The Norseman

When you get a load of this casting mix and this plot, you're probably already preparing yourself for a dumb, silly and cheese ball period adventure. Much of the acting is less than stellar (yet entertaining in its own way), the accents (or lack thereof) priceless, and the action ridiculous. There's a fair bit of blood here for a PG rated flick, but overall this is a pretty "good" diversion on a crummy, politically incorrect, wholly inaccurate level.

The hilariously cast Lee Majors of 'The Six Million Dollar Man' and 'The Fall Guy' fame plays proud Norse warrior Thorvald, accompanying a group of his men to America (which they dub "Vineland"), where his father, the King (Mel Ferrer), had vanished previously. It turns out that dad had been abducted by the local Indian tribe, so the very slim story ends up turning into a "Norseman vs. Indians" series of battles. Also along for the ride are none other than Jack Elam as an old "wizard", Cornel Wilde as a Norseman named Ragnar, Christopher Connelly as Rolf, Jimmy Clem, a regular in the films of Charles B. Pierce ("The Legend of Boggy Creek", "The Town That Dreaded Sundown"), and the directors' son Chuck Pierce as Majors' younger brother. Sonny Bonos' third wife Susie Coelho plays the young Indian hottie who sympathizes with the Norsemen and betrays her tribe. And is that Kathleen Freeman as an old Indian woman? It sure is.

This is worthy of some hearty chuckles, thanks to the script (by Pierce Sr. himself) and performances. But it's not totally lacking in quality, with sharp Panavision photography by Robert Bethard and stirring, atmospheric music by Jaime Mendoza-Nava.

This may not be one of the directors' finer moments, but it's still fun to a degree.

Executive produced, uncredited, by Majors and his then wife, Farrah Fawcett.

Five out of 10.

I tend to cut movies a lot of slack, since I believe that the more sophisticated our movie-making abilities become the less people tend to use their imaginations. I bought a used VHS copy of "The Norseman," and watching it as an adult I actually enjoyed it. Sure, it's not a well-made movie, but it's a sad fact of life that often the smarter we get, the more jaded we get. I suspect the reason one viewer enjoyed the movie at ten and hated it as an adult is that watching it through eyes of childlike wonder he was able to suspend disbelief and see the movie's real meaning.

Besides, what's so "laughably stupid" about the plot, a conflict between Vikings and Native Americans? There is pretty good evidence that the Vikings were in North America; ever hear of Vinland? And as for the "black Viking," that was probably a pandering to '70s social consciousness; but still, could they not have picked up an African man in their travels? Everyone has their tastes, but I found this movie's theme unique and intriguing.

Plastic/aluminium armour. Knight's armour on Thorvold and a LoneRanger mask, under his knights helm. Black vikings, white Native Americans...of course the largest insult is that this dreck was filmed in Florida, as evidenced by the foliage and the sugar white sand on the beach. I don't remember Vikings ever landing in Tampa, unless it was in a football game.

I won't even address the little mustache worn by Mr. Majors, as compared to the full beards of his 'Viking' co-horts.

This is a film you can't believe you are watching, yet won't turn off, because you can't look away.

Of course the climax of the film has the 'Vikings' running through water on a sandbar...anyone watching, who is familiar with Lee Majors as the "Six Million Dollar Man" will find themselves waiting to hear the music/sound effects that accompanied 'Steve Austin' whenever he was performing his feats of strength, or running to save the day.

All this film needed was BigFoot.

A treasure trove of anachronism, continuity errors and baaaaaaaaaad acting. So bad it's wonderful. Who knew there were black vikings, or that vikings wore wristwatches? A genuine treat. You'll laugh your butt off.

I am somewhat forgiving in giving this movie a 3! I highly recommend saving your time by doing other activities such finger painting or recreating THE NORSEMAN. I am sure a high school student with a video camera could do a better job at research and casting. The costumes are out of period, Native Americans do not fight running with tomahawks in their hand screaming. Not sure how they really fought back then, but I am sure that was not it! A black Norseman is not impossible just not probable. If I remember correctly the Norse were beaten by the Romans hence the Roman like uniforms plus the Roman had black slaves (Egypt which is located in Africa) hence the black guy.The work seems rushed and a lot of forethought has not gone into the editing. I feel this is one of the reasons why Farrah and Lee divorced.