A lot of fun.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I watched this film last night, well actually I gave it 40 minutes and then switched it off. I don't like doing that to films but it was just so tedious and unengaging.I know it's a Norwegian film and hence thought it might be a little harder to grasp but the endless talk of Birkenbeiers and Baglans and Hakons, especially when relayed in subtitles, is just too much to get your head around.That would have been fine if the action had pulled it through but it just had so little involvement. One of the heroes has his wife and child killed and as a viewer you didn't feel anything. No berserker rage from the hero, no sweeping music, no feeling that someone was 'going to pay'.The guy then ski's like a banshee to warn his friends and they immediately start some kangaroo court where they are considering beheading him even though he's warning them of impending doom.The bad guys turn up, all 12-16 of them, and some lame LARP-ing style fight ensues. By this point, I was bored by the action, turned off by the stupidity of the good guys (if they were) and uninterested in what was going on.

Anyone who likes medieval action movie or historical re-enactment will enjoy this film. It's not a memorable film unfortunately. Sure there's dynamic double axe battles, Nordic landscapes to admire and history but it lacks that special touch masterpieces have.Two men carry and protect the baby son of the dead king of Norwegia across the mountains from Lilhammer. They are Norwegian Ski Infantry (Birkebeiner).The Church wants this baby dead in order to take control of the other half of the country. Inspired by true events, these heroic stories changed Norwegian history forever. Modern Birkebeiner racers also re-enact the famous ski tour, this time around going in the opposite direction. They are all required to bear a backpack weighing at least 3.5 kilos, meant to represent the pack containing the royal infant.

I always enjoy historical-type movies. This one is no exception. I did stream with English 5.1 instead of subtitles, but it really didn't take away from the movie. The film depicted this era of Norway as quite brutal. I'm sure it was. Kings & heirs, civil war, brutality. It was all here. I don't judge acting so I really didn't notice if it was not perfect. I liked the plot & the movie flowed smoothly enough to follow without questioning what was happening. The scenery, well, when it wasn't overcast or snowing, was great. Lots of ski action too. Some of the scenes caught me off guard but I won't say which ones. There may have been a few hiccups, but overall I found it to be a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

This is a fun action movie (sword and romance) set in really beautiful winter scenery. If you like Game of Thrones, but want more snow with your ax wielding heroes, this is a great film for you.I saw it in a theater, and the audience was completely in to it; it's been awhile since I've been a theater where audience members shout out encouragement to characters on screen, and it's so fun to have a movie where the audience cheers at key points. I can't remember a film in which infants were used so effectively; you truly have a concern for the characters' safety. The casting of our four heroes (Thor, Skeivie, Inga and Haakon) is perfect. Skeivie looks like they decided to cast Clay Matthews of the Green Bay packers as a heroic viking warrior. I also found the particularly compelling the fight scenes. They obviously didn't have a budget that would enable them to have a cast of thousands for their battle scenes, and somehow that gives greater believe-ability to the fight scenes. Our main heroes don't (implausibly) kill hundreds of faceless stuntmen (as is so often the case in action movies and superhero movies these days). Instead, our heroes are faced with having to take on specific opponents who seem truly intent on our heroes' demise/destruction.Slightly implausible is the topography displayed in the movie -- truly beautiful, but who knew that 99% of the topography in Norway is downhill? (I know, downhill chase scenes on skis are more compelling than uphill chase scenes on skis). The only slight weak point I would identify is the sub-story line about the young princess. OK, we know that story line is useful to show our villain is a truly bad guy, but our princess looks like she was recruited from a local mall, and told "here, put on this dress and look scared"; they didn't give her much to work with, and it shows. But one could say the same about young female characters in some of the Star War movies. Some may find annoying too that there are little story lines that appear, and then are left unresolved, like what happens to the evil queen after she exits? Because of this, on occasion, one feels like the producer is setting up plot lines for future sequels. Hopefully that's true, and a sequel is coming! I'd buy tickets immediately!