More than a Bit Corny but Great Performances From the Stars
Added 7/12/2009
A pretty entertaining film from the 50's combining solid performances and beautiful cinematography . The Vikings held up pretty well over time. Ernest Borgnine is actually fabulous as a Viking King. Kirk Douglas is standard issue "Kirk Douglas" as his son and the two of them together spill wine all over their costumes as they play the lusty Viking role for all it's worth.
The plot revolves around a love triangle involving an English princess attractively portrayed by Janet Leigh. Tony Curtis is passable as a slave with a secret past.
Some of the screenplay is a bit corny. Borgnine must yell out "What A Son!" a half dozen times - but overall it's an entertaining two hours.
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The DVD came as ordered in excellent condition. Would order again from the same company. Satisfied customer in Texas!!!
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The Vikings
Added 5/4/2009
You can add this movie to your Tony Curtis collection. Kirk Douglas is also great. Mr. Curtis is great as the slave turned brother of Douglas. The sword fight they have at the end of the move is one of the best I've seen. A must see if you are a Tony Curtis or a Kirk Douglas fan.
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Kingdom Crushers
Added 1/12/2009
"The Vikings" was a cinematic remake of a book of the same title and depicts, in Hollywood style, a little known event in English/Viking history. An English king has slain a Viking chief in a foul and duplicitous manner. In the actual history, if I can recall rightly, a Viking envoy to the English kingdom, is seized and murdered. In the movie, the chief is 'rescued' from a shipwreck and fed to a pit of wolves. No matter. The Vikings now have a cause and attack the English fortress, prevail and kill the Saxon king. The true history is probably more grim than this. The King is captured and, reportedly, 'the eagle is cut from his back' i.e. the skin of the back is incised to the spine; ribs are cut centrally and pulled back and laterally. When the operation is over, the victim, who now has 'wings', looks something like a bloody eagle, hence the name.
Anyway, this is a thoroughly entertaining film...if...you can get over the fact that Tony Curtis with his Bronx accent is sorely miscast. Douglas, Borgnine and Janet Leigh make up for this cinematic blunder and carry us back into another time with all the color and spectacle it deserves. I especially liked Kirk Douglas who makes a very effective Viking, indeed. 'Prepare a funeral for a VIKING.' Douglas' burning ship 'burial' is beautiful and tragic and we watch Douglas going to Valhalla in a blaze of glory.
Interestingly, although ship burials [in the ground] were reasonably common and although we have records of chieftains' corpses being immolated in ships parked on land, we have only one story of a cremation of a chieftain in which the ship is floating on the sea...and...this tale is mythological. The Norse God Baldur is slain by the foul mechanizations of the evil Loki. Baldur is incinerated in a floating ship burial. Did it happen in real life? My guess is 'yes' but, as yet, we have no evidence for it.
Ron Braithwaite, author of novels--'Skull Rack' and 'Hummingbird God'--on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico
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Should be considered a classic
Added 12/21/2008
It was a time when the Vikings rampaged across Europe, taking what they wanted and letting no one stand in their way. But the slave, Eric (played by Tony Curtis), has a secret, a secret that will cause men to play games of power for very great stakes indeed. But if Eric is one pole that this crisis turns on, the other is Morgan (Janet Leigh), a woman so beautiful that men will do anything to possess her.
OK, that's probably a pretty poor introduction. This is a great movie. The makers set out to make the movie as realistic as possible; eschewing any horned-helmets and whatnot, and the result is a breathtaking movie that is a real experience to watch. Also, the story is great, with lots of great adventure and romance. My fifteen-year-old son and I sat down to watch this movie, and he enjoyed it as much as I did.
Yeah, this is a great movie, one that should be considered a classic. If you like action/adventure movies, then you will like this one. And, if you like historical fiction, especially Viking fiction, then you will love this movie. I think that this is a great movie, and I do not hesitate to recommend it to everyone!
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