Viking Women And The Sea Serpent (DVD)

Advantages: A swashbuckling charge down memory lane!
Disadvantages: It isn't very PC and nor does it have great depth.

...find myself humming it and when I do I'm thinking back to the original cinema where I watched it over and over again. Sadly, that research further reveals that the director, Richard Fleischer and Kirk Douglas had collaborated before on '20,000 Leagues under the sea' but that they fell out whilst making 'The Vikings'. It seems each man blamed the other for this film not achieving its potential. One can only wonder what they'd have achieved if they hadn't been at loggerheads because, speaking with a hindsight of almost half a century, I enjoyed it just fine and, of course, with this DVD, I'm still able to. That music from the great horn that mingled with the orchestral music lifted the spirit. Watch this movie and go with determined Vikings into battles where arrows fill the skies like rain. See hand to hand combat and warriors crushed... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Great story, very well made, absorbing plot.
Disadvantages: A couple of places where pace of movie slows a little.

...of the women in the village happens to know an extraordinary amount about Grendel. "A LITERARY MONSTER MOVIE" Marilyn Smulders - The Halifax Daily News The story is very deep and often sad in parts. Grendel even keeps the skull of his dead father in like a shrine, in his cavern. Many times you see in the film that Grendel is full of emotion and can feel tremendous emotional pain. It is very easy to empathise what he must be going through and to hate the vikings. The film is very well made with great acting, and action scenes to equal the best action movies out there. Clothing and scenery are totally authentic. this is a very good film, that has obviously been well thought out. The DVD comes with a few deleted scnes and after viewing them, I agree they were better left out of the movie. The film also comes with a fancy cardboard outer... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: lovingly remastered and viewable in its original scale, insightful and interesting extras
Disadvantages: once more region 1 gets a better deal with more special features

...from the film on the dvd, let's talk about the dvd itself. The region 2 version is a 1 disc set. It contains the film, which has been lovingly restored. It is 118 minutes long, and has a few special features. They are: • Jules Verne & Walt Disney: 'Explorers of the Imagination' • Monsters of the Deep • The Humbolt Squid: 'A Real Sea Monster' • Tour of the Nautilus Excellent special features they are, as well. 'Explorers of the Imagination' is an interesting piece about Walt Disney and Jules Verne with famous modern day science fiction writers Samuel R. Delany and Gregory Benford and a few other notables offering their insight on both the original book and the Disney film adaption, discussing the men behind each and their visions. Monsters of the Deep is entertaining, but admittedly fluff. It is a 6 minute clip... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful