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Amazon.co.uk Review
Kirk Douglas produced the trendsetting barbarian epic The Vikings and took the showiest, most aggressive role: lusty Viking Prince Einar, the "only son in wedlock" of King Ragnar (a cackling, wild-eyed Ernest Borgnine). With jagged scars down his face and a milky-white blind eye that almost glows in his skull, Douglas has a rowdy time battling defiant slave Tony Curtis (the long-lost heir to the British throne) for the hand of the beautiful princess Janet Leigh. It's pure Hollywood hokum, sure, but spectacular hokum: the great cinematographer Jack Cardiff turns his Norway locations into a lush Valhalla on earth. Faced with an absurd story, journeyman director Richard Fleischer goes for the gusto in brawling Viking parties, furious sieges, and clanging broadsword battles. An enormous hit, the film spawned a huge wave of Viking movies, some perhaps smarter but none as much fun. --Sean Axmaker
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English
Region 2
Region 2
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Best Vikings,
By
This review is from: The Vikings [DVD] [1958] (DVD)
In many ways this film was ahead of its time. Kirk Douglas took a talented cast including Tony Curtis (on top form), Ernest Borgnine (proving why he won an oscar for Marty) Janet leigh (in screaming form)out to England and Norway to film this extensive epic. And what a treat this adventure is. from the mock Bayeau Tapestry opening. Rapes, Battles, Intrigue, Bags of Testostrone conflict and a tremendous morality tale of how a mans misdeeds can wreck his family. This film is full of scenes that stick in the mind. Viking homecomings and departures. A witch turning the tide by calling on Odins Valkyries. Ragnar literally forced to the pit. Limb lopping. Classic Boddice Ripping, Odins test for faithless wives and a great battle staged over a real castle.its bloody! Its harsh! and its totally entertaining.
29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
From boy to historian,
This review is from: The Vikings [DVD] [1958] (DVD)
I saw this film at the cinema when I was seven or eight years old. It set me on along a path in which history has dominated my life. In time I became a teacher of history and now own and operate a holiday company that specialises in historical tours. A few years ago I happened, by pure chance, to visit a castle in Northern Brittany and suddenly realised that this was where the final fight scene from "The Vikings" had been filmed. After forty-odd years I had come full circle. So, do I like the film? Well it is very corney and inaccurate, but seeing it as a little boy inspired my love history. Enough said.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A RATTLING GOOD YARN,
By
This review is from: The Vikings [DVD] [1958] (DVD)
What a rattling good yarn this is. And not just that - a rattlingly well-made yarn, too. What the plot lacks in originality, it makes up for in detail. It was a pet project of Kirk Douglas who produced and made room for friends, Mr. and Mrs. Curtis is the cast. Stunning location photography from the great Jack Cardiff makes the most of locations in Norway (Geiranger Fjord?) for the Vikings home village, Brittany for the anachronistic castle used for the siege at the end of the film, and Germany. Richard Fleischer is the excellent director who keeps things moving at a cracking pace and makes the most of the set pieces. He spent more than a year on pre-production, seeking to get historical authenticity into the film (at least by Hollywood standards). They even built three 'authentic' longboats and these almost become extra starring members of the cast. Fleischer had worked with Douglas before on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and was to work with Curtis later on the Boston Strangler
Kirk Douglas and Ernie Borgnine give rip-roaring, scenery-chewing performances as the Viking royalty. Douglas looks inordinately pleased with himself, doing his own stunts like running along the oars of the longboat. Tony Curtis has the slightly more thankless role of Erik, but acquits himself well without any resorts to the likes of his famous "Yonder lies the cassle of my fadder"! His wife, Janet Leigh, has little to do but to look pretty (successful) and Welsh (less successful). The Australian actor, Frank Thring, is wonderfully oily and cowardly as the English King, Aella. The upright Senior British Officer from the Great Escape, James Donald, is here the duplicitous Saxon, Egbert. Was this movie an early example of Hollywood finding the English the easiest people to make the villains of a piece? The film, though discreet about blood, is actually pretty violent for its time. It's all in the direction and the editing, but eyes being ripped out, hands lopped off, etc. are quite strong stuff. The set-piece battles, particularly the vertiginous climactic sword-fight at the end, are classics. The top-shot of Einar's body being walked round the ramparts of the castle seems like a homage to the finale of Olivier's Hamlet, but none the less effective for that. And his traditional Viking funeral as the burning longboat sails into the sunset was surely at the back of John Boorman's mind when he shot the end of Excalibur. There are many worse ways to while away a couple of hours than this classic 50's swashbuckler.
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