Hammer of the Gods

Film tells a nonexistent story, characters lack likability as they here & gone type. Was the end cave sequence a Viking version rip directly out of Apocalypse Now.

This is another forgettable NZ Netflix movie.

I tried to like "Hammer of the gods", tried really hard. But it reminded me of a bad version of the excellent series Vikings, having none of what is good about it.

No character is developed enough, the action feels cheap and forced. Focus is lost constantly throughout the movie , and the story lacks cohesion. Violence serves no purpose, it is uninspired and dull , even disturbing at times. It is very disappointing to see a classic story and a chance for something good , wasted as much.

Acting is not so bad, I kinda liked Eliot Cowan (Hakan) and Clive Standen (Hagen) whose role is the same as in Vikings, and hes rather good at it. The rest felt direction-less and anemic.

They should have copied Vikings more.

Considering my last trip down Viking movie terrain was the unbelievably bad A Viking Saga, I approached Hammer Of The Gods with more than slight trepidation. I had my finger hovering over the EJECT button just in case, and a back-up film prepared. To my immense relief, neither action was necessary, although this is still a LLOONNG way from being a good movie, it is at least (until the ridiculous ending sequence) durable, and precisely 1000 times better than the aforementioned pile of old donkey droppings. Go on... you figure it out.

Aside from not having an obnoxious narrator and scenes where people actually LOOK as if they're fighting (as opposed to doing a stupid dance) it also has satisfying gore as knives are twisted and decapitations are as commonplace as horned helmets. The story, such as it is, revolves around the search for a lost king in ancient Britain, but it soon fades from the memory as we witness one bloody slaughter after another. In fact, as sick as it may sound, I wanted MORE of it rather than the rather tiresome 'bonding' scenes between our sketchily drawn comrades. And as for nonsense in the caves towards the end involving incest, a weird cult and a complete overuse of body paint... Let's not mention it.

The wait for the perfect Nordic movie goes on. This is the best I've seen, only so far as to say: This is a freshly made turd, and not one with flies and mould on it... 4/10

I'm Welsh, so forgive me if I fail the US spell-check.

Firstly I'm bewildered, amused and dismayed by many of the comments: "Funny British Accents" (they're English accents), followed up by "Would be OK in Trainspotting II" (which is a Scottish film with Scottish accents), yes there are three countries in Great Britain. It's not called Great because it's great, it's to distinguish it from Brittany in France, formerly known as Little Britain after some Britons fled the Saxons and colonised the area. There's a bit of history for you.

Then we get into the historical accuracy of it all... and "Vikings" is held up as a better example, when most of "Vikings" is historically wrong.

Unlike "Vikings" this is a fantasy, it's not supposed to represent history, it's also not a Hollywood film, it's a "British" (English) one, that's why everyone talks with a "Funny British Accent".

There's also a fair amount of Old English and a snippet of Old Welsh, I don't think I've heard those languages used on film before.

It's main flaws are in trying to pander to the U.S. market (make it simpler and dumber)... yet it has strong performances throughout, a great lead in Charlie Bewley, fantastic settings, a solid although somewhat bipolar score, solid cinematography and a half-decent script.

People lap this stuff up in Game of Thrones yet as soon as you fix something which is obviously a fantasy to a point in history it get's pulled apart?

It's a solid 7. I'd have given it a 6 yet I find my patriotism roused by indignation at ignorance.

If you want to find something that completely lacks historical accuracy, only happened a couple of hundred years ago yet is revered as a great film, please watch Lincoln.

The cover for the movie and previews make it seem as if it will be along the lines of the cinematic view like the 300 and Spartacus but it is far from it. The acting is poor quality, the combat appears cheap and poorly acted out. If you are expecting large epic battles, be prepared for disappointment. It has small skirmishes as if they had a very low budget. Do not waste your time with this movie unless you are looking to throw away time. Graphics have a low quality feel to them as well as the acting. It is a movie that, if done well, would be worth someones time but it wasn't. I had to pause the movie multiple times from boredom. I wish I could get my $1.07 back from Redbox and my time back. Sum this movie up in one word...DISAPPOINTING!!!!