The 13th Warrior

Title: The 13th Warrior (15)

Year: 1999

Running Time: 98 minutes

Director: John McTiernan, Michael Crichton

Cast: Antonio Banderas (Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan), Diane Venora (Queen Weilew), Dennis Storhoi (Herger)

Notes: Won two awards. A Michael Crichton story.

Rating: 9

Thoughts:   A man falls in love with the wrong woman and is sent by the Sultan as an ambassador to a far away land.

Stopping off in a Viking village he finds himself caught up in their quest. The Fahdlan character is based on a real person but unlike this story, where he stumbles across the Vikings and helps them fight a mystical enemy, in real life he was directly sent and their enemy was another band of real people.

But a tweak of a fairly unknown story is fine and allows us a solid base for the tale to play out, with elements of the classic Beowulf merged into the real world. The story is strong and it is all well played.

The fights are believable, with a band of men combining well rather than a superhero dominating. It's a true action adventure and if it was thirty years older would be a classic that was worshipped every Christmas.

There is plenty to enjoy. It's strong in every department and has a great pace. There's also a nice balance between violence and humour, both things that Banderas can do very well.

It's still a surprise that this one kind of slipped under the radar.