Valhalla

This is a Danish classic, that have touched all children and the little child within of the "grown-ups".

Watch it and fall in love with it.

Truly wonderful.

"Valhalla" has become a bit of a Danish classic, for years rating as a key product of Danish children's fiction. Since it was based on a popular Danish comic album series and helped establish a growing cartoon industry in Denmark, it has also achieved some popularity with young film aficionados, resulting for instance in the recent petition campaign for the DVD release of the film.

Having re-watched the film on the video release recently, I have almost exclusively positive remarks for the film. In all parts of the production this is solid work. There is, perhaps, more cuteness than true drama, and the film is left too short to be epic, but these are descriptions rather than criticisms.

Three things struck me as particularly note-worthy about the production: First, the story does well to transport the imagination of the beholder into the world of the old mythology. To that end, I took special note of the opening prologue scene in which a narrator introduces us to the land of the gods and the story that is to begin; it is almost perfectly styled. Second, as a very positive quality to the story in general, the gods of the story are portrayed funnily and full of flaws, bad tempers, etc. Third, the music of the entire film is excellent, balancing the dramatic and light styles elegantly to fit the moods of the film.

Highly recommended for those interested in Nordic mythology properly presented to a wider audience.

What a wonderful find, came here after following the cue on Myrkur's song "Jeg er Guden, I er Tjenerne".

And as opposed to what the bad reviews say I have not seen this movie as a child (this is the first time ever) and I am not Danish either (unfortunately, although it is great for learning, look for versions with English subtitles).

Those that gave a bad review to this are just expecting a Hollywood expendable series of Marvel/Thor/Avengers movie nonsense with endless special effects, action faster than any human eye can follow, no plot and the all too commonplace political correctness extremism (read witch hunt) of our dumbified herd society.

Have fun watching this movie with the perspective of going on an adventure as an adult or as a child (or both).

The plot is decent, but it has good animation and the soundtrack is excellent; I recommend it if you like Danish animated films.

I will not hide it: This is the movie that defines my childhood and might be one of the things that had a major impression on me. Yet still, it does have its weaknesses: The good things first: There are, compared to other mythologies, only few movies that handle the material in a fair and nice way and not reduce the norse folks and their gods down to brutal dumb-heads with horned helmets. Valhalla, the movie and the comics even more so, certainly know what they are talking about. The movie's story is based on the mythological tale of Thor's journey to Utgard with some minor myths and some additional comic-relief mixed into it. The result is a movie that does provide some good morals without hammering them into the viewer's head like so many films unfortunately do nowadays. But now for the downsides: The movie has its dragging parts. Thor playing with his children, the building of the hut etc are nice, but feel a bit long. The responding volumes of the comic (volume 4 and 5 to be precise) came out after the movie and might, in comparison, feel a bit better done. Especially since the comics explain a lot more where the movie left things out or just had them as a throw-away scene. Another weakness might be that the movie feels a bit like it expects the viewer to know the mythology by heart at times.

Therefore, to conclude this: The movie is certainly watching, whether or not you know the myths. But try to get your hands on the comics, they are worth a look even more, if I may say so.