The Viking Sagas
by Michael Chapman
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Actor: Þórir Waagfjörð, Hinrik Ólafsson, Ingibjörg Stefánsdóttir, Ralf Moeller, Sven-Ole ThorsenDirector: Michael Chapman
Brand: Image Entertainment
Cinematographer: Dean Lent
Writer: Michael Chapman
Producer: Paul R. Gurian
Writer: Paul R. Gurian
Producer: Snorri Þórisson
Producer: Tim Van Rellim
Writer: Dale Herd
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 83 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-08-22
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Image Entertainment
DVD Reviews of The Viking Sagas
DVD Review: Worst viking movie ever
Summary: 1 Stars
I can say without hesitation that The Viking Sagas is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I have sat through more than a few bad movies, and so let me insist that this claim is no hyperbolic gesture. It simply would not be enough to say that this is merely a bad movie. There are scores of terrible films out there with senseless plots, tepid action sequences and ham-handed direction - and many of them also feature German body-building champions in prominent roles.
No, what sets The Viking Sagas apart as being truly, profoundly awful, is that it inspires ignorance, specifically, false understanding of a complex and often strange culture. A number of reviewers praise this film for its allegiance to the source material: they do so, I believe, in error. I have studied dozens of sagas, in English and Old Norse, and I have no idea what story this film is supposed to be based on. The screenwriter's folly is the actors' tragedy - the Icelandic cast is made complicit in the betrayal and debasement of a literary heritage with which they are no doubt closely familiar and rightfully proud. Creating a wholly new story would of course have been fair game if the writers had remained true to the spirit of the sagas, but this film owes much more to Star Wars than Sturluson. The reviewer who posits that the script is based on Laxdælasaga is too generous by far. He is correct that the names "Kjartan" and "Gudrun" were boosted from that story, but the similarities end there. Even more puzzling is how, with a cast of dozens of Icelanders, the pronunciations of the names Kjartan and Kjetil were so viciously butchered.
One suspects that the director is at fault for these crimes and many more. Indeed, much blame ought to fall on Mr. Chapman, that swan of the cinema who brought us both "Space Jam" and "Kindergarten Cop." For being invisible behind the camera, however, he comes off as a more sympathetic figure than the film's blundering star, who appears as a crudely shaped tree stump dreadfully miscast as a speaking person. Special mention must also be made of whoever took it upon him- or herself to soften the lead's image by giving him a feathered hairdo. His bonny curls just scream "viking blood feud."
I agree that there really ought to be a good viking movie, but The Viking Sagas is a step backward, not forward. Any reasonably clever filmmaker who will just take the time to read - read! - the sagas themselves and chat with someone who knows a thing or two about them will find a rich, untapped vein of narrative from which any number of compelling movies could be made. Until then, for anyone that was intrigued by this movie, you'll get a better sense of the viking age by watching a black metal music video - or checking out any one of the many excellent translations of the sags that are widely available. To be fair, this movie is not unremittingly awful. The costumes and sets were all quite good, and the weather - stormy, windy, and always overcast - was unmistakably Icelandic.
Description of The Viking Sagas
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