A different way of telling a story

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

This classic ¨The Vikings (1958)¨ by Richard Fleischer packs a big name cast as Kirk Douglas , Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis . Very well-done adventure movie following the exploits of a group of Vikings sailing on Dragon ships like serpents on the sea , the terrible Northmen led by Ragnar , Einar and Eric . All of them shouting a battle-cry to their awesome god of war , Odin ! This enjoyable picture packs adventures , thrills , good action scenes and being very amusing . But then a slave (Tony Curtis) and a Viking prince (Kirk Douglas) fight for the love of a captive princess (Janet Leigh) and assault an impregnable fortress . Adventure movie full of impressive battles , noisy action , fencing and breathtaking exteriors . Kirk Douglas is pretty good , he gives a nice performance as leader of a band of Vikings driving his ship sets sail for the unknown land in search of Britanny kingdom . Top-drawer cast as Tony Curtis , Ernest Borgnine and Janet Leigh and colorful British and Hollywood secondary casting such as Alexander Knox , Maxine Audley , Frank Thring , and James Donald . Furthermore , as narrator the great Orson Welles . Although full of stupid historical errors and unbelievable events , the film results to be really entertaining and overwhelming . Great location footage with sweepingly photography by the magnificent cameraman Jack Cardiff . Shot on location in Fort La Latte , Côtes-d'Armor, France , Brittany , France , Walchensee, Bavaria , Germany Hardanger , Norway and Lim Fiord , Croatia . Thrilling and evocative musical score by Mario Nascimbene . Well set , in fact screenwriters , producers spent some years researching the Norse civilization in preparation for doing this movie , this included the actual designs for the Viking ships they used and the breed of horse that they rode . The picture was handsomely shot and directed with verve and muscle by Richard Fleischer . Rating : Good , fine battle scenes and wonderful cinematography and locations make the movie a standout . This throughly amusing historical epic stands up to teens and adults viewings . Don't miss for Kirk Douglas fans .This basic costume epic belongs to Viking genre , such as : ¨Eric the conqueror¨ (1961) by Mario Bava with Cameron Mitchell , ¨The long ships¨ (1963) by Jack Cardiff with Sidney Poitier and Richard Widmark ; ¨ ¨The Viking queen (1967)¨ by Don Chaffey with Don Murray and Andrew Keir ; The Norseman (1978) ¨ by Charles B Pierce with Cornel Wilde and Mel Ferrer ; ¨The Viking sagas (1995)¨ by Michael Chapman with Ralph Moeller , among others .

United Artists THE VIKINGS (1958) is one of the great epics of the fifties. Based on the book "The Vikings" by Edison Marshall it was produced by Jerry Brasler for Bryna Productions (Kirk Douglas' own company which he named after his mother).Beautifully photographed in Technirama and Technicolor by ace British cinematographer Jack Cardiff more than 4000 multinational performers and technicians worked on the giant production. Filmed on actual locations in the mountains and fjords of Norway the picture is well remembered for its scenic beauty and authentic sets. The splendid screenplay was put together by Dale Wasserman and Calder Willingham and Richard Fleischer directed with a deft hand an all star cast. The picture is also notable for the fine polished narration spoken by an uncredited Orson Welles. Ragnar (Ernest Borgnine) is the savage Viking chieftain who with his Viking horde rape and pillage along the English coast. On one such raid he rapes an English Queen who later gives birth to a boy they call Eric (Tony Curtis). But his existing son Einar (Kirk Douglas) is unaware he has a half brother and grows to hate Eric especially after the Vikings attack an English ship and abduct the princess Morgana (Janet Leigh) whom both sons desire. Sometime later Eric rescues the princess from the Viking camp and in a small boat makes a dash for England with Ragnar and Einar in hot pursuit. During the chase Ragnar's ship goes aground in the fog but Eric saves him, pulls him aboard and takes him to England as well where the treacherous king Aella sentences Ragnar to die in the dog pit. Later Eric returns to Norway to muster Einer and his men to attack the English castle where Morgana is being held and to avenge Ragnar's death. The picture ends in a marvellous set piece as the Vikings take the castle after a blistering well staged battle and Eric and Einar battle it out to the death in a terrific sword duel atop the dizzying castle parapets.Performances are superb from the entire cast. Douglas himself is a standout in his own production. His facility for knockabout action is a joy to behold. His prowess and unerring skill at stunts is well revealed in THE VIKINGS exemplified in the taking of the castle sequence. Here Douglas, under fire from rocks and arrows, charges and leaps across the open moat grabbing onto the axe handles which his men had already thrown and embedded in the underside of the raised drawbridge. Then using the axes to grip he clambers up and over to let the bridge down. It is a stunning and spectacular piece of stunt work! Again in an earlier scene Douglas can clearly be seen doing what is known as Dancing The Oars whereby he hops from oar to oar outside the ship for the amusement of the camp. Excellent too was Tony Curtis! Here was the emergence of Tony Curtis the ACTOR which manifested itself in Burt Lancaster's "Trapeze" (1956), with Lancaster again in "Sweet Smell of Success" (1957) and then in "The Defiant Ones"(1958). Gone were his pretty boy days at Universal International the studio he started with and where he would become their top pinup male star alongside a young Rock Hudson and Jeff Chandler. Also a standout in THE VIKINGS is Ernest Borgnine giving a powerful portrayal of the Viking leader Ragnar - a part he was born to play. Others in smaller roles are good too such as Alexander Knox as the Friar, Frank Thring as the sly and dubious Aella, James Donald as Egbert the English traitor and Janet Leigh (Mrs. Curtis at the time) as the princess.My only problem with the movie is the staid and laboured music score by Italian composer Mario Nascimbene a composer who never really distinguished himself in anything he did. Despite the haunting and echoing motif that sings out the two words of the film's title on a giant elephant tusk the colourless tinny sounding score is quite insipid and uninspired. It is surprising that a composer the calibre of Miklos Rozsa or Dimitri Tiomkin - two men who could score such epics in their sleep - were not approached to work on Douglas' picture. Their involvement would have added immeasurably to the film giving it a greater buoyancy and density. However, the score not withstanding THE VIKINGS is still a great movie and remains one of cinema's finest blockbuster epics.

THE VIKINGSYeah... another Sunday morning movie. I only recorded this off of the TV because it had the legendary Ernest Borgnine in it. I met Ernest a few years ago, and he was one of the nicest actors I have met so far. A really big character. He has made so many great movies and I watched him in various things whilst growing up. I felt very privileged to have met him.This film is not bad... but not great.Lots of Vikings, lots of violence and lots of sword fights. There were some really good scenes.The cast list was very impressive. It stared Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis. Ernest Borgnine and Janet Leigh. It is unbelievable how much Kirk Douglas looks like Michael Douglas in this film. Michael definitely got his looks from his Dad.Kirk played a great character. He was a Viking who had an awesome scar across his face. He looked really good. Tony Curtis played a slave that was actually the rightful King but didn't know it. Kirk had a score to settle with the slave as it was him that gave Kirk that scar.This film, like a lot of other old movies, was a bit harsh on the animals. I don't think any animals got seriously hurt in it. There is one scene where Tony Curtis was holding a Hawk. The Hawk was clearly tied to Tony's hand... but when Kurt kicked Tony in the chest and knocked him down... that poor bird definitely took a tumble. I just remember thinking to myself "There is no way Hollywood could get away with that now.". And not that they would need to... special effects are so good these days that they can make it look like an animal has died, where really there was no animal at all.Anyway, this film was OK. A pretty good story, not the greatest acting from everyone, but not too bad. Clearly Kirk, Tony, Ernest and Janet did brilliantly... just some of the supporting cast were not that good. Some of the death scenes were comical.I will give this film 6 out of 10.Not a bad daytime movie. For more reviews, please check out my Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ordinary-Person-Movie- Reviews/456572047728204?ref=hl

This movie is guaranteed to set the pulses of any red blooded viewer racing.It pulsates with vibrant action and splendid period atmosphere; Kirk Douglas was born to play the role of Einar and he extracts every bit of menace and finally pathos as a warrior whose love for the wrong woman finally destroyed him.Tony Curtis shows restraint in his role and is free of the too eager to please grinning and mugging which marred his later performances.The action is the thing here,however,and what action it is;the final attack by the vikings on the English castle is a stupendous spectacle with swords,axes,grappling hooks used aplenty as a horde of expert stuntmen have the time of their lives whilst the truly magnificent score by Mario Nascimbene provides suitable accompaniment to their lusty adventures.With wonderful scenery,convincing performances and enough testosterone to launch a 100 longships,"THE VIKINGS" is a gloriously sadistic and savage experience that belies its 1958 vintage,disengage your brain and revel in this serio-comic romp which should be in the video collection of any true action fan.