I am finding a little more time to return to Ciao after a long absence. Will try and catch up with o...
I am finding a little more time to return to Ciao after a long absence. Will try and catch up with old friends. As to the writing side of things... well, I have few things to write about.. Now it's just a matter of finding the time... Derek
Member since:26.04.2005
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The 13th Warrior begins with an introduction to our hero, Ahmed (played by Antonio Banderas)an ambassador that's been exiled from his homeland. Together with his entourage he comes across a band of Vikings (referred to as North men) and they join them in their camp.
It's not too long before after a lot of what appears to be hocus-pocus, that a young Viking enters the camp and tells them of this Viking kingdom that is being attacked by a ferocious beast they call the Grendel. An army of men needs to be chosen to return north and rid the kingdom of the threat, and to chose who is to go, they consult a soothsayer -an old bone-throwing woman who appears to be completely mad. She picks twelve Viking men whilst Ahmed looks on and then says that there has to be a 13th who is non-Viking for them to be successful. This turns out to be Ahmed.
The movie continues with Ahmed integrating with his Viking companions and this, I found interesting as the differences between the uncouth Viking traditions and the "cleaner" Arab culture is demonstrated. Ahmed doesn't speak their language because earlier he had, as part of his entourage, an interpreter (Omar Sharif) who surprisingly only plays a small part at the beginning of the film.
As Ahmed travels with the Vikings, he watches and listens to their conversations and soon has a good knowledge of their language. The dialogue then turns from Scandinavian, to English depicting this. Then all he has to understand is the reason for their violent ways amongst themselves...
On the Viking homeland, the beasts turn out to be not just one monster but many. As I watched the events unfold, it seemed that in their first battle with them, although the monsters looked like men dressed in wolves' pelts, they seemed to have super-human strength. The battles are quite bloody in the film and heads roll, literally. But are these monsters really monsters, or are they men dressed as wolves?
From this point, there are many battles with the beasts all very bloody, but something I found disappointing was the fact that the main battle was fought at night and I found it difficult to work out who was fighting who.
Towards the ending, the Vikings go in search of Wendel, who is thought to be the Queen of the beasts. The Vikings are again following the advice of another, different mad soothsayer. They break into the beasts' camp and another bloody battle ensues and the "queen" is found amongst certain "gifts" that her tribe has brought her and she fiercely defends her lair.
So is that the end of the monsters' attacks on the Viking kingdoms? Not quite, there is retaliation in response to the intrusion. It would be an understatement to say the Vikings are worried about it as the final battle gets nearer and nearer.
On the DVD menu you can select what languages (and subtitles if required) you want. Listed is English, Italian, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Spanish and - English for the hard of hearing. There are 17 chapters in all listed that can be watched independently.
Personally, I enjoyed watching this movie, as it did not take a lot of concentration to work out what was going on. The plot is straightforward and the atmosphere of the period has been captured quite well to make it very enjoyable indeed. But if you do not like blood and gore, give it a miss. If you do like blood and gore, you may be a little disappointed because of the lighting that's used tends to conceal a lot of it - I think this is probably deliberate as it is rated 15.
However, seeing that it comes from the author or Jurassic Park and the director of Die hard, I would have expected more from the movie.
At the time of writing, the price of this DVD on Amazon is… from £4.35(used) up to £5.97 Amazon's own price.
Thanks for reading.
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Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 2000 - Drama - Director: Giuseppe Tornatore - Original Language: Italian - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Monica Bellucci, Giuseppe Sulfaro, Luciano Federico, Matilde Piana
What happened toThe 13th Warrior? Directed by John McTiernan (Die Hard), it's the tale of ... more
young Arab ambassador Ahmahd ibn Fahdalan (Antonio Banderas), who's banished from his homeland for loving the wrong woman. On his journeys he associates with a ra...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
What happened toThe 13th Warrior? Directed by John McTiernan (Die Hard), it's the tale of ... more
young Arab ambassador Ahmahd ibn Fahdalan (Antonio Banderas), who's banished from his homeland for loving the wrong woman. On his journeys he associates with a ra...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Antonio Banderas (The Mask Of Zorro, Evita) brings huge star power to an immensely ... more
thrilling action-adventure from the hit-making director of 'Die Hard' and 'The Thomas Crown Affair'!An exiled ambassador far from his homeland, Ahmed (Banderas) comes ac...
Antonio Banderas brings huge star power to an immensely thrilling action-adventure from ... more
the hit-making director of Die Hard! An exiled Ambassador far from his homeland Ahmed (Banderas) comes across a fierce band of warriors who are being attacked by...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Fantastic action movie, strong cast, excellent story, exceptional character interaction. Disadvantages: The movie was edited/cut to pieces - cant wait for the Directors cut version.
Blackcat01 18.05.2006 (18.05.2006)
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Review of The 13th Warrior (DVD)
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