Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
From boy to historian, 5 Jan 2006
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.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A RATTLING GOOD YARN, 2 Mar 2007
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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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Wild Bunch, 10 Mar 2005
This epic is worth watching for the spectacular cinematography of the Norwegian fjords alone, as well as to see the authenticity of how life from the time of the Vikings has been meticulously recreated, and it will enhance one's appreciation to watch the fascinating interview with director Richard Fleisher before viewing the film. It also shows the untamed and unruly nature of the people, who were daring and adventurous, and built beautiful ships to wander the seas and plunder and ravage distant lands.The script is rather laden with grunts and growls, and the best lines go to the witchy woman Kitala who casts the runes (played well by Eileen Way) who says things like "love and hate are horns on the same goat".
Kirk Douglas is perfect as Einar, with his scarred face and daring stunts, in fine form as he "runs the oars" like an expert athlete, and fills his drinking horn from the enormous vat of frothing brew that is in the center of the raucous dining hall.
Others in the cast are a hairy and wild Ernest Borgnine as Ragnar, the king and father of Einar, Tony Curtis as Eric the slave, and Janet Leigh looking lovely as Morgana. Leigh and Curtis were married and the toast of Hollywood at the time, and their daughter Jamie Leigh Curtis was born in 1958, the same year this film was released. The story is very operatic and uses as a plot device (like Verdi's "Il Trovatore" for instance) two enemies who are in love with the same woman, and do not realize they are actually half-brothers. Einar and Eric are both sons of Ragnar, and battle each other with a ferocity that makes for some good screen fights, including a marvelous sword duel.
Well-paced direction by Richard Fleisher, glorious cinematography by Jack Cardiff, a fine score by Mario Nascimbene and narration by Orson Welles, as well as many terrific performances make this film well worth viewing; total playing time is 116 minutes.
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