As far as medieval action adventure epics are concerned, they don't come more proficient than this one.
The 13th Warrior (1999)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:87
Fresh:29
Rotten:58
Average Rating:4.6/10
Consensus: Atmospheric, great sets and costumes, but thin plot.
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
US Box Office: $0
Synopsis: Director John McTiernan takes viewers back to 900 A.D. in THE 13th WARRIOR. After courting "an untouchable" Muslim princess, Ahmed (Antonio Banderas) is banished and sent North as an emissary. When... Director John McTiernan takes viewers back to 900 A.D. in THE 13th WARRIOR. After courting "an untouchable" Muslim princess, Ahmed (Antonio Banderas) is banished and sent North as an emissary. When traveling from Baghdad to Saqaliba, he stumbles into an encampment of Vikings. At first repulsed by their Nordic ways, Ahmed soon grows fond of the Northerners and joins their party. When news is brought that a horde of flesh eating monsters are ravaging the land, the mystic Oracle ordains that a group of 13 must travel to fight their evil doings. Twelve Nordes rom the party are chosen, Ahmed, a Muslim, is picked as the thirteenth. Knowing that defeat is eminent, the 13 warriors must undergo indeterminable odds to battle and rid the land of the horrific flesh eaters. The 13th Warrior is an epic tour de force created by two of Hollywood's most ingenious: Michael Crichton (JURASSIC PARK, LOOKER) and John McTiernan (PREDATOR, THE LAST ACTION HERO). Its sheer epicness and style make it an astonishing spectacle. Never before has such detail and large scale beauty been present in a Viking film. [More]
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Diane Venora, Omar Sharif
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Diane Venora, Omar Sharif
Director: John McTiernan
Director: John McTiernan
Screenwriter: William Wisher, Warren Lewis
Producer: John McTiernan, Michael Crichton, Ned Dowd
Composer: Jerry Goldsmith
Reviews for The 13th Warrior
"The 13th Warrior" is a brazen attempt to brand Antonio Banderas as an A-lister with a C-grade script. Failure attends.
Jerry Goldsmith's rousing score exhibits more personality than any of the actors--or anything else in the film, for that matter.
Michael Crichton's story is underdeveloped and narrow in range, resulting in a tale more curious for its odd confluence of elements than for their edifying deployment.
Mr. Crichton may have found the perfect venue for his particular brand of character underdevelopment.
Shelved for over a year and probably heavily edited, it's better than it could have been.
At its best, this achieves the beauty and grandeur of a Kurosawa epic -- at its worst, however, it feels like a Python remake of The Vikings.
If you're in the mood to watch heads, arms and other appendages getting chopped off, this movie is for you.
The film is fascinating to watch, but I can hardly say what it's about, other than people killing each other.
It harks back to the late 1950s when people actually made movies about Vikings and other seafaring heroes named Sinbad and Jason.
An entertaining and serviceable adaptation. Dennis Storhoi delivers an awesome performance. Weak aspects of story made up for by great action.
Although the subject matter is not too pleasant and the gore is turned up to 11, Crichton's film is an excellent Nordic war story.
The film is based on Eaters of the Dead, possibly the worst novel Michael Crichton has ever written, and this film isn't even a passable adaptation.
For fans of the genre, it's an inexorably primal exercise almost like cinematic steroids: qualitatively lacking, if not harmful, yet superficially irresistible.
A sensação que fica, ao final da projeção, é a de que vimos um filme vazio - e sobre o personagem errado. E o que é pior: no qual nada acontece.
The screenplay effectively communicates the cross-cultural tensions between the Arabs, the Vikings, and the pagan Wendols.
Latest News for The 13th Warrior
November 05, 2008:
Michael Crichton Passes Away (1942-2008)
Best-selling author, screenwriter, and director Michael Crichton has passed away at the age of 66. The medical doctor-turned-filmmaker was best known for writing... More...
July 26, 2006:
Viking Epic Gets Banished to January
Marcus Nispel's "Pathfinder" was just bumped back from September 8th to January 12th, the move most likely prompted by the waves of muffled giggles that greeted the... More...
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