Powerful

I'll tell you why so serious

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

I think I might have watched "The Vikings" way back some time in my childhood, because I do remember parts of the movie. I got the chance again to watch the movie here in 2017, so of course I jumped at the chance.It turns out that despite being from 1958 then "The Vikings" is actually a rather nice and impressive movie. And I reckon that it must have been some epic movie back in 1958. I mean, even just by watching it today, the production value and the accomplishment of director Richard Fleischer was just astounding. There certainly was a sense of adventure and grand epic about the movie."The Vikings" had a pretty impressive cast, which included two of the biggest Hollywood stars of the day; that being Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis, of course. Now, both of them are good actors and performed quite well, but for some reason it was just a tad difficult to really envision them as being vikings, as they had too much of a pampered beauty appearance going on. It was also a treat to see Ernest Borgnine in this movie.Storywise, then "The Vikings" was entertaining, for sure, but it felt a bit too scripted and predictable.Visually then this was a very impressive movie, and they had put a lot of effort into the costumes, the props, the sets, and so on, and that really paid off quite nicely. And the movie was filmed at some locations that really worked well and added so much flavor and atmosphere to the movie."The Vikings" has a good amount of action, drama and storytelling to keep most people entertained.If you haven't already seen "The Vikings", then you should take the time to do so, because it is an entertaining movie. And don't let the 1958 time stamp discourage you, because the movie really is impressive for its age and production.

This classic ¨The Vikings (1958)¨ by Richard Fleischer packs a big name cast as Kirk Douglas , Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis . Very well-done adventure movie following the exploits of a group of Vikings sailing on Dragon ships like serpents on the sea , the terrible Northmen led by Ragnar , Einar and Eric . All of them shouting a battle-cry to their awesome god of war , Odin ! This enjoyable picture packs adventures , thrills , good action scenes and being very amusing . But then a slave (Tony Curtis) and a Viking prince (Kirk Douglas) fight for the love of a captive princess (Janet Leigh) and assault an impregnable fortress . Adventure movie full of impressive battles , noisy action , fencing and breathtaking exteriors . Kirk Douglas is pretty good , he gives a nice performance as leader of a band of Vikings driving his ship sets sail for the unknown land in search of Britanny kingdom . Top-drawer cast as Tony Curtis , Ernest Borgnine and Janet Leigh and colorful British and Hollywood secondary casting such as Alexander Knox , Maxine Audley , Frank Thring , and James Donald . Furthermore , as narrator the great Orson Welles . Although full of stupid historical errors and unbelievable events , the film results to be really entertaining and overwhelming . Great location footage with sweepingly photography by the magnificent cameraman Jack Cardiff . Shot on location in Fort La Latte , Côtes-d'Armor, France , Brittany , France , Walchensee, Bavaria , Germany Hardanger , Norway and Lim Fiord , Croatia . Thrilling and evocative musical score by Mario Nascimbene . Well set , in fact screenwriters , producers spent some years researching the Norse civilization in preparation for doing this movie , this included the actual designs for the Viking ships they used and the breed of horse that they rode . The picture was handsomely shot and directed with verve and muscle by Richard Fleischer . Rating : Good , fine battle scenes and wonderful cinematography and locations make the movie a standout . This throughly amusing historical epic stands up to teens and adults viewings . Don't miss for Kirk Douglas fans .This basic costume epic belongs to Viking genre , such as : ¨Eric the conqueror¨ (1961) by Mario Bava with Cameron Mitchell , ¨The long ships¨ (1963) by Jack Cardiff with Sidney Poitier and Richard Widmark ; ¨ ¨The Viking queen (1967)¨ by Don Chaffey with Don Murray and Andrew Keir ; The Norseman (1978) ¨ by Charles B Pierce with Cornel Wilde and Mel Ferrer ; ¨The Viking sagas (1995)¨ by Michael Chapman with Ralph Moeller , among others .

This is certainly an OK film considering the time of its making but it misses something to truly be on a par with such classics as Ben Hur, El Cid, Spartacus and others. Although its well intentioned somehow the movie cannot really convey a sense of reality. It remains to some degree tainted by the contrivances nature of theatre. Maybe it's the fact that many vikings do not truly give a fearsome impression, maybe it's the soundtrack, maybe it's something in the screenplay which doesn't entirely convince. Probably it's all of these and many more aspects, details which give this movie more of a Sound of Music feeling than an El Cid feeling. Of course the movie's worth the see for those interested in old films of this kind, but I wouldn't say it belongs in the inner sanctuary of your truly old-time classics.

This movie is guaranteed to set the pulses of any red blooded viewer racing.It pulsates with vibrant action and splendid period atmosphere; Kirk Douglas was born to play the role of Einar and he extracts every bit of menace and finally pathos as a warrior whose love for the wrong woman finally destroyed him.Tony Curtis shows restraint in his role and is free of the too eager to please grinning and mugging which marred his later performances.The action is the thing here,however,and what action it is;the final attack by the vikings on the English castle is a stupendous spectacle with swords,axes,grappling hooks used aplenty as a horde of expert stuntmen have the time of their lives whilst the truly magnificent score by Mario Nascimbene provides suitable accompaniment to their lusty adventures.With wonderful scenery,convincing performances and enough testosterone to launch a 100 longships,"THE VIKINGS" is a gloriously sadistic and savage experience that belies its 1958 vintage,disengage your brain and revel in this serio-comic romp which should be in the video collection of any true action fan.