The Long Ships

Rating:
Summary: A not-bad action film
Review: It's a bit on the over-acted side, but if you like old-fashioned 1960's action movies, this one is definitely worth a look. There is one really shivery scene (which many people know of, but can't place where it's from): "The Mare of Steel." Every kid's nightmare of sliding down a stair-railing that turns into a razor comes true here. In this case it's a very long, very tall razor with a set of spikes at the end (what the heck good they are? The 'rider' is sliced to ribbons by the time he lands.) That is the one scene that stayed in the minds of everyone I knew you saw this movie as a youngster. Brr.

Rating:
Summary: Ala Baba and the 40 Viking Thieves
Review: Love Richard Widmark but this movie would have been better with a lighter weight actor like Tony Curtis. Entertaining but only worth renting. Russ Tamblyn is not the stature of Sydney and Richard.

Beautiful photography and effects but not a must see movie.

Rating:
Summary: Memorable!
Review: My Dad took me to see this film when I was 10, in 1964. In 1988 I took my Mum on a retirement 'journey' that ventured through Yugoslavia. I swam in the town of Budva (Croatia) and remembered something...this was where 'The Long Ships' was filmed! I remembered the scenery from 1964! I tried to ask the locals (in my pigeon Russian) but only a few seemed to remember...then I found it...the Great Golden Bell! 'The Mother of Voices'...O.K. it was wood, the gold leaf having long ago fallen off but what the hell! Do see this film! It's a great adventure with a brilliant score and an ensamble cast that obviously had great fun. 'The Vikings' takes realism to the 9th degree, this film takes adventure and mid-60's film making to an equal plateau...enjoy it!

Rating:
Summary: Most fun Viking Flick
Review: Now some will tell you "Vikings" is the best or some other film. I myself have a copy of "Vikings" too. But when it comes to the most fun I would have to say "The Long Ships" wins the prize. Take a swarthy group of Vikings on the quest for a giant golden bell, a dangerous sea journey, an army of Moors to battle, a ruthless King, and a fiendishly unusual device, "The Steel Mare", to kill a man and you have a classic.

It has great scenery, sets, costumes, music, and the cast does a great job of hamming it up. Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier are perfect. You can tell they all had fun doing this movie. Though we don't get to see some carnage such as the results of riding the Mare, who needs to, my imagination works fine thank you. Quite honestly the in your face gratuitous gore of many other movies is overrated. When you think about it there are few movies about Vikings, and of those you definitely want to add this to your collection. The whole family should get a kick out of this one.

You will be humming the theme song after the movie, and may find yourself swinging pillows at one another seeing imaginary Moors. I couldn't wait any longer to see it on TV or until this comes out on DVD so I bought it on VHS. Now that I got the VHS copy it is coming out on DVD. DOH! I ended up buying this DVD and it is incredibly sharp. What a beautiful job of transferring it. Not much in the way of extras but still a wonderful DVD to own.

Rating:
Summary: Worth more than a look
Review: One of those movies that you can lose yourself in and enjoy tremendously, even though . . . . Sidney Poitier is rather stiff, and everyone talks in 20th Century colloquial American English, but the scenery is great, the story absorbing, the music stirring. No, this is not AFI 100 stuff, but sometimes, you just don't care and want something like this.

Rating:
Summary: Unabashed western racism......
Review: The Long Ships is an excellent example of Eurocentric cinema. This film has to rank right up there with "Gunga Din" for unabashed western notions of white superiority. Although not nearly the motion picture Gunga Din is, the tone is just as racist. The Vikings, a historical scourge in Europe are actually presented as the heroes vis-a-vis "the evil Moors", which in reality contributed more to medieval western civilization than any of the other great empires. The mere fact that the Vikings were a white, blond people qualified them as heroes to the audiences of 1964, athwart the Moors who are presented as dark, cruel and of all things MUSLIM! This is white, Christian hysteria at its worst! The fact that it is historically inacurate and comical is not important, (in reality the best known battle between Moors and Vikings was off the coast of modern-day Galicia, Spain in the 10th century where the Moorish empire of al-andalus under Aderahman III's reign, routed a contingency of Viking warriors) the real value of the film is in presenting the most egregious example of Eurocentrism in the popular culture of the west. If anyone wanted to know how western popular culture was informed by colonialism and empire, one need only to watch films like this or read the great works of Kipling and Conrad. We must also note that the film opened in 1964 as the decolonization process was well under way in Africa. Who do you think the villains were for western audiences watching the evening news back then? I dare say not possibly the dashing blond Europeans as portrayed in "The Long Ships"?

Rating:
Summary: Two men of different cultures both following the same dream.
Review: The Long Ships is an exciting adventure film dealing with two cultures, the Moors(Sidney Poitier) and the Vikings (Richard Widmark). Both have a quest, finding the large golden bell of ancient myths.Thier lives become intwined and we learn a little history while we watch thier personal and national struggles develope and conclude. The opening credits of the film and seascapes are lavish and richly done. Both actors have a personal friendship and share many other movies together, they make a great team, often being advesarys.This film is definitely an action historical film with artistic and poetic moments. END

Rating:
Summary: Hey, try reading the Book
Review: The movie is just a routine Hollywood eviseratation of a great book. I would recommend you try to find a copy of the book and give it a try. It is on my list of the top 10 books of all time. You will find out what life as a real Viking was like, not Hollywood's mediocre interpretation.

Rating:
Summary: Far and away the best Viking flick. A ripping adventure.
Review: This is a rousing rock 'em and sock 'em Viking movie. It is far better than "The Vikings" (Kirk Douglas) which more or less launched the genre. The storyline moves at a breakneck pace. This is a ripping adventure film about a bunch of rogues who steal a Long Ship and head out into the unknown near "the edge of the world" in search of loot. There is a tremendous amount to like about this movie. It is tongue-in-cheek at times, but ultimately this is an old-style adventure film. The film is very unpretentious, and accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do, which is entertain. No dreary political messages here. This movie is entertaining and great fun, and that's the end of it.

Widmark, Portier, and cast do a fine job. The acting is consistently good. Buy it, watch it, keep it. My only gripe is why can I not find this movie on DVD?

Rating:
Summary: Vikings Rule!
Review: This is my favorite Viking movie of all time. If you enjoy action, babes, hunks and humor you will love this movie.