Hollywood has never managed to make a decent Viking film and THE VIKINGS doesn't alter that trend. Sure, THE VIKINGS is an entertaining enough movie in the finest old-fashioned sense, full of crowd-pleasing moments of pleasure like they used to do in the 1950s, but it's hardly authentic and at times descends into the kind of B-movie fantasy favoured by such fare as SIEGE OF THE SAXONS.
I could go through and nitpick this movie for an age, but let's suffice to say that the Anglo-Saxons didn't build in stone, so watching the Vikings attacking a Norman-era castle build a couple of hundred years later is complete nonsense. Not to mention the silly intricacies of the plot, which presents the Vikings themselves as ambivalent at worse, if not the outright 'good guys', despite their reputation as bloodthirsty marauders.
Inevitably, the fun aspects of the film are largely down to the actors. Headlining the cast is Kirk Douglas in one of his more memorable turns, and indeed Douglas is the reason to keep watching. He's the life and soul of the party, tackling each of his scenes with gusto and never flagging for a second. Tony Curtis is more sensitive and thoughtful, and nearly as effective, and Ernest Borgnine a treat.
Despite a fairly lengthy running time, THE VIKINGS never really flags although there's a lot of to-ing and fro-ing in the plot. The battle sequences are well-staged and fun, although filled with plenty of silliness, particularly at the climax which asks the viewer to suspend their disbelief over and over again (and then some!). THE VIKINGS is pure Hollywood hokum, and as fun as it sounds, but a classic it isn't.
I could go through and nitpick this movie for an age, but let's suffice to say that the Anglo-Saxons didn't build in stone, so watching the Vikings attacking a Norman-era castle build a couple of hundred years later is complete nonsense. Not to mention the silly intricacies of the plot, which presents the Vikings themselves as ambivalent at worse, if not the outright 'good guys', despite their reputation as bloodthirsty marauders.
Inevitably, the fun aspects of the film are largely down to the actors. Headlining the cast is Kirk Douglas in one of his more memorable turns, and indeed Douglas is the reason to keep watching. He's the life and soul of the party, tackling each of his scenes with gusto and never flagging for a second. Tony Curtis is more sensitive and thoughtful, and nearly as effective, and Ernest Borgnine a treat.
Despite a fairly lengthy running time, THE VIKINGS never really flags although there's a lot of to-ing and fro-ing in the plot. The battle sequences are well-staged and fun, although filled with plenty of silliness, particularly at the climax which asks the viewer to suspend their disbelief over and over again (and then some!). THE VIKINGS is pure Hollywood hokum, and as fun as it sounds, but a classic it isn't.