The 13th Warrior (1999)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Jeff "

  
  Interesting action film that delivers on action and thrills. Although at times lacking, The 13th Warrior is good entertainment. Although lacking at times, the film has some solid action, and in the end it's what makes this film worth watching. The 13th Warrior is a mindless… More
  Interesting action film that delivers on action and thrills. Although at times lacking, The 13th Warrior is good entertainment. Although lacking at times, the film has some solid action, and in the end it's what makes this film worth watching. The 13th Warrior is a mindless action romp set against a historical background. Directed by John McTiernan, director of Die Hard, this film delivers action and thrills that will please any action movie fan. Antonio Banderas is pretty good here, and along with The Mask of Zorro, this is one of his more enjoyable film. Although lacking at times in story, the film delivers effective action that makes this film worth watching. There's a good cast here, nothing ever too grand, but they all give decent enough performances to make this film interesting. The film relies on the action to deliver the thrills, thus the 13th Warrior is short on a epic story, but in the end it's not a big deal. The film is a popcorn flick in the end, and it most certainly delivers the action you'd expect. Despite its imperfections, this is a well made actioner that's simply designed to entertain you. 13th Warrior is fun from start to finish and is very violent, action packed and moves at a fast pace.Not a great film, but still worth watching for an entertaining evening of mindless action.

• Phil H

  
  Historical Vikings vs barbarians, hack n slash flick made by 'Die Hard' director John McTiernan? should be kick ass right? well sort of, it is a decent flick but its abit messy and not overly as memorable as you'd think. Based on a Michael Crichton novel (which was all… More
  Historical Vikings vs barbarians, hack n slash flick made by 'Die Hard' director John McTiernan? should be kick ass right? well sort of, it is a decent flick but its abit messy and not overly as memorable as you'd think. Based on a Michael Crichton novel (which was all the rage back in the 90's) which involved the curious mix of a travelling exiled Arab poet who befriends and joins a small village of Norsemen (Vikings) and ends up fighting a tribe of barbarian cannibals that dress as bears because they believe they are bears. The film isn't accurate of course, it is based on actual fact but has been hugely exaggerated and made more exciting for both the novel and film. The lead character 'Fadlan' was a real Arabic traveller and he did go north and experience Viking life but all the battles with cannibals (based on the Beowulf folklore) is complete fantasy. So the film has a touch of grounding in reality which makes it more interesting and urges you to learn more which is good, the film itself isn't too bad, compared to the novel I don't know but there isn't too much happening in the film other than time wasting dialog inter-spursted with pitched battles. The dialog is very wooden really and somewhat 'state the obvious' all the time, the film does feel a little rushed and choppy probably due to the problems whist being made and really the battles, which are the focal point, aren't all that good either. The film is solid and is reasonably interesting but it just feels very underwhelming, as if there is a really really good kick ass film somewhere in there wanting to get out. Banderas looks the part of the Arab and the Viking cast also look good as does the cold looking muddy location work but Sharif seems to have been stuck in there simply for big name status and to try and elevate the film to epic levels as he does pretty much nothing of importance and disappears very quickly. The film does get slightly more silly as it progresses towards the end but all in all it just about does the job of keeping you entertained. The barbarian hordes the Vikings fend off are too unrealistic really I think, that's the problem, and of course most of them are all just sword fodder for the heroes so the usual thing. I think 'Pathfinder' does it better.

• Dean !

  
  A very average swordplay action film but has an ok cast.

• Al S

  
  An awesome and intense epic thrill-machine. A solid and adrenaline-charged action-packed adventure thriller. It's bold, thrilling and exhilarating all the way to it's amazing finish. An edge of your seat adventure that's flat-out spellbinding with searing suspense and… More
  An awesome and intense epic thrill-machine. A solid and adrenaline-charged action-packed adventure thriller. It's bold, thrilling and exhilarating all the way to it's amazing finish. An edge of your seat adventure that's flat-out spellbinding with searing suspense and brutal action sequences. An explosive, bone-chilling and heart-pounding movie that's just spectacular to watch. I loved this movie. This stands with some of Director, John McTiernan's action classics like Die Hard. A supremely well-crafted and brilliantly performed film. Antonio Banderas is at his best.

• Rachel F

  
  This movie is amazing. All of the actors play their parts perfectly and the story and scenery are perfect as well.

• Conner R

  
  Extremely underrated and a great movie about Vikings vs. Cannibals. While I think there is probably a better John McTiernan cut around there somewhere, this works just fine as an action/epic. I like that it's not overly flashy or sentimental, just good old battle scenes and an… More
  Extremely underrated and a great movie about Vikings vs. Cannibals. While I think there is probably a better John McTiernan cut around there somewhere, this works just fine as an action/epic. I like that it's not overly flashy or sentimental, just good old battle scenes and an interesting adventure story. The individual characters are great and fun to watch, some great acting from the entire cast. The sets and design is flawless, next to no CGI. This is definitely a forgotten classic.

• Wahida K

  
  The 13the Warrior was a boring movie.

• Anthony L

  
  I'm not really in to these kinds of films but I did enjoy this one. It has a very good decapitation scene!

• Curtis L

  
  Vikings and Man Eating Bear People. How can you go wrong? Fun Arab Antonio only makes it better. Unfortunately it got a bit boring in the last half hour.

• Jason O

  
  "The 13th Warrior" stars Antonio Banderas who unwillingly becomes the 13th warrior. He is forced to go away from his people because he loved the wrong woman. Soon, he starts staying with a group of Vikings who like to kid around a lot and they frequently fight a tribe that… More
  "The 13th Warrior" stars Antonio Banderas who unwillingly becomes the 13th warrior. He is forced to go away from his people because he loved the wrong woman. Soon, he starts staying with a group of Vikings who like to kid around a lot and they frequently fight a tribe that is all humans disguised as bears. "The 13th Warrior" is one of those movies that you have to watch from the very beginning and grasp every single word because it will leave you confused if you don't watch and listen like you should. It's a good tale about a man who must make a new kind of life for himself, and it's exciting in parts. The battles are gory and exciting, and the movie has pretty good special effects. My only complaint is that it didn't have as many battle scenes or as much action as I would've liked to of seen. But the plot and the good acting keep it from failing. If you like movies that tell old and intriguing stories of Vikings or other ancient groups from history, I'd recommend getting "The 13th Warrior." NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2000. I was being generous, I don't like Banderas and this movie was soooooooo boring!

• moon r

  
  really a fun actioner, and banderas' best film to my mind

• EightThirty .

  
  Great, Fantastic...Brilliant!!! How 'bout the part when he figures out thier language aye ^_^

• Mike S

  
  Cool appearance by Sven Wolter :-)

• xGary X

  
  A horrendous testament to the folly of studio interference, this initially intriguing medieval adventure soon proves to be plotless and pointless.

• Jason S

  
  I liked this action flick and I thought Banderas was great in it.

• Nate Z

  
  [font=Arial][color=darkred]The movie is supposedly based upon Crichton's novel 'Eaters of the Dead' but to what extent I don't know having not read it, and after the movie I'd never be interested in reading one sentence. The story goes like this; Antonio is… More
  [font=Arial][color=darkred]The movie is supposedly based upon Crichton's novel 'Eaters of the Dead' but to what extent I don't know having not read it, and after the movie I'd never be interested in reading one sentence. The story goes like this; Antonio is kicked out of his homeland for making googily-eyes at the wrong lady, then picked up by a Norse group of men to stop a band of bear-people from killing a small village. That's the plot. There it is. I think I wrote something like this when I was in second grade, but it was in crayon.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]The overblown sword swinging epic wannabe is nothing more than a series of carnage strung together. The movie is basically one long battle sequence with plenty of heads rolling and blood spilling. I just wish that the battles were lit better so I could see what the hell was going on. There's so much blood flying that there should be a sign in the theater saying "Warning: The first five rows, you will get wet." You know you're in trouble with a Medieval hack-and-slash piece when the most interesting thing during the battles is the pretty scenery. And pretty it is.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Antonio Banderas hones the art of the befuddled stare and surmises it as the only attempt of sensible acting in the movie. Rounding out the rest of the baker's dozen of warriors are mostly unknown Scandinavian actors that will remain unknown. Lucky for them. Banderas tries to keep the audience's attention but is powerless to stop the inedvitable yawns that will come.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]The characters are all copies of the same mold and the characterzation is less than paper thin. The story is so incomprehensible and incoherent that it introduces characters, gives them all promise, then directly forgets they ever existed for the rest of the movie and steers off to the next beheading. The love interest is horribly underused and as such largely made for the purpose of cleaning some nasty cuts and wounds from the big bad boys. The movie is extrememly slow paced, sometimes unbearbably so. The cliched script as a whole introduces so many other promising directions that do nothing but enrage you with the path the movie does decide to take to the end.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Being nothing above a tesosterone pumped B-movie, 'The 13th Warrior' even fails to excite the average movie goer with any sense of suspense or tension. This movie has been sitting on the shelf of Touchtone for over a year of reshoots, cuts, test screenings and such. I wish it had remained on the shelf.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Nate's Grade: C- [/color][/font]

• Bill C

  
  Societies evolution was not driven forward by Greeks, Romans and Anglos, they were only the scribes, plumbers and toilet makes. The real quantum leaps forward were by the travelers in this case Moors and the Vikings. Peoples who were world travelers and pollinates of the seeds for… More
  Societies evolution was not driven forward by Greeks, Romans and Anglos, they were only the scribes, plumbers and toilet makes. The real quantum leaps forward were by the travelers in this case Moors and the Vikings. Peoples who were world travelers and pollinates of the seeds for most of the current human development. Antonio Banderas plays a Moorish ambassador sent to set up a relationship with the then powerful Viking tribes who travel the length and breadth of Europe and Mediterranean. An educated young up and coming courtesan he is given this unwanted charge after some if his indiscretions are found out. He arrives speaking many languages but none in common with the Norse. He us unwillingly drawn into being the thirteenth warrior who are planning to conquer a religious cult that threatens their villages. The imposing Norse warriors are a sharp contrast to the eloquently mannered and dressed Banderas. The director takes you throught the process of Bandras learning their language word by word and at the same time develops the characters of the other 12 warriors. As the language skills develop the perception of the fierce warrior?s changes to a group of normal guys on a mission to save their kinsmen. Male bonding set to overdrive. The director uses similar evolution to first show the cult very mysteriously/magically evil to be just bad people exploiting others fears. If I ?d have to pick a reason why this movie is panned so badly is that This movie, like most of standard fare history, simply omits women as a factor in developing societies. Watch for yourself and judge.

• Chad R

  
  This is a retelling of the Beowulf/Grendel story as reimagined by Michael Crichton. As usual the Book really outperformed the movie. Although it is not bad and worth a look. Recommend the book more though. Don't expect any Oscar worth performances but "My name... is… More
  This is a retelling of the Beowulf/Grendel story as reimagined by Michael Crichton. As usual the Book really outperformed the movie. Although it is not bad and worth a look. Recommend the book more though. Don't expect any Oscar worth performances but "My name... is Antonio Banderas" does alright in his role.

• Aurelius D

  
  Not impressed at all.

• kawai d

  
  Wanted to give it 5 stars but watched it again recently and the pacing is a little slow. Then I remembered the final battle and gave it 5 stars anyway.

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