Erik the Viking [1989] [DVD]

Once again, Amazon have lumped together all the reviews of the various different editions of this title - especially confusing since the film has been released in at least three different cuts on DVD:

1. The single-disc release from Arrow, which contains the shortened 90-minute fullframe version released on video.
2. The 2-disc set released by Arrow containing the shortened 90-minute version released on video and an EVEN shorter 'Son of the Director's Cut.'
3. The Australian PAL DVD release, which contains the widescreen 103-minute international version of the film (which runs 99 minutes when adjusted to the faster running time on PAL) that's longer than the other two editions but still shorter than the original 107-minute theatrical version (which has never been available on DVD).

After a run of box-office successes culminating in A Fish Called Wanda, the Monty Python alumni hit the rocks in a big way in the late 80s, first with Terry Gilliam's hugely expensive box-office disaster The adventures of Baron Munchausen and Terry Jones' rather less expensive but even less successful comedy Erik the Viking. Munchausen became a cult success that's still spoken of admiringly today. Erik doesn't get talked about much...

It's a shame, because the script is pretty good - good enough to survive some dodgy casting (Mickey Rooney in a role that cries out for Ernest Borgnine) and appalling direction (Terry Jones must have been bitten by a long shot when he was a child, because he won't have more than a handful of 'em in the picture, and he constantly puts the visual set-up after delivering the punch line). With Ragnorak - the end of the world - approaching, nice young viking Erik (Tim Robbins), who isn't into all that raping and pillaging lark, must find the Horn Resounding and journey to Asgard to wake the gods to save the day and bring light back to the world. Only to get there he has to brave a dragon so huge you can only see parts of it because it fills the sky, visit the mythical kingdom of Hy-Brasil and sail off the very edge of the world...

It helps a lot if you know the Norse mythology, and it's a shame it didn't have a more visually ambitious director: as it stands, it's one of those examples of making an expensive film look like a cheap one. Yet for all it's many shortcomings and sequences that fall flat (such as most of the scenes with Terry Jones himself), if you're on the right wavelength there's much to enjoy.

Unfortunately, the version Arrow originally released is not the original 107-minute theatrical cut but a shorter version re-edited for video after the film opened to terrible reviews (although in the process some 14 minutes and one cheap but cheerful gag about Leif the lucky got lost) - though this shouldn't be confused with the even shorter 'Son of the Director's Cut' that was subsequently released. On the plus side, this one-disc release has a wealth of extras, including a making of documentary, feature reports and cast interviews from the time of the film's release.

I thoroughly enjoyed this masterpiece of humour. The combination of viking myth, wonderful tale and humorous setting is great, and this is a must see for anyone who can appreciate such things as Monty Python or the books of Douglas Adams.

The Empire review of this movie is utterly wrong. Erik the Viking is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. I actually just tried to buy it from the American Amazon site and was dismayed that it wasn't available. The movie is icredibly well written, acted, and produced. It's one of my very favorites.