|
Review by Susan Granger
1 star out of 4
For more than two years, this cliche-ridden action adventure
has gathered dust on the shelf at Disney's Buena Vista Pictures. No
one knew quite when to release it or how to market its blood 'n' guts
content to the public. Antonio Banderas ("The Mask of Zorro") plays
Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan, an urbane Muslim poet-diplomat banished from his
Egyptian homeland during the 10th century, along with elderly Omar
Sharif, who acts as his translator. Fleeing from Baghdad in a caravan
after Banderas has indulged in a foolish sexual liaison, they join up
with some growling, swaggering, blond Nordic warriors with names like
Helfdane the Large (Clive Russell), Skeld the Superstitious (Richard
Bremmer), and Herger the Joyous (Dennis Storhoi), among
others. They're led by Buliwyf (Vladimir Kulich) on a quest to
liberate a kingdom across the sea from a mysterious, marauding tribe
of bear-like savages who have been terrorizing everyone - at least
when it gets foggy. (They filmed it in British Columbia where the
mists obviously rise on cue.) Based on Michael Crichton's 1976 novel,
"Eaters of the Dead," it combines rowdy, swashbuckling brutality with
a hint of the supernatural as they pursue the ferocious "terror that
must not be named." Director John McTiernan did this long before "The
Hunt for Red October" and he would be wise to leave it off his
resume. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "The 13th Warrior" is a
ridiculously bloodthirsty 3, proving grisly gore has no limits.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
|
out of 4
