I thought this might be a really terrible film, as I had never heard of it, and most lesser-known sword and sandal movies are usually cheesy and poorly produced. I usually give them a chance anyway, though, and this one actually had me engaged and impressed for most of the nearly 2 hour run time. It is different in showing Baltic nations, and I had never seen much about Latvia and that region, especially during the Crusader period. I hoped it would be similar to "Arn", and in many ways, it delivers.
The production value and film quality are great. There are striking visuals and great combat scenes for something no one has heard of. The protagonist is ok, but could have been slightly miscast; however, he pulls this off decently. The other characters are pretty good, even if the script and motivations are a bit simplistic. The focal point on the ring becomes a bit comical at time, as if this is a high school LOTR production, and there could have been more character development, explanations for why people do things, and bigger scenes-- but I feel this is mostly due to budget constraints.
This one is definitely worth a watch, and it had me interested throughout most of the movie, which is more than I can say for many blockbuster A-list movies released lately. I will have to research more on the history of all this, as I am a history buff, but know little of this region in that period.
Give it a try...if the filmmakers had more time and a bigger budget, I feel they could have made a 8 or 9 rating film.
The production value and film quality are great. There are striking visuals and great combat scenes for something no one has heard of. The protagonist is ok, but could have been slightly miscast; however, he pulls this off decently. The other characters are pretty good, even if the script and motivations are a bit simplistic. The focal point on the ring becomes a bit comical at time, as if this is a high school LOTR production, and there could have been more character development, explanations for why people do things, and bigger scenes-- but I feel this is mostly due to budget constraints.
This one is definitely worth a watch, and it had me interested throughout most of the movie, which is more than I can say for many blockbuster A-list movies released lately. I will have to research more on the history of all this, as I am a history buff, but know little of this region in that period.
Give it a try...if the filmmakers had more time and a bigger budget, I feel they could have made a 8 or 9 rating film.