The 13th Warrior

Starring: Antonio Banderas, Vladimir Kulich, Dennis Storhoi, Omar Sharif
Directed by: John McTiernan, Michael Crichton
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Adventure
1999

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: An Arab poet (Antonio Banderas) is banished out of his kingdom after falling in love with the wrong woman. He is sent as an ambassador to the Norse kingdoms of the north, where he reluctantly joins a band of Norsemen who voyage to their homeland to destroy a supernatural evil threatening one of kinsman's villages.

Review:

Tim: The 13th Warrior was a troubled production that resulted in a lackluster movie, but this is disappointing, because all of the elements were present here for a terrific epic movie. However, the film was edited down, losing any "epic" status, and now is simply a small little period action movie. I didn't hate this movie, but I disliked its flaws, which are responsible for it being such a disappointment.

Far too many parts of this movie feel rushed or glossed over. At 102 minutes, this isn't an extremely short movie. I rarely say this, but it actually needed to be longer by 20-25 minutes. We miss out on some character development and the action scenes are often far too short. The biggest example of this is the big climactic battle, which is over before we even know it. The build up is pretty good, but the final battle leaves a great deal to be desired. It needed to be longer by at least 3-4 minutes. That would have been a fitting end, instead of the film's current state- as if, seeing the end of the tunnel, they simply wanted to end this movie as quickly as possible. That is a major flaw. We also get a number of scenes that feel rushed, instead of getting the time they need to fully develop. A good example of this is Antonio Banderas learning the Norseman's language. He sits by a fire and listens to them, and shortly after, is fluent in their language. Even if he is a poet, this is still very hard to believe. These scenes needed a few extra minutes of being fleshed out, so they are more believable. This is an example of the flaw which plagues this movie from start to finish.

I was disappointed because this movie actually should have worked. Antonio Banderas is actually really good in the lead role. He is believable as a poet and a reluctant warrior, and we really enjoy seeing his transformation and his resourcefulness as he surprises the Vikings around him- and the audience as well. Banderas does a very good job, which is a bit unfortunate, because most of it is wasted. He alone does make this movie watchable, but he got almost no help from the producers. The supporting cast- mostly unknowns- are all quite good as well. I really enjoyed the entire cast in this movie.

This film is an example of a great idea that was screwed up by Hollywood. This movie sat on the shelf for two years before finally being released, and was hastily "fixed" after test screenings deemed the film "unwatchable." The final product here is watchable- but not very good. It is not surprising then that this film is one of the biggest box office flops of all time- $160 million budget, $25 marketing, and the movie grosses $32 million domestically. That is a lot of lost money.

At the heart of this movie is a very good story from excellent writer Michael Crichton. This film could have been quite good, and from time to time, you see flashes of this movie's potential. However, it is deeply flawed, and so it never really gets better than being a decent movie. I wish some of the problems had been addressed earlier, because this could have been quite good. As is, it leaves you wishing it was better.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Mask of Zorro, The Legend of Zorro, Desperado, Assassins, King Arthur, Beowulf