lexfannia

This movie deserved a working over on Mystery Science Theater. Even though it has nothing whatever to do with King Solomon it's worth a watch because it is an unintentional laugh-riot. Really! It's worse than "Destroy All Monsters." Be sure to check out the following: the cheesy medallion (looks like the Shriners have been here), the obviously polyester Norfolk jacket on "Allan Quatermain," David MaCallum's badly done stutter (which does draw attention away from his even worse acting), the incredibly bad process work on all the "monsters," the monsters themselves - the hand puppet which menaces the little girl, the giant snake that menaces Macallum while he sinks in oatmeal, the red-lighted eyes on the motorized crabs, the amazingly hilarious boat (oh, brother!!) which appears to be made of plywood mounted on an old sand dredge and looks like a leftover from a Jr.Sr. prom ("Voyage into the Future with the class of '71"), the Phoenician city - where they wear Roman Imperial armor but which inexplicably has Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions -(the Phoenicians invented the alphabet-come on!),and worst of all, Macallum and Ekland (with her fright wig) playing smoochy-face -oh the horror! The best parts are that the intrepid explorers manage to lose the comic Frenchman ,and the African guy -Snuffleupagus or whatever - evidently chose to die heroically rather than be in any more scenes.

I found 13th warrior to be both entertaining and broadly accurate, especially in its depiction of codes of personal honor and the portrayal of pre-materialist views of reality. I even use parts of the movie for a college-level course on Medieval Europe.Some comments:the memoirs of Ibn Faldn - a real person- is the source only for the burial scene at the first of the movie; the "Wendol" were evidently extreme berserkers (bear+sark or skin) There are documented cases in the 1100's-1200's, but most were wolves not bears;the mixture of ethnic groups was quite common - warriors went where they could win fame and gold. "Cattle die, women die, men die. Only the deeds they do live on in the memory." An unknown Viking warrior