The 13th Warrior

Rating:
Summary: Great Concept; Poor execution
Review: First of all, the plot is definately interesting. I also did like some of the battle scenes and the art direction.

There are a lot of things missing in the movie however. The characters were not fleshed out enough and they appear more to be like cartoon characters. Also there were some plot threads that were left unexplained (Like why did the Bear monsters dissapear after the first intial battle).

Given the amount of talent that was used in the making of this picture, this is a huge dissapointment.

Rating:
Summary: What if the legend of Beowulf REALLY happened?
Review: Most reviews I've read have failed to even mention that the movie is a retelling of the legend of Beowulf. Crichton has written a really cool story that postulates that the oldest known written-English language story, BEOWULF, (whose author is anonymous) may have been written by an Arab adventurer (Antonio Banderas' character). The character names are slightly off (eg. Buliwyf is Beowulf etc.), but this would be a result of the translation from the Norse language to Arabic to English. The movie does a fantastic job of showing us the Fireworm, Grendel (they call them the Wendol in the movie) and pretty much stays true to the legend. The big thrill for those who have read Beowulf is how Crichton finds plausible "real-world" ways to explain the more mystical aspects of the Beowulf legend. eg. The monster (The Grendel), is actually an army of savage warriors. I won't spoil how they explain the Fireworm. This is an underrated movie. I will admit that it really helps if you are able to view it with Beowulf in mind. I wish they could have shown this to us in high school when we had to read it.

Rating:
Summary: Hack, Slash, Rip.......
Review: Although I have great respect for the talents of Antonio Banderas and Michael Crichton, there was deffinatly something left out of this movie. All of the charactures were 2D.....you had know idea what they would really be like if you were to meet them face to face. The cinamatography was very incredible and some of the scenes were entirely memorable.....bloody......but memorable. Also, dispite the fact that The 13th Warrior wasn't extreemly deep, it was, at the end, extreemly satisfying.

Rating:
Summary: Give it a fair chance
Review: I think that too many people have not given this film a fair chance. I'd heard all about the problems involved in making the film. I knew who the principles were (Crichton, Banderas, McTiernan). I wasn't expecting Shakespeare and I didn't get Shakespeare. What I did get was nearly two hours of a decent, entertaining, hack and slash adventure story and I was happy with that.

I think because it takes place in the Middle Ages and has lots of sabre-rattling people compare this film to Braveheart. C'mon folks, Braveheart was a one of a kind, sweeping, romantic epic. Hollywood rarely makes those anymore. 13th Warrior is a genre piece, an action movie. Hollywood makes dozens of those a year. And as action flicks go this is a pretty good one.

Rating:
Summary: 13th Warrior
Review: I didn't hate this movie. I just felt that the DVD and movie could have been better given the subject matter. If you like and understand Norse Myth, you will like this movie. If you like hack and slash action you will like this movie. If you want great acting you might want to pass. The good cast was under used by the script. A solid popcorn movie for the guys, that is a little slow at first, but picks up fast. No extras on DVD.

Rating:
Summary: An Unexpectedly Good Movie
Review: I'm not a huge fan of Antonio Banderas, and was disappointed to learn he'd been cast in the lead for this version of Eaters of the Dead. My disappointment faded, though, as the movie unfolded. Banderas did a great job with this role; so, too, did the Norsemen.

The movie is dark; the filming is exceptional at times. Most of the scenes are captivating, though they won't stand the scrutiny of multiple viewings. Particularly weak are the scenes in the cave. On the other hand...the scene where Banderas learns the nordic tongue is as well-done as any I've seen in this sort of film...and alone is worth the price of rental.

I own the DVD; it's good. While I don't watch this movie often, I know I'll come back to it periodically...whenever I need an escapist adventure where good and evil are artfully pitted one against the other.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining
Review: I read the book a few years ago and recently saw the movie. A very loose interpretation of the novel, however, I did enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: A good movie about Vikings and history
Review: "The 13th Warrior" stars Antonio Banderas who unwillingly becomes the 13th warrior. He is forced to go away from his people because he loved the wrong woman. Soon, he starts staying with a group of Vikings who like to kid around a lot and they frequently fight a tribe that is all humans disguised as bears.

"The 13th Warrior" is one of those movies that you have to watch from the very beginning and grasp every single word because it will leave you confused if you don't watch and listen like you should. It's a good tale about a man who must make a new kind of life for himself, and it's exciting in parts. The battles are gory and exciting, and the movie has pretty good special effects. My only complaint is that it didn't have as many battle scenes or as much action as I would've liked to of seen. But the plot and the good acting keep it from failing. If you like movies that tell old and intriguing stories of Vikings or other ancient groups from history, I'd recommend getting "The 13th Warrior."

Rating:
Summary: More like Beowulf than Seven Samurai
Review: A Nice retelling of the old Beowulf story. In Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, the samurais and the peasants are very different in their nature. The peasants wanted the samurai's to guard them from the bandits, but at the same time they regarded the samurai's as another kind of exploiters. And the samurai's were mercineries. But In this movie and in the Beowulf epic, the warriors are kinsmen of the king Hrothgar who sent for rescue from the Wendol, or Grendel. Though some tactics with which they deal with the adversaries resemble that in SS, it's really the retelling of Beowulf and I find some people here have the same idea. When I first read Michael Crichton's novel I didn't realize, but slowly the old story of a Danish hero I read twenty years ago, and the movie 'Beowulf' starred by Christopher Lambert struck as the parallels of this title. So far for the comparison.
This is however, more feasible, ripped off of the color of legend. Not a single hero, but teamwork and cooperation do the job. Surely Crichton must have taken great pains figuring out what monstrous fiend had so much terrified the warlike and fierce north men. Was it just another more warlike tribe like Huns, or was it the last remnants of Neanderthals? Read "Eaters of the Dead" or now retitled as "The 13th Warrior" by Michael Crichton for such questions.

(This is a movie review, not a DVD review. I'm considering of buying the DVD.)

Rating:
Summary: Diet Beowulf
Review: This unexciting, uninspired film was adapted from Crichton's "Eater's of the Dead," which in turn was very loosely taken from the Norse epic poem "Beowulf." Unfortunately, the classic story, already watered down in Crichton's novel, is further diluted in this movie. The result is a film that consists of nearly nothing but an seemingly endless series of battle sequences. To make matters worse, most of the battles occur at night so all of the promising scenes in the movie are at least partially obscured by darkness.