only throws in lots of cash, but not lots of thought and we just think of it as dumb. I do want to point out that the cinematography is rich, the score by Jerry Goldsmith is exhilarating but sounds too much like his previous score for "The Mummy." What we end up with here is a film that chokes in its own blood-baths. In fact, I was getting bored of so much gore because there wasn't an interesting story. The characters are plain like the plot, the whole screenplay itself needs more detail, more intrigue and medieval lore. This looks like a cross between "Braveheart" and "Conan The Barbarian" (which is a much, much better movie). There's too much that's never explained here. Like the fact that one of the bodies disappears in some mystic way, but in the end, the villains turn out to be simple cave dwelers gone mad, and if they are cave-dwelers and nothing more, how could they devise such complex, well-planned attacks on the viking heroes? It makes no sense. I would rather "Conan The Barbarian," made with less money, ten times over this, at least that was a real mythecal adventure. "The 13th Warrior" promises, but doesn't deliver.
Rating: Summary: Further evidence that Crichton novels make bad movies! Review: Well, here it is: the one sentence review of The 13th Warrior: "Brave Heart (a truly fabulous film) starts East, heads North, keeps the same supporting cast, trades Mel Gibson playing a Scot who is little less than a legend for Antonio Banderas playing a Babylonian who is little more than annoying, has a sub-plot and love interest that go absolutely nowhere, trades kilts for bearskins, and tries desperately -- DESPERATELY -- to keep its PG-13 rating." My apologies - I must continue to bash this film; it's just that bad. The script is miserable the action sequences are irritating, and besides, what's up this fetish about decapitation? This movie is in every possible way inferior to Banderas' The Mask of Zorro. The only case that can be made for the one star I'm forced to give The 13th Warrior is the scene in which Banderas' character learns the Viking language. If Mystery Science Theater were stilling running, this film would inevitably end up on it, and go down as one of the funnier episodes.
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