A Viking Saga: The Darkest Day

It may have been a low budget film but it would have cost nothing to get a few people around a table with the script before filming. Come on, how many film clichés do you have to put into one film. I nearly stopped watching at one point because it was getting so bad. After each scene (and there weren't that many) I found myself asking 'would this have actually happened?'. I answered each time, 'highly unlikely'. The ending was just too funny for words. The acting was OK but I would have preferred some attempt at a Norse/Danish accent from the Vikings. I was just grateful in the end that there weren't any Americans involved (nothing personal, but American actors should never be allowed near historical productions). Finally, Vikings wearing chain mail at that time period? I doubt it.

This title should be better that's it's under 5 rating. I think it's well done. Very well done. It deals with a narrow subject, in a narrow time, a savage time really. A small cast, and little no set production and only minimal costume design, this things are made up for with excellent photography, camera work, sound, acting and script, the hallmarks of talent and skill combined to make a low budget epic that will build it's own reputation and appreciated in time. It is worth seeing and is not terribly long. It's length is correct and could have been expanding upon with longer beginning and longer ending frankly. I think it was shortened for cinema.

I also have to express dismay at the low rating this film has on IMDb. It seemed a well done, decently acted movie with a story that is neither ridiculous nor simplistic. I honestly believe it is deserving of an above average rating. Probably what annoyed a lot of people is the poster, which has nothing to do with the movie at all. It is not a film about glorious deaths in violent battles.

The Viking raid on Lindisfarne monastery is a real event that is considered by historians to be the beginning of the so called Viking Age. As with the TV show Vikings, the event is used to inspire the storyline in The Darkest Day, without much concern for historical accuracy, but this film has it a bit closer to reality.

The plot is seen through the eyes of a young monk, one of two escaping from the Lindisfarne's raid and carrying the Lindisfarne's Gospels, a beautifully crafted book that holds "the word of God" and without which the monks believe the Angles country is lost. The book is a real artifact that you can read about. The monks run away from a bunch of Vikings that want the book, believing it holds "the power of the white Christ" and can be used to rule the land. Their escape shows you glimpses of the wild and poor way of living in those times (around 800 AD) in the British Isles. Helped by an old warrior, they meet Christian sectarians and a Pict woman they rescue from bondage and try to fend off the raiders.

I've watched a few Viking related movies lately, something spurned by the TV show Vikings, and this is by far one of the best. It is a low budget English and Welsh film with almost completely unknown actors in a small cast, but they each play their roles well and the bleak and violent trek through ancient England feels realistic and raw. The name of the young monk, Hereward, is an ironic hint of the end of the movie. Again: a clearly above average film, especially if you are in a Viking mood.

For a film that had all the potential to be high paced and explore a wonderful bit of history, this sure fell flat on multiple fronts. The script was trite and slow, with many scenes of just trekking through woods or sitting on hillsides, repeating themes and plot points over and over again. This slowed the pace down to a point where I actually started to fall asleep in places. I understand low budget film making, but it really just felt like some friends got together and shot something quick over a few weekends. The fight choreography was painfully bad- that actors just looked really awkward and unsure... not sure if it was a result of lack of rehearsal time or poor instruction. In short, what could have been a delightful tale, turned out to be quite slow and anti-climactic. Oh and for the love of Odin, VIKING HELMETS NEVER HAD HORNS!!!

My son won a free movie at Red box by buying a big mac sandwich at the local burger joint and so he chose this movie title A Viking Saga: The darkest day. I guess we thought it would be entertaining and have some merit but little did we know. We picked out another boring and worthless movie that came to us free but alas I will have to pay for the gas for my car to return it. Nothing said nothing gained. If you do get the opportunity to choose a movie free I suggest you pick out something different than this one. My son is usually a good critic and he said only one word summed up the name for this movie.. BORING VIKINGS nothing worse ... If only I had the opportunity to read this critique I would not have wasted my time driving to and from the Red box.