The 13th Warrior

	Review by Howard Anderson © 2000 Howard Anderson

Synopsis

In the year of our Lord, 922 AD, an arabian poet and nobleman, Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, offers his love to a woman whose hand is already claimed by another. As suspicions are raised, the woman's outraged and vindictive husbond - a man of substantial power in Baghdad - arranges for the Kalif to exile the nobleman under the poor guise of an ambassadorship to the North. Ahmad Ibn Fadlan has no choise but to accept, and so he finds himself onto the barren steppes of the Ukraine, acompanying a camel carravan and joined in his travels by Melchisidek, an old friend of his father's.

Under attack by the Tartars - a band of nomadic thieves and killers - the carravan happens upon a river encampment of Norsemen, and at the mere sight of the Viking warriors the Tartars end their pursuit and retreat, leaving Ahmad Ibn Fadlan and the rest of the caravan to hesitantly seek refuge with the imfamous people from the North.

The next day a messenger arrives, telling the Vikings of a great evil that has gripped their kingdom - an evil whose name shall remain unspoken. The new chieftain, Buliwyf, summons the Oracle, and in reading the bones she calls for thirteen warriors.

But... The thriteenth warrior can not be a Northman. Thus, Ahmad Ibn Fadlan ends up the chosen one, and reluctantly he sets out along with the twelve other men to aid King Hrothgar in defending the tattered remains of his kingdom from the Wendol - The Eaters of the Dead.

Review

The translation from book to screen for "The 13th Warrior" has been quite an arduous undertaking, but, despite all the delays and what not, it is still one that came out much better than I had ever dared hope for. Much, much better.

Simply put, I loved this film! I have seen it twice upon writing this review, and so I don't think the fact of my Norseman blood has any influence - underlying or otherwise - in me making that statement. The brilliant story, the great characters, the breathtaking set designs, the astonishing cinematography, and the amazing way all of that has been captured by John McTiernan, that is what I fell for. And I fell hard.

One thing that adds alot to the film is the rich blend of characters, and the way that so many of them have been given just as much attention as that of Antonio Banderas. Most significantly Dennis Storyhøi as Herger the Joyous and Vladimir Kulich as Buliwyf.

Dennis Storhøi as Herger has some of the funniest lines in the movie, as well as his fair share of great and memorable scenes, and I must say that the kind of insane, balls-to-the-wall attitude that his character displayed, is just a pure blast to behold as they go into battle.

As Buliwyf, the cheiftain, Vladimir Kulich has quite a distinctive and powerful presence about him, and despite the starpower of Antonio Banderas, none of these characters find themselves overshadowed or otherwise put aside by him.

And like the character of Zorro, Antonio Banderas has managed to make Ahmad Ibn Fadlan HIS. After seeing this film, I can not for the life of me imagine another actor playing that part. The most interesting thing to see was the way the two conflicting and radically different cultures crashed and gradually started melting together within him. But, inspite of his acceptance by the Vikings and the situation in which he finds himself, he still doesn't forget who he was or where he came from.

I would've liked to have seen a bit more of Diane Venora as Queen Weilew and Omar Sharif as Melichisidek, and I think that in the original cut of John McTiernan we would have, but sadly, that was not to be.

But still, John McTiernan has directed a Viking epic where he has captured this part of history better than any and all who tried before, and with battle sequences the likes of what we are given here, I have trouble finding a downside this this film. There were times when I found the hairs standing up in the nape of my neck.

Image

The 16:9 enhanced image, framed in the correct aspect ratio of 2.35:1, is as good as they come. The colorscheme used in the film are for the most part earth-toned, but in the few instances where the colors do flare up, like during the credits sequence or when the battlefield runs red with blood, they intentionally appear heavily saturated. But never over-saturated, as there is no sign whatsoever of bleeding. The sharp-as-a-razors-edge image is a joy to behold from the first frame to the last, and I did not once detect any blemishes to this astounding transfere.

Sound

The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is one of the best I have heard in quite some time. In fact, I can't recall ever listening to a soundstage that so totally envelopes you with everything from the powerful and earth-shattering sounds of battle, the disconcerting creaks and cracks of enemies lurking, the acoustics and animal calls of nature, and dialogue that time and time again breaks free from the hold of the center speaker to pan around you, from left to right, back to front. You couldn't feel like you were anymore in the middle of the fray without actually being there, and when you see the Wendols bearing down on you, with spears in their hands and hunger in their eyes, I'm not sure you'd want that.

One very cool thing that noticed when a sword was being swug, was that the whoosh would sometimes start in the right rear channel and pan all the way around you, until the blade hit its intended. Über-cool stuff.

And then there's the bass, and whether it is hoofs poundig the dirt, bodies hitting the ground, fires blazing or the thunder roaring, the bass makes its presence both known and felt. The LFE channel is kept busy throughout, and there is also an enormous ammount of bass pumped into the other five channels, in both front and rear.

Jerry Goldsmith's beautiful score comes alive in the grandest of ways in this 5.1 mix, and the music, which acompanies the film perfectly, is perhaps the greatest track composed for such a film since "Conan the Barbarian" and "Braveheart".

This is true demo quality all the way.

Features

The only weakness of the DVD - the bonus features. There is only the original theatrical trailer and nothing else. I could be sad about this, but I'm not. The reason for that being Disney's anamorphic transfer of this film, which makes me forgive and forget any shortcomings there might be in the extras department. Now, it would have been nice with a making of documentary or an audio commentary by Michael Crichton, but when everything else is as good as it is here, I just can't seem to be able to bring myself down over it. A shame, yes. But still...

Overall Opinion

For me this was an epic and quite often very brutal adventure to behold, and not one to be easily forgotten. The plot is tense and exciting, the actors are perfect, the direction is right on the money. So I think it's a safe bet to say that if you found previous films venturing into this genre entertaining, like "The Vikings", "Conan the Barbarian" or "Braveheart", then "The 13th Warrior" is sure to make your day. Here's what SFX Magazine wrote about the film: "the most engaging Viking film yet committed to celluloid."

I couldn't agree more...