Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic Flick About Cannibals!
Review: Finally an epic! 12 angry Norseman and Antonio Banderas must save the town from hoards of demonic cannibals. The characters are pretty well differentiated and you're never sure who will live or die. Banderas is great as the seemingly inept outsider. This is a true Norse myth. The beginning is a little confusing, but this film was really great. A lot of fun, the evil witch reminded me of someone I used to work with. Much better than the so-so book.
Rating: 
Summary: This is one terrible movie!
Review: I was dragged to see this movie, and it was a waste of $6. The acting is completely unbelievable, the plot is mediocre at best, and the battle scenes are just bloody, with no real point. The stereotypes about Islam got really old, so did the preachiness about how one forms "brotherhood" in battle. I've heard this is based on "Beowulf" (which, frankly, isn't that great, either), and if it is, that's too bad, because the filmakers missed the point completely. Don't waste your time; I'm sorry I did.
Rating: 
Summary: Heavy on action (= nice), low on intel (= dumb)
Review: I remember reading Crichtons book as a teenager, and how it's inherent scariness took me completely by surprise (and kept me reading way, way past midnight). This movie lacks that feeling, but then this IS an action movie, not a horror flick. And it is a very good movie too, especially the 1st hour. A well done intro sets the frame for the story, and off we go. Banderas is very good, but the vikings are truly magnificent - laconic, raw, violent, they are simply an excellent cast.
Ok, the here are the gripes:
the premise in Crichton's book... well, let's not give anything away here, let's just talk about the Enemy. Anyway, the Enemy uses horses, and a lot of them. Not only it is extremely unlikely that this would even have been possible, there wasn't probably that many horses in the whole of Norway at that time. Stupid, stupid, stupid. In another scene you can see a corn snake (or likewise) hanging around the neck of a tribal shaman, again a completely idiotic "add-on". I can't even imagine why somebody invented stuff like this, especially since almost all other props, clothes & stuff were quite authentic-looking. And Crichton's strength lies in his believability, constructing a "real" world by joining facts and potentially true facts. If I remember correctly the book was published as a translation (from arabic) of a "autentic" diary recently found somewhere. The movie doesn't live up to this feeling of autenticity, and thus loses one dimension (like: what if the Enemy still is around somewhere...). You also get a feeling that either money or time was running out (unfortunately not an uncommon occurence in action flicks, either that or it was badly cut), since the last part can't really keep up with the first, excellent hour.
However, the battle scenes are great, the cast is fantastic (I really like those fatalistic norsemen) and generally it is simply a good movie. The reason I am nagging is that it could have been a really great movie. Add 30 mins, remove all the horses (<grin>) and this could have been an epic. And as compared to Braveheart, Braveheart is better, though the supporting cast of vikings is better than all Wallace's scotsmen together.
Rating:
Summary: A great movie.
Review: This is a great film. It kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. Banderas was perfect for the role, adding the right amount of brooding. While a brief cameo by Omar Sharif was a nice touch. See this movie! I haven't seen a film like this in a long time.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Spectacle
Review: I have been eagerly waiting for this movie's imminent release in DVD format. It didn't disappoint. The movie didn't give the actors & actresses an opportunity to develop their characters fully. Diane Venora (who played Wigand's wife in The Insider), Omar Sharif (from Laurence of Arabia) were underutilised here as they only showed briefly on the screen. Despite the name, 13th Warrior, the movie simply concentrated on mainly 3 Warriors ie. the Norseman's leader who's brave, wise, & a man with few words; the Arabian (who's intelligent & given the most talking part, to whom the Norsemen called him little brother, played by Anthonio Banderas who's got the top billing), & another Norseman (who was light hearted & rose to the ocassion in the battle). Otherwise, the battle scenes were superb especially the little adventure to the lair of their adversary, the poking of horses with spikes (reminded me so much of Braveheart). What separated this movie from Gladiators & Braveheart would mainly its shortage of drama or tragedy (revenge, betrayal, etc. that featured so prominently in Shakespeare's plays or even Greek tragedy). Overall, a satisfying 2 dimensional movie on a rainy night. Because the fighting scenes were mainly held in the dark, DVD would be highly recommended instead of VCD as it got rid of the graniness & the oomphy soundtrack deserves to be appreciated fully in its full digital glory.
Rating:
Summary: A good Saturday afternoon hack'n'slash movie
Review: The 13th Warrior is not high art or high drama, but it is a good old-fashioned hack'n'slash film that should satisfy Dungeons and Dragons fans.Having read the book, I'd like to have seen the movie delve a bit more into the Viking lore, to show how these people were not the outright barbarians that many thought. However, this movie is not meant to be a documentary. It's goal is to show big men hacking things to pieces with big swords, and in that it succeeds. One of the things I liked about this movie was the main character's reliance on reason and common sense -- the Viking's don't run screaming when they see the fire dragon, nor are they overly impressed with the Wendel's supernatural abilities. The barbarians' philosophy is simple: if it bleeds, it can be slain. This reliance on real-world observations allows them to triumph where the more mystical minded and/or cowardly could only cower in fear. The DVD, however, is utterly underwhelming with no extras to speak of. It's worth getting if you're a big fan of the movie, or just love a good swordfest, but don't expect to get a lot for your money.
Rating:
Summary: A clasic Viking Saga
Review: The 13th Warrior is a classic Viking Saga, which should of been a epic. I enjoyed the film immenensely but was disappointed with the running time. The film must have been cut to ribbons to make it this short. The story is not fully told, the characters not fully dealt with, nor are the battle scenes. It is clear that some combat scenes were removed. Simply too many of the 13 die, without us knowing how or why. The leader of the Vikings, Wolfgar comes accross as the epitome of Norse valour, he exudes strength and an indomitable spirit whilst at the same time conveying the fatalistic outlook of the vikings. I hope we see more of Wolfgar in the future as we learn't far too little about him and his men in the film. This film is just begging to be released with ALL the bits that were cut out put back in.....the cuts have made this epic into a short action film and this is a great shame. The film is also begging for another Saga, one in which I would have Wolfgar once more lead the warriors. I give 3 out of 5 for this film because of the editorial cuts and not any other reason. What is left is fantastic.
Rating:
Summary: Beowulf and Seven Samurai take on Clan of the Cave Bear
Review: At first glance the obvious sub-text for "The 13th Warrior" is the epic story of Beowulf. If you are familiar with the story-which may not be a whole heck of a lot of people in modern America-you can figure out which characters represent Grendel and his maternal unit. But halfway through this film things look familiar from another perspective-and then it dawned on me: the film is borrowing heavily from Akira Kurosawa's "The Seven Samurai." Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing. "The Seven Samurai" is one of the truly great films and what is happening in "The 13th Warrior" is not blatant enough to denounce as ripping off. I can qualify it as an homage. The important thing here is that this is an excuse for you to go rent Kurosawa's epic (hint, hint, hint). The lead character is one we have seen before. He's puny, not to mention a stranger in a strange land where he can not speak the language (at first), but he's smart and brains can do what brawn can not. The texture of this film comes from the dozen Vikings. You will have a hard time figuring out which Viking is which; even if you turn on the closed captioning they never refer to each other by name. You get to the end credits and you just can not figure out who was who. The Vikings are played by unknown (and maybe even first time) actors, so it is not a conglomerate of recognizable faces. The comparison to "The Seven Samurai" probably underscores the biggest weakness in this film, which is the ending, which employs the old Western gambit that entitles the hero (or heroes) to survive overwhelming odds (versus the climatic final battle in the rain in Kurosawa's classic). When you are dealing with heroes versus villains the effort usually hinges on the quality of your villain. The bad guys in this film are basically a giant horde with the collective intelligence of your vegetable of choice with a tendency to disappear every time they are on the verge of total victory. This is to be expected when you are dealing with what I guess are supposed to be Neanderthals but certainly you would expect better from director McTiernan given his track record. We can only speculate as to what happened between the end of filming and the arrival of this film in theaters two years later. The location photography is spectacular and there are several above average set pieces that rely on that standard staple of comedy in action films, namely Viking humor. It is a solid "B" movie and worth a rental and a bag of popcorn.
Rating:
Summary: VERY GOOD. I KNOW IT DIDN'T SELL well ...
Review: THis is a really good movie. Not fantastic nor amazing, but really good. So why a lot of people disliked it ? WHy it didn't was the great success the studio intended. It's simple: because it has no "epic cliches" ! LEt's see: there's no romantic drama (when Banderas goes away, the girl who has supported him in his injuries doesn't eevn show to say goodbye or to cry) , the bad guys (the barbarians who think they are bears ) don't give explanations to the cause of their evil, nor want to conquer the whole world; they just kill and eat; the "good" guys doesn't die speaking last words that takes three minutes; they just die and that's it - the King's son has bad intentions but doesn't turn suddenly into a maniac master of Evil.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Fun Sword-Swinging Epic!
Review: I am such a huge fan of the film Braveheart, that my friend recommended this film to me. I was quite skeptic at first, because I was continually compairing the two. However, I was soon lost in the dark, and nightmarish world that John McTiernan had placed before my eyes. The action was very fast paced, and there were plenty of sword fights and beheading. Of course this film was not made on par with Braveheart, but so what! This film is not Braveheart! I found this to be more of a Conan movie, which is fine by me, because those are great films. Antonio Banderas was really well cast as Ahmed, and the men who played the Norsemen were really great as well. I heard the name of the king to be Hrothgar. And, if my literature memory serves me correctly, then this tale could be said to be loosely based upon the tale of the great Dane Beowulf. Although Beowulf was a good tale it was boring at times and not an easy read. "The 13th Warrior", on the otherhand was a great movie, and a fine entry to the swordsmen epics. This is a must see for fans of Conan films, and those who liked Braveheart's action scenes. "The 13th Warrior" can be really gruesome at times, but for the most part most of the fighting takes place at night so not alot of blood could be seen. Anyhoo, this is a very fun film to watch, and I promise that when the Wendol's begin their nocturnal assualts on the small band of heroes, you will completely forget about Braveheart.....I did!
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