The Long Ships

The Long Ships (1963)

  • 50% of critics liked it
    (12 reviews)

  • 39% of users liked it
    (931 ratings)

In this elaborately mounted seafaring adventure, Rolfe (Richard Widmark) is a Viking leader with the cunning and devious mind of a pirate. Rolfe tells others sailors of "The Mother of Voices," a mammoth bell made of gold and as tall as three men, but he adds enough incorrect details to… More

Unrated,
Directed By
Written By
Beverly Cross, Berkeley Mather
Genres
Drama, Action & Adventure, Art House & International, Classics
In Theaters
Jun 24, 1964 Wide
Sony Pictures Entertainment

Critic Reviews

  • Variety Staff, Variety

    Any attempt to put this into the epic class falls down because of a hodge-podge of a storyline, a mixture of styles and insufficient development of characterization.

  • , TIME Magazine

    Has impossible acting, a preposterous script, some eminently seeworthy ship reconstructions, and more enjoyable bloody foolishness than many an epic costing three times as much.

  • Trevor Johnston, Time Out

    Awful international Technirama hodge-podge, adapted from a novel by Frank G Bengtsson, in which the Vikings wrestle with the Moors to lay hands on the legendary Golden Bell of St James (rather an anti-climax when it finally appears).

  • Howard Thompson, New York Times

    A hollow movie and a loud one - but it moves.

  • , TV Guide's Movie Guide

    The press books announced "Sidney Poitier in his first non-Negro role!" Poitier put it most elegantly: "To say it was disastrous is a compliment."

Read all 7 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Chris W


    Okay, so this film is unrealistic, silly, historically inaccurate, and a tad racist and misogynistic, but it's fun. Good, schlocky, entertaining fun. This story of Vikings on a quest to find a legendary bell made of solid gold in many ways feels like a precursor to stuff like… More

  • Tom E


    A good, if schlocky, view of the Vikings wanderings -- Schlocky or not, I liked it

  • xGary X


    This amusingly cheesy matinee style viking film features Richard Widmark and his brother Russ Tamblyn (sporting a very fetching pair of hot pants!) seemingly having loads of fun as norsemen on the pillage in pursuit of a legendary golden bell, also coveted by Moorish prince Sidney… More

Get It Now

Available in standard definition

Learn more about renting and buying on Flixster

Also available on

UltraViolet Retailers

Other Retailers

Subscription Services

Not Available
Not Available
Not Available

Cast

See more (16)