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Starring Antonio Banderas, Dennis Storhoi, Vladimir Kulich, Omar Sharif, Maria Bonnerie, Diane
Venora, Richard Bremner, Tony Curran, Mischa Hausserman, Neil Maffin, Asbjorn Riis..
Directed by John McTiernan. Based on Michael Crichton's "Eaters of the Dead".
A Prince (Banderas) to an Arabian King is banished as a diplomat in far away northern Europe when he and the King's wife fall in love. His trusty advisor (Sharif) and him journey to Scandinavia to meet with a Danish king, but the King ups and dies. His son Buliwgf (Kulich) becomes the leader of the clan. While there a northern King sends word of a mysterious people who come out with the fog and commit unspeakable atrocities to local villagers in his Kingdom. He asks for thirteen warriors to help him and his people. Twelve of the strong and brave Norsemen (Vikings) volunteer, but they need a 13th. The messenger says the last must be a foreigner, and the Prince takes up the challenge. They soon arrive in the misty fjords of the King they are about to serve. The King there is old and frail, and his Queen (Venora) is anxious to help the warriors defend their land. The warriors begin preparations for their fearsome foes led by Buliwgf and funloving Herger (Storhoi). They are attacked that night by large bear-like creatures who cut off the heads of their slain, and seem to disappear when killed by the Norsemen warriors. A few of the warriors are killed, but their preparations seem to work. A lovely young village woman (Bonnerie) tends to the wounds of "Little Brother", the name Herger has given to the Prince. On the next attack, hundreds of these "Wendol" creatures arrive on horseback with clubs of fire and attack the villagers fort, with more deadly results. After this, they consult an old crazy woman, who gives advice on how to defeat these creatures, but the question remains whether the warriors are able to carry out the advised plan before they are killed. Based on Michael Crichton's Eater's of the Dead, The 13th Warrior is an often exciting, but uneven adventure story. Despite what you see in the advertisements for the movie, the love between Banderas and the Queen, and his banishment is never really shown on screen - it takes no more than 2 minutes to complete. And the eating of the dead part is not explicitly shown, although the gory sword fighting and blood-letting is shown in quite graphic detail. The strengths of the movie lie in some exceptionally fine cinematography of the rugged northern hills and lakes, and an overall well-plotted story. By about halfway through, the story becomes engrossing, and the begins to move at an exciting pace. Unfortunately, the dialogue is far too serious, occasionably laughable, and weighs down the film a bit - too much philosophying by the characters. The characters are written as good or bad, noble or savage. There is no attempt to explain the motivations of the Wendols - they are just brutal savages. The love story between Banderas and Bonnerie seems tacked on - it starts off slowly, begins to eat up, and then evaporates and is never resolved at the end. The cast is generally unknown, but overall fairly good. Standing out is Storhoi, who brings fun and intensity to Herger, one of the few who bring a sense of joy to the proceedings. Kulich conveys noble character and strength as the leader of the warriors, and is someone that men would follow. Banderas is just fine as the peaceful Arab who uneasily becomes a warrior. All the woman's roles are seriously underwritten - few lines of dialogue, and their actions are confined to tending to the wounds and other needs of the men. Have these guys never seen Aliens? It seems few writers can meaningfully incorporate female characters into an action-adventure film. I was in France when I saw the film, and read two reviews, including the Paris newspaper Le Monde, and they were glowing, along the lines that finally Hollywood made a good old-fashioned action film without excessive special effects. It is a decent film worth seeing for action-adventure fans, but don't expect the great adventure and romance some have promised.  
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