Now this is pretty much the epitome of the big, expensive Technicolor "matinee" movie meant to transport the viewer to another, more lively and dangerous era. It's a manly movie full of fighting, pillaging, wassailing, wenching and carousing, to the point where both "adrenaline" and "testosterone" should have been mentioned somewhere in the credits. (People wishing to get into the spirit of things should watch it while demolishing a piece of smoked boar and swigging large amounts of ale.)
As an evocation of the Viking way of life this may be one-sided, but there are still interesting things to see. For instance, the movie contains a recreation of a highly dangerous but spectacular stunt where young men would run/jump from one ship's oar to another. The Viking ships themselves are impressive : efficient, elegant and lethal, like poisonous flowers. For quite a lot of Medieval Europeans the sight of one of these things must have been among the very last things they saw...
However, "The Vikings" falls somewhat short in the characterization department. There's not a lot of psychological depth or nuance. For instance, one of the characters is an English queen who gets raped during a Viking raid and falls pregnant as a result. She grows to love her unborn child and later, when she gives birth to a baby, she cherishes that baby. It is noticeable that the queen looks upon her newborn without the tangled mix of emotions one would expect in real life : maternal love, possibly, but also fear, shame, regret, hatred, resentment.
The music is excellent - just the thing one needs for a violent and colourful epic - but beware, it tends to creep into the brain...
As an evocation of the Viking way of life this may be one-sided, but there are still interesting things to see. For instance, the movie contains a recreation of a highly dangerous but spectacular stunt where young men would run/jump from one ship's oar to another. The Viking ships themselves are impressive : efficient, elegant and lethal, like poisonous flowers. For quite a lot of Medieval Europeans the sight of one of these things must have been among the very last things they saw...
However, "The Vikings" falls somewhat short in the characterization department. There's not a lot of psychological depth or nuance. For instance, one of the characters is an English queen who gets raped during a Viking raid and falls pregnant as a result. She grows to love her unborn child and later, when she gives birth to a baby, she cherishes that baby. It is noticeable that the queen looks upon her newborn without the tangled mix of emotions one would expect in real life : maternal love, possibly, but also fear, shame, regret, hatred, resentment.
The music is excellent - just the thing one needs for a violent and colourful epic - but beware, it tends to creep into the brain...