The 13th Warrior - movie review

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It has been more than 20 years since the theatrical release of this movie and every now and then, I will take my DVD out of it's box for another viewing. Each time, I still wonder why it was not a box office hit (it costs thrice or four times what it made)..

It's a Micheal Crichton book adaption, done on a challenge as to whether he could make an interesting story out of a folklore tale of the Beowolf. He does spin a marvellous yarn that incorporates the traditional folklore, along with elements of the "Dirty Dozen", and bit of culture mixup and good doses of action with lots of thrills and spills.

So a Muslim scholar type gets sent to Scandinavia and  ends up fighting man eating bear like creatures, fighting against the odds against evil. Antonio Banderas is wonderful as the scholar turned warrior, whilst Vladimir Kulich plays the charismatic leader of the baker's dozen to good effect.

If you haven't not seen it before, go ahead and grab that DVD, yeah, I said DVD, because sadly, there has yet to be a Blu Ray release. The surround effects are decent, real deep bass may be lacking, but the plot and the amount of male testosterone on display makes up for it. Bravado galore!

Recommended.

What an ending scene!




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