When I was growing up my mom worked a lot of weekends. My sister was away at college, and my brother was in high school so he was always out with friends. As a result, my dad and I were together a lot, our most common activity was going to see movies. Now most of these movies I had never even heard of. My dad read about them online and wanted to see it so I got to go with him. The year was 1999, and I was 12. My mind had recently been blown away by The Matrix, and while The 13th Warrior wasn’t exactly earth shattering, it was still pretty memorable for me.
In AD 922, an important emissary, Ibn (Antonio Banderas) is banished from his homeland. The nomadic outcast comes across a band of Norse warriors who coerce him into joining them when they are summoned to fight mysterious creatures legendary for consuming every living thing in their path. Eventually surrounded by the frightening and ferocious foe, Ibn must conquer his personal fears and help battle the illusive invaders–who emerge out of the shroud of fog in the black of the night.
The 13th Warrior is Michael Crichton’s retelling of the classic Beowulf. At the time, I did not know this, but then in high school I read Beowulf in English class (okay I didn’t read it. That was the time I discovered SparkNotes.) I quickly realized that they are essentially the same story. The things I love about this film are the relationships between Ibn and the Norse Vikings. Ibn learning about the culture of the Vikings and the Vikings learning to respect the intelligence of Ibn was something that I always found very fascinating, even to this day. The action in the movie is great with large set pieces that give plenty of blood and brutality.
The 13th Warrior is not a perfect film. It struggled to even get made, and then fought with the studio with re-shoots done by Crichton himself. There were plenty of critics at the time that bashed it. But for me, this is a movie I would suggest to any action/adventure enthusiast. It will hold your interest for the full length, and while it might not be the best thing you have seen, it is hard to say it was bad.
Have you seen The 13th Warrior? What did you think of it? Do you have any suggestions on a future “Hidden Gem” article? Let us know in the comments below.
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Re: The Thirteenth Warrior: In spite of it's editorial flaws (due to infighting between the two directors)and the fact that the studio suits couldn't decide how to market it) I found this to be an exceptionally fine movie. The casting was superb, the costumes and sets were very authentic looking and eerily beautiful. The Beowoulf legend was fleshed out w/ real personalities, and quite believable. Banderas was superb as a highly civilized Arab, who was able to adapt to and appreciate a much more primitive culture. The critics complained of the bloodiness, the beheadings,etc. (beford the Daniel Pearl front page news!) not realizing that the enemy were Neanderthal type barbarians Only flaw - the story was truncated to meet studio demands, It should have been a longer movie to tie up the loose story ends. It is still one of my all-time favorite movies. See it! It is a thinking persone's action movie!
While I haven't seen The 13th Warrior since I was like 14, but I do remember being intrigued by it. In my recollection it reminds me of Brotherhood of the Wolf in terms of style, a movie that I loved. Actually as I'm writing this I think you've inspired me to watch The 13th Warrior again. Thanks