Unsheath your weapon! (The 13th Warrior (DVD))

Member Name: moronboy

Product:	The 13th Warrior (DVD)
Date:	28/11/00 (40 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great fun

Disadvantages: But crap at the same time

If ever you've wanted to know what a night out in Wigan, my former home, is like, then look no further than this thick slice of beefy action, directed by John McTiernan, whose action movies are generally quite elegant (think 'Hunt for Red October' or ' Thomas Crown Affair'), but who was here obviously having 'Predator' flashbacks. Yes it's all axe-fights and beer and killing - though for a film so obviously modelled on the nightlife to be found on King Street, there is a mysterious absence of pies.

Anyway, there are these Vikings who have a terrible foe to face, and they enlist the help of an Egyptian adventurer (Antonio Banderas), who none of them seems to have noticed is actually Spanish. Vikings are clearly not the most intelligent of people, and they insist that the fake Egyptian (who attempts to bolster his Egyptianess by chatting to Omar Sharif, who is Egyptian, in a few fun scenes) go and help kill the dark and unseen foe.

For the star of an all-action kill-fest, Banderas is a bit fey, and really doesn't get enough killing in before the film is done. As you can see, I found 'The 13th Warrior' a bit hard to take seriously, particularly given its silly plot (adapted, and considerably toned down, from a crazy novel called 'Eaters of the Dead' by Michael Crichton). The action is good when it comes, and like most of McTiernan's movies it looks terrific. Consumed with curry and some Stella, it's good fun, but compared to Richard Fleischer's brilliantly ruthless 'The Vikings', it's no classic.

Summary: