"Oh, well that's much more sensible than just Thorfinn getting killed. Shall we all go and pack now"
The life of a viking is rough: there's the looting, the pillaging, the killing, etc. During one raid, Erik (Robbins) encounters a woman, Helga (Bond), who questions his occupation. After she is killed by other vikings, Erik begins questioning his purpose and the rationale for all the death and destruction his cohorts cause.
After talking to the wise woman, Freya (Eartha Kitt), Erik assembles a group of brave vikings to travel across the ocean to the country of Hy-Brasil to find the "Horn Resounding" to wake the gods and end the age of violence (Ragnarok). But not everyone wants the violence to end... Keitel Blacksmith (Cady) needs war to continue his trade, so his scheming apprentice Loki (Anthony Sher) suggests going along to sabotage the trip... and to further guarantee the violence will not end, but his master will, Loki goes to Halfdan the Black (Cleese) to make sure none of the vikings return.
With Halfdan and his "dog-soldiers" giving chase, the vikings battle the sea and each other...until they reach Hy-Brasil. But the vikings are confounded by the inhabitants:
With the clueless King Arnulf (Jones) more interested in "singing" with his people, and his cunning daughter Princess Aud (Stubbs), will the vikings get the horn and reach their destiny?
This was my first non-Python Terry Jones film... and I'm not entirely impressed. Yes, this film had funny moments and lines, but they aren't enough to save the film. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great.
One of the funniest gags is the seating arrangements on the viking ship. There is a single row of seats on either side of the ship so the occupant can row, but picking seats isn't easy. At first they pick their own seats, but people aren't happy, so Erik moves them around... then all the bigger men are on one side, so Erik moves them again....
John Cleese steals the few scenes he is in (his part should have been bigger) as Halfan the Black. And his ship has another funny scene involving an invisibility cloak and viking battle. But the funniest lines of the scene go to Slave Master, played by Tsutomu Sekine, who yells at the viking slaves in Japanese (he is Japanses, they are not and don't understand anything he is saying). All of his lines are gold!
Most of the well known actors in the film, only appear in a few scenes... and overall their purpose is questionable (such as Mickey Rooney, who is billed second, but only appears in a few scenes and doesn't do much). Their presence takes away from the film, as you pull back to recognize the actor and miss whatever information the character is supposed to pass on. Also, the ending is a major letdown... I haven't lost faith in Jones (after all, he did co-direct the Python films), but I doubt I will watch this film again.
Erik the Viking (1989) 107 minutes
Director: Terry Jones
Starring: Tim Robbins as Erik
Imogen Stubbs as Princess Aud
Gary Cady as Keitel Blacksmith
Charles McKeown as Ulf the Maddeningly Calm
Tim McInnerny as Sven the Berserk
John Gordon Sinclair as Ivar the Boneless
Richard Ridings as Thorfinn Skullsplitter
Freddie Jones as Harald the Missionary
John Cleese as Halfdan the Black
Samantha Bond as Helga
Terry Jones as King Arnulf
After talking to the wise woman, Freya (Eartha Kitt), Erik assembles a group of brave vikings to travel across the ocean to the country of Hy-Brasil to find the "Horn Resounding" to wake the gods and end the age of violence (Ragnarok). But not everyone wants the violence to end... Keitel Blacksmith (Cady) needs war to continue his trade, so his scheming apprentice Loki (Anthony Sher) suggests going along to sabotage the trip... and to further guarantee the violence will not end, but his master will, Loki goes to Halfdan the Black (Cleese) to make sure none of the vikings return.
With Halfdan and his "dog-soldiers" giving chase, the vikings battle the sea and each other...until they reach Hy-Brasil. But the vikings are confounded by the inhabitants:
"You mean... you can't kill ANYBODY?"
"Right! Isn't it wonderful?"
"What? Not being able to kill anybody?"
"Well, of course."
"How?"
"Well... for a start... er... there's no killing..."
"Well, OBVIOUSLY there's no killing."
"Well..."
"But how d'you take revenge?"
"How do you punish people?"
"How do you DEFEND yourselves?"
"We don't have to. We're all terribly nice to each other."
"Right! Isn't it wonderful?"
"What? Not being able to kill anybody?"
"Well, of course."
"How?"
"Well... for a start... er... there's no killing..."
"Well, OBVIOUSLY there's no killing."
"Well..."
"But how d'you take revenge?"
"How do you punish people?"
"How do you DEFEND yourselves?"
"We don't have to. We're all terribly nice to each other."
With the clueless King Arnulf (Jones) more interested in "singing" with his people, and his cunning daughter Princess Aud (Stubbs), will the vikings get the horn and reach their destiny?
This was my first non-Python Terry Jones film... and I'm not entirely impressed. Yes, this film had funny moments and lines, but they aren't enough to save the film. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great.
One of the funniest gags is the seating arrangements on the viking ship. There is a single row of seats on either side of the ship so the occupant can row, but picking seats isn't easy. At first they pick their own seats, but people aren't happy, so Erik moves them around... then all the bigger men are on one side, so Erik moves them again....
"Now you've got all the ones with beards on one side and all the moustaches on the other"
"It doesn't matter"
"It doesn't matter"
John Cleese steals the few scenes he is in (his part should have been bigger) as Halfan the Black. And his ship has another funny scene involving an invisibility cloak and viking battle. But the funniest lines of the scene go to Slave Master, played by Tsutomu Sekine, who yells at the viking slaves in Japanese (he is Japanses, they are not and don't understand anything he is saying). All of his lines are gold!
Most of the well known actors in the film, only appear in a few scenes... and overall their purpose is questionable (such as Mickey Rooney, who is billed second, but only appears in a few scenes and doesn't do much). Their presence takes away from the film, as you pull back to recognize the actor and miss whatever information the character is supposed to pass on. Also, the ending is a major letdown... I haven't lost faith in Jones (after all, he did co-direct the Python films), but I doubt I will watch this film again.
Erik the Viking (1989) 107 minutes
Director: Terry Jones
Starring: Tim Robbins as Erik
Imogen Stubbs as Princess Aud
Gary Cady as Keitel Blacksmith
Charles McKeown as Ulf the Maddeningly Calm
Tim McInnerny as Sven the Berserk
John Gordon Sinclair as Ivar the Boneless
Richard Ridings as Thorfinn Skullsplitter
Freddie Jones as Harald the Missionary
John Cleese as Halfdan the Black
Samantha Bond as Helga
Terry Jones as King Arnulf
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