 |
| Kirk
Douglas, Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, Ernest Borgnine, James
Donald, Frank Thring |
|
 |
Anamorphic
widescreen |
 |
Dolby Digital
5.1 |
|
DTS |
|
|
Trailer(s) |
|
Featurette(s) |
|
Documentary |
|
Audio commentary
|
|
Deleted scenes
|
|
Concept art
/ storyboards |
|
Multi-angle
feature |
|
|
|
|
Ragnar (Ernest Borgnine):
It's Odin's test for unfaithful wives.
Egbert (James Donald): Is she an unfaithful wife?
Ragnar: Aks Einar.
Einar (Kirk Douglas): Her husband says she is.
Egbert: Which is he?
Einar: He's the one throwing the axes.
In the Dark Ages, two Viking half-brothers
are rivals both in love and in political intrigue.
 Among
the many expensive religious epics of the 1950s, an big-budget
adventure film with the rough gutsiness of The Vikings was
something of an anomaly. Its tale of medieval political intrigue
is told from the point of view of the joyously barbaric vikings,
led by the dynamic Kirk Douglas and the perfectly cast Ernest Borgnine.
Not only does Richard Fleischer revel in their free-spirited party
rituals, their boozing and their philandering, but he even applies
the generic tropes of the religious epic to their pagan beliefs,
with heavenly choruses signifying a god's intervention in the film's
narrative.
Tony Curtis takes on the ultimately thankless hero part, but his
self-sacrifice and improbably one-dimensional sense of morality
is easily upstaged by the more complex anti-hero, brought to life
so charismatically by Kirk Douglas. The obligatory political intrigue
at the English court is made palatable by character
turns from dependably hammy villain players Frank Thring and James
Donald, whose effete manner and passive attitude pales beside the
vikings' rambunctious behavior. Entranced by his main characters,
Fleischer concedes that they may have done their bit of raping
and pillaging, but at least those vikings did know how to party. |
|
 |
 |
|
|
Available on DVD from MGM/UA
for Region 1 and Region 2. The American release carries an
excellent 25-minute featurette narrated by director Richard
Fleischer, whereas the European release has only the theatrical
trailer. The Region 2 version served as the basis for this
review.
The anamorphic widescreen
image is framed at an aspect ratio of approx. 2.35:1. The
Vikings has survived the better part of five decades
surprisingly well, yielding a transfer that even without
a full restoration effort is bright, colorful and remarkably
consistent. Source print blemishes and burn marks pop up
occasionally, but mostly serve only as a reminder of how
impeccable most of the picture actually looks. The stunningly
shot outdoor location shots are the most impressive, but
even the most darkly lit interiors hold a surprising amount
of detail and an impressive range of shading.
The monaural sound
mix is rendered in two-channel Dolby Digital, with a severe
lack of dynamic range restricting the impact of Mario Nascimbene's
fine score.
Sadly, the excellent 25-minute
featurette included on the American release has not been
included on the European DVD, which carries the terribly
worn-out theatrical trailer as its sole
supplement. A
simple static menu screen offers access to the disc's limited features.
Dan
Hassler-Forest
Reviewed:
July 1, 2003
Click
here for IMDB info on The
Vikings.
Click here
to return to the front page.
|
|
| |
