उपयोगकर्ता समीक्षाएं

One guy I know of said it was one of the worst movies he's seen this year. I don't think it is, but it's still bad. Basically, two Vikings find themselves stranded in North America in 1007, there's a lot of beautiful scenery, little dialog, a soundtrack that borders of great (Judas Priest! Brian Eno! Popul Vuh! Queens of the Stone Age! Morbid Angel!) and bad (Prison era Burzum), we see one of the characters defaecate in graphic detail, and we get lot's of silence interrupted by Ambient music, particularly Burzum's "Tomhet" (one of his pre-prison works, so it actually works.)

I can see what the director was aiming for (kind of an "Aguirre, the Wrath of God" for Black Metal fans), but it's just so ponderous, dull and uneventful that it becomes a chore to sit through. There are several themes (particularly Pagan Religion vs. the rise of Christianity) that are touched upon, but left mostly unexplored. Plus, the whole thing lacks confidence-again, you get a feeling of what the director is aiming for, but the whole thing is just so boring.

On the plus side, at least it has a first in cinema: A Viking head banging while the music of Dimmu Borgir serves as a soundtrack. Plus, it's better than "Last Days."

As a huge fan of viking stories, I watched Severed Ways with hopeful eyes, but it seems that no-one but Hrafn Gunnlaugsson is ever going to get close to capturing anything that is close to what those days might have been like. The basic setup for the story is fine, but the lack of a script becomes a problem right away. Being from Sweden I was very annoyed with the few speaking parts - the director has stolen dialogue/sound from what seems to be an old Bergman film, and put subtitles to it that has nothing to do with what is spoken. That was just weird. I doubt that it is even legal. Chopping down trees right, left and center in the woods seems illegal as well, not to mention the killing of the chicken. This film obviously had no budget, so I doubt that Tony Stone had permits to do that. Burning down a church to the tunes of Burzum was a kick in the nuts to authority as well, as Varg Vikernes is in prison for doing just that. And still I kind of like this film - anybody can go out and capture what they want with a digital video camera, go nuts and produce something that is not that bad. I give kudos for effort - and the poop scene had me gagging for days;)

Cinematography was great. Breathtaking locations. Costuming was very good on all characters. However none of the language spoken matched the actors lip movements. Was it filmed in Greek then dubbed in Norse? The plot was weak but very much on the right track. There are several directions this tale could have gone rather than the random rambling direction it went. They could have told a very interesting story; parts were awesome, most was boring. The language used in the subtitles was way off. The Noesemen would not have said the fish was "killer". Nor would they say they would be "toast" if the Indians caught them. Also the "F word" did not come into use, at all, until during the late 1800's. And what was the poop scene all about? That was completely thrown in for shock value as it had no other purpose. The head banging Viking during the chapter change could have been cool, instead it just seemed out of place. The whole movie might have been more believable if the Noesemen had carried surf boards and called each other Bro or Dude.

You remember the Blair Witch Project, where the three student filmmakers go out into the woods to shoot a movie only to lose their way and document the footage all along the way and then the footage is discovered some time later? Severed Ways: The Norse Discovery of America is like what might have happened if a crew- far more inept and high-minded with their intentions- went into the woods to shoot a Viking movie... and they got out all fine and somehow got their piece of drek released. It's also an earnest, poetic tome to Odin! Oh, what joy, we don't get many of those in the independent film world. Even if you're a hardcore Odinist this film won't make you wonder much why.

This is a truly horrific spectacle of a first-time director taking the tools of film-making- if only the most grubby and cheap digital ones at his disposal- and using it to masturbate in the woods with his two Viking actors (one of them himself of course) and pretty much no real script. According to the press notes Tony Stone "had a bunch of ideas... definitely picked the most insane one". If this was said by David Lynch or Werner Herzog (the latter cited as an unfortunate influence by Stone) it might sound intriguing. In this case it's revealed in the worst possible ways. Severed Ways is a disaster on fronts of storytelling (or lack thereof), "acting", cinematography, editing, music, and general atmosphere. That it's also boring is heavy-duty icing.

Oh and speaking of story it is so loose a term to use that you'll be completely befuddled to find it, or care enough to: it's the 1100 and two Vikings (Stone and Tedesco, don't ask who is who) are the last ones left after a battle on the sea and are washed ashore on the North American continent, and so they go exploring or trying to find possible other Vikings to do Viking things like... chopping down trees, killing animals and sitting and grunting by fires, which is what the two of them do for the most part of the running time. There's also two monks that appear at one point (the senseless killing of two chickens, done as if for a do-it-yourself guide, takes up a lot of the time midway through), a couple of Indians here and there, oh, and the film is broken up into CHAPTERS: Chapter 1: Stranded, Chapter 2: Camp, Chapter 5: Encounters, Chapter 4's introduction isn't even shown but the "END OF CHAPTER 4" title card pops up (!) as if it will make things any clearer.

Fact is, there is no real clear story; compared to this Herzog's Aguirre is Law & Order. But the lack of a solid structure could be forgiven if at least the director gave us some good things to look at or characters to care about. Not only is there neither, but it is almost as though the filmmaker goes out of his way to make things whiplash about with this digital camera (at best, for a couple of scenes, we get a couple of decent shots ala travelogue out of Vermont, where the film was shot) in big chase or action scenes (what few there are), or else Stone becomes entranced by a flickering fire or on lingering on a long shot on the two Vikings for absolutely no artistic reason whatsoever except to have pointless and pretentious lingering punctuated by the occasional random, awkward image of a frog or spider.

That the lighting is also done to wretched extremes (one may be blinded from time to time by the lack of an actual filter to not make the sun as blinding as in real life) is another issue altogether. Compacting these ugly images and usage of the digital lens is the editing by Stone himself which becomes so jittery, or on the flipside nonexistent, that it gives a very strong argument why a director should not sit alone for four months and edit like this case. There is also the issue of acting, which is nil since the cinematography and editing assists in taking away anything these two guys have to offer- not to mention dubbing (that's right, dubbing) of Nordic or Swedish dialog or whatever that sounds ripped off of 1950s newsreels whenever the characters aren't getting their Quest for Fire on. Lastly, there's the music, which ranges from at best tolerable (Queens of the Stone Age) to ear-bleeding (Dimmu Borgir to name one, but they all blend together after a while).

Bottom line, this is a hodge-podge, a low-budget train-wreck that could be fun to mock- maybe someone will be creative and do a well-deserved Mystery Science Theater 3000 on it- if it weren't so mind-numbingly boring. That may be, as Frank Capra once noted, the ultimate crime of the film: if Severed Ways: The Norse Discovery of America had at least entertained in its demented and awful poetry like Apocaypto it could be laughable. It is, ultimately, a practically unequivocal waste of time right now in movies.

There obviously were some major exploratory discoveries unrecorded in history that no human being alive today knows about. This movie depicts one of them and the subtitle gives it its significance. The two lost Vikings represent two elements that have created the American character, the heathen and the Christian, both so western in character. Here we see the first dude on our soil. We graphically see the most important defecation in the history of North America, the first human waste to touch and fertilize its soil and perhaps ultimately to make it toxic. The defecation becomes a ritual act. If guns, germs and steel conquered the North American wilderness, here we have only steel and no long term conquest; The sound of steel on wood is an underlying rhythm in the film. And it is very prescient that some of the chopping is mindless. The sound of the axes is woven into the incredible sound track. The film is very much about music. It is the exquisite lyrical blending of music and image that make this movie totally mesmerizing. Very little dialogue is needed and very little is supplied. This movie is not for film illiterates who think that the best of the best of the Dogma films is just unsteady camera work. This film will polarize the audience and separate the mindful from the mindless. The mindful being those who will love this genre creating movie.

I just saw this movie... It appears to be dubbed (to Swedish) and the subtitles did not match anything they said. Also, the acting isn't that good - and the story progresses rather slowly. The highlight of the entire movie was watching one of the vikings defecate. If you can call that a highlight...

Steer clear of this film. It's nothing more than a waste of your time. No historic facts what so ever..

I didn't hear any Greenlandic or old Norse, only Swedish. Don't know if the version I saw was deliberately destroyed by evil saboteurs, or if it was intended to be this flawed.

The movie also contained a lot of Norwegian Black Metal (Dimmu Borgir, Burzum, etc.) - that in itself is cool, but combined with headbanging vikings it's just annoying.

As I was saying just the other day, you simply don't see enough good, old-fashioned Viking dramas these days, do you? Then, lo and behold, what should appear but "Severed Ways: The Norse Discovery of America" to help fill the void and make us all wiser as to just how brutal and savage life could be at the turn of the last millennium (the movie is set in 1007 A.D.). However, let it be noted for the action fans in the audience that "Severed Ways" is, if anything, an "art" Nordic drama, a documentary-style, largely wordless cross between "Quest for Fire" and "The New World" - with even a bit of "The Blair Witch Project" thrown in for good measure (the palsied camera-work is what reminds us most of that film).

Orn and Volnard (don't ask me which is which) are two young Norsemen who have embarked on an expedition to North America with other members of their tribe. When their compatriots are killed in a battle with some natives called Skraelings, the two strapping lads flee to the forest where they hide out, search for food, build a makeshift shelter and fight off packs of ravenous animals. They also encounter a couple of Christian monks and more of those dreaded Skraelings. Heck, there's even a doe-eyed squaw named Abenaki who drugs and kidnaps one of the boys and makes passionate love to him in her thatched wigwam.

I must admit I kind of admire the sheer lunacy of producer/writer/director/editor Tony Stone's vision (he also plays Ork, which makes him pretty much a one-man show on this film). After all, it isn't often one comes across a movie set in the 11th Century that also features a highly eclectic and utterly anachronistic musical soundtrack ranging in style from pseudo-headbanger to ersatz-Rachmaninoff to quasi-Enya to flat-out monster truck rally commercial. Just for the record, however, the actual recording artists include Popul Vuh, Dimmu Borger, Judas Priest, and Burzum, among others. Actually, the score is probably the single most intriguing aspect of the movie.

I'm not sure of the wisdom of having these ancient warriors speaking in subtitled modern slang ("This fish is killer," "We're toast if we stay here," etc.), since it encourages us to giggle right at the moments when we should be taking the story most seriously.

Nevertheless, the movie does earn itself some points for its complete lack of sentimentality as well as for its refusal to shy away from depicting the harsh, brutal realities of life at that time (one does wonder, though, just how many trees and animals may have been hurt in the making of this film). Yet, even here Stone goes too far at points. Stark realism is one thing, but watching an actor literally emptying his bowels in full view of the camera is quite another. Still, I guess that's one way of ensuring for yourself and your work a permanent place of record in the annals of motion picture history.

"Severed Ways" may be easy to poke fun at, but it's so utterly out-there and loopy - and so doggedly sincere in that loopiness - that you simply can't help but be drawn into it. In all honesty, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about "Severed Ways," but I am sure that I will never forget it.

It is really hard to put it like this, because I think literally EVERY movie has at least some aspects that make it watchable in a way. As I am really into films, I normally just need to watch about 20 minutes of any crap, and my curiosity makes me want to watch the whole thing (trust me I have seen a considerable amount of serious bulls***). It amazed me all the more however, that the rule did not apply this time. Apart from the ridiculous, awkward and most of all pathetic attempt of creating a mixture between a disturbingly bad "pseudo-historic adventure" and even worse "viking hack-and-slay" film, the movie is simply unbelievingly boring. And let me tell you: You can't even imagine HOW boring - I am being serious...! In order to twist the knife, the movie also attempts to create a melancholic atmosphere, that should maybe leave you in a pensive mood - it fails again however - which only contributes to the viewers (already great) contempt and anger for the movie. The first 30 minutes you just can't believe it - after that you continually just get more and more fed up. PLEASE: LEAVE IT WHERE IT IS!

I saw Severed Ways in theater a couple of weeks ago and haven't been able to get it out of my mind since. Of course it has it's flaws but keep in mind this was the director's (Stone) first feature and an extremely ambitious one at that.

I'm so sick of seeing the same old independent garbage. Boy loves girl. Girl doesn't love boy but she loves Belle and Sebastion. Somebody makes a phone call on the hamburger phone to someone else who is a dying and pregnant and its official everyone loves Zooey Deschanel. Severed Ways is a Viking period piece made by a crew of about 8 people. How's that even possible. The soundtrack has Norwegian Black Metal and Judas Priest. Amazing!

I thought the use of low def digital video wouldn't work for a period piece but the way it allowed the film to be shot with little to no lighting made it feel more authentic. The cinematography was beautiful even though sometimes the high shutter speed made it a little hard on the eyes.

All in all Severed Ways is a step in the right direction for independent cinema. It's something new and different and I appreciate that. I know people will have trouble with pacing of the film but it's obvious that its deliberate and an attempt to show how two men would try to live off of a land they are not accustomed to. Sometimes the film took a comedic turn which took me out of the film a bit but it would eventually pull me back in.

I'm excited to see what's next for these extremely independent young filmmakers.

Well I wouldn't be nearly as brutal as some of the reviewers. I actually ended up liking this movie quite a bit. I didn't bail out on the initial shaky cam beach scene once I started recognizing this as an art statement more than anything. The movie is quite haunting if you allow yourself to feel what these poor lost vikings might have really felt in such a distant forlorn place. The sense of desolation is something I empathize with (I'm a big Alaska tourist fan) and the medieval history is also something I'm quite fond of. So yes, maybe your average movie goer is probably going to quickly bail out on the viewing. For me, the movie is quite a different experience, shows brutally honest depictions of some natural acts, and ends on a complete note of frustration as it should. I felt the writer/director had a complete sense of the psychology of this historical experience that I enjoyed watching.

I've seen better home videos that parents took of their children singing off key. For the love of Pete, why do I need to see someone take a poo? Really!!!! Each scene seemed to drag on endlessly without giving the viewers anything to look forward to. I get it they were chopping down trees. If someone would just give them a chainsaw... I hope the actors didn't plan on moving on with their careers. After shooting something like this they will never be able to be apart of anything big. How this ever made its way into movie stores is beyond me. Well I can honestly say if I ever had the chance to produce a movie Tony Stone is NOT going to be the person I choose to direct or write it. Awful quality, terrible story.

The basic story is trying unsuccessfully to tell a tale of two Norsemen lost in North America in 1007. The encounter hostel Indians and seductive Indian women, the Blair Witch, and even a couple of runaway monks. We watch them make fire, eat fish, and even a close up of one defecating in the woods.

This film must have been made in 1007 as the producers have not figured out how to handle talkies. The voice overlay, what little there is is not in sync with the picture.

Lots of nice colors and bird sounds. Looks mostly like "Blue Planet" however there are no animals eating animals unless you are counting the two Viking dudes that get "left behind."

As demonstrated in this movie read the book "How to Defecate in the Woods: An Environmentally Sound Approach to a Lost Art" The title slightly modified to meet review standards.

ISBN-10 - 0898156270 ISBN-13 - 978-0898156270.

...and where are YOUR cinematic masterpieces? How many Oscar winning films have you made, Jack? Severed Ways may have sucked, but at least they went out and actually tried to make a movie. I really hate all the would-be "Critics" here who do nothing but complain about how bad every movie is, but yet, haven't made anything worthwhile themselves. Jealousy isn't a very flattering thing, which most "Critics" seem to be.

As far as the soundtrack is concerned, the music(although not really fitting into the movie very well), is at least different than the cookie-cutter music of almost every other "period" piece.

Maybe I liked this film so much because it had a great soundtrack filled with Brian Eno, Old Mans Child, Popol Vu and Dimmu Borgir.

Maybe I liked it cause it dared to use bold Helvetic type to announce the chapters. Now other film makers use this style in advertising, music videos and cinema.

Perhaps I enjoyed watching a first time director boldly evolve while making a film.

Or maybe it was the deification scene that reminded me of my camping trips after eating too much dehydrated Chili.

Either way, I see promise from this film maker and will keep and eye on his next music videos and films in the same way people must have kept an eye on David Lynch after he made "Eraserhead". Not a perfect movie but you never forgot it and you knew this was a true artist to watch.

Don't give up (or in) Tony Stone.

Unlike other reviews i wasn't part of the production crew ... good for the bin, don't believe me watch it , you'll found out, waste of time and money.

This is really an excellent film-nothing else like it out right now. The reasons to like Severed Ways are pretty much the same reasons that some of its critics don't get it. Yes, it is a Viking flick that is neither a swashbuckling/love story nor a Monty Python skit. That is a GOOD THING! It picks up on a footnote from a Viking saga and imagines two young Vikings left behind and lost in America. They struggle to survive. They work. They attempt to WALK home and into Viking lore! Its shot in Newfoundland and it's retardedly beautiful. Even some critics were saying it's worth it for that alone…others got bored by this which is totally lazy… Also, this film is a breathe of fresh air. A lot of new films have a huge script about a cool dude crying about his girlfriend in a bar and there are a bunch of telephone calls and then in the end everybody breaks out their guns and heroine. BIG FREAKING DEAL--seen it all before! Rest assured there is none of that garbage in this movie and finally there is a film breaking the mold. You actually get a singular film experience, something to talk about- maybe even argue about. The depiction of natural beauty is not SW's only epic aspect. It also shows the clash of civilizations in a thoughtful way. There are several carefully scripted vignettes in which these vikings talk about, remember and confront both the rise of Christianity in Europe, and their fears of the skraelings(Native Americans) These confrontations become very real when strange monks and skraelings cross their path. You will be caught off guard by the alternately brutal and tenderhearted ways all of these characters behave with each other. Won't spoil it, but it's not what you expect.

Soundtrack: also epic.

It's a meditation on the impossible.

MAKE MORE MOVIES LIKE THIS

This must be how Heavy Und Metal started. Surprised this isn't more popular with the metalheads and film students. Found this movie to be a meditation of odd sorts.

Yes they do. 10 minutes of guys with beards and no shirts chopping wood - really? The dialogue is close to non-existent, the sound quality appalling and the 'story line' completely absent. I might have to make it my personal mission in life to destroy every copy of this ever made and thus prevent other people from feeling the same sense of pain as I did after viewing this total garbage. One scene in particular is irrevocably burned into my memory, despite 6 months of therapy - please see title of this review and be warned! Myself and the friends that watched this together still talk about how bad it is, several years later. Utter and complete drivel.