If you are up for an amateurish Viking flick with decent norse theme, this is the movie for you. When the lone hero does his thing some other dudes tries to do theirs. Costumes is decent (armour not so much though It would work in a reenactment society wich it probably origins from).
The story is slow, built by a slow storyteller and he has a hard time convincing me to listen. The actors are quite good but the obviously lack directions. Music and sound is decent, but the dubbing has its flaws.
I would only recomend this movie to someone who are binging Viking movies. Otherwise, walk away!
14 Reviews
Edited with a kitchen knife and filmed in someone's backyard
efd-1046711 October 2020
A fairly poor attempt, to save on money the costumes are terrible, the sets are pathetic, the editing is shocking.
It gets a 2 because I like Viking shows but this looks like it was made by the high school film club, probably best avoided.
It gets a 2 because I like Viking shows but this looks like it was made by the high school film club, probably best avoided.
Watch "Fist Full of Dollars" Intead
markkbranson27 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
As others have noted, the plot of "Viking Blood" (2019) is ripped from Leone and Kurosawa. I would argue this film owes more to Leone for several reasons:
First, if you have 90 minutes to kill, attend to the close-ups. Straight from Leone's playbook.
Second, the plot element are identical: two sides of a town fighting for control. "The Stranger" (e.g. "The Man with No Name") moves back and forth beteen these two side, enriching himself along the way.
Third, tho' note as compelling, the soundtrack is a pale echo of Ennio Morricone. However, if you are struggling thru this film, note how the score is used. It appears at just the ket times, just as in Leone's work.
Besides this obvious and painful debt to Leone, there are others things that are disturbing about this film:
This work is clearly exploitive to ride the tide of the TV series "Vikings" which is far more superior in plot, acting, set design than "Viking Blood."
Consider in this film the cheesy costuming. Clearly it looks to me as tho' the designer raided the 'Party Store" at Halloween time.
At about one hour into this abysmal movie, catch the sequence where "The Stranger" is crawling away in the dark. Damn, this director even stole the plot boards from Leone!
Lastly, I can't help but wonder about where this film was shot. I swear that in the Christian enclave there are bamboo plants clearly waving in the breese.
Bottom-line: you must clearly have been in COVID isolation too long (like me) if you bother to watch this piece. It might be worth it to show how powerful Leone is with film making, but otherwise, I would suggest not to bother.
First, if you have 90 minutes to kill, attend to the close-ups. Straight from Leone's playbook.
Second, the plot element are identical: two sides of a town fighting for control. "The Stranger" (e.g. "The Man with No Name") moves back and forth beteen these two side, enriching himself along the way.
Third, tho' note as compelling, the soundtrack is a pale echo of Ennio Morricone. However, if you are struggling thru this film, note how the score is used. It appears at just the ket times, just as in Leone's work.
Besides this obvious and painful debt to Leone, there are others things that are disturbing about this film:
This work is clearly exploitive to ride the tide of the TV series "Vikings" which is far more superior in plot, acting, set design than "Viking Blood."
Consider in this film the cheesy costuming. Clearly it looks to me as tho' the designer raided the 'Party Store" at Halloween time.
At about one hour into this abysmal movie, catch the sequence where "The Stranger" is crawling away in the dark. Damn, this director even stole the plot boards from Leone!
Lastly, I can't help but wonder about where this film was shot. I swear that in the Christian enclave there are bamboo plants clearly waving in the breese.
Bottom-line: you must clearly have been in COVID isolation too long (like me) if you bother to watch this piece. It might be worth it to show how powerful Leone is with film making, but otherwise, I would suggest not to bother.
A Viking Western That Was Done Sort of Well
mikejacobs-5222623 May 2019
Warning: Spoilers
For a movie with the word Blood in it, you'd think there would be more blood. There wasn't a lot of action scenes, and the ones that were there, were pretty short.
I do think the writer did a good job at showing the Vikings, and the Christians lack of knowledge of the Christian faith. It was either a lack of knowledge, or a fear of one another, that drove them to the violence. I mean, the pagans just started chasing Edwyn and Freya and it never said what they did. Sounds like to me, the Pagans didn't want another faith on their land. And that pretty much started the feud between them. There was no backstory on why the Earl expelled the Christians from the village other than he didn't want another faith coming in. It also never mentioned what things the Christians did to ruin the village that the trading post guy mentioned. Not a lot of backstory to fill you in on things that happened before the movie began.
Also, at the end when the Stranger told the Earl "This is for my father, the King," I don't believe it ever mentioned what the Earl did to the King. Or if it did, I missed it. Only thing I remember hearing about the King, was that Gudrun said the King sent ships to protect them. Other than that, I don't know what the Earl did to the King and what made the Stranger say what he did at the end.
Overall, an average movie, a lot of backstory that wasn't told, that if told, would have made it a bit less confusing. Very little action and very little blood for a movie with the word Blood in the title.
Also, at the end when the Stranger told the Earl "This is for my father, the King," I don't believe it ever mentioned what the Earl did to the King. Or if it did, I missed it. Only thing I remember hearing about the King, was that Gudrun said the King sent ships to protect them. Other than that, I don't know what the Earl did to the King and what made the Stranger say what he did at the end.
Overall, an average movie, a lot of backstory that wasn't told, that if told, would have made it a bit less confusing. Very little action and very little blood for a movie with the word Blood in the title.
My Sword is my God.
nogodnomasters14 March 2019
Warning: Spoilers
960 AD Denmark. A mercenary profiteer known as "the stranger" makes money in the struggle of Odin vs Jesus as Christians attempt to survive in a Viking village.
Lousy script. The dialogue was bland. The action was boring. Had to fast forward about the last 20 minutes it was that boring.
Lousy script. The dialogue was bland. The action was boring. Had to fast forward about the last 20 minutes it was that boring.
Waste of time
vegresol29 April 2019
I watched the movie which lasted almost 2 hours and I was curious enough to check it's ratings. By the time I read the 10/10 rating that 1-2 people reviewed with, I was kinda confused whether or not we watched the same movie. It was a bad movie, I feel like I wasted my time. There was nothing impressive to it. Some of the actors were decent, the rest of them felt like they were paying to actually be in the movie.
Fist full of silver pieces
jasonclarketurkjc19 April 2019
Worth watching only for the main character's fancy fringe!
nikolaos_reglis30 April 2022
I couldn't stop myself laughing from the very first moment the main character and his ridiculous haircut appeared on the screen. An iconic brutal viking figure that's gonna haunt me in my most terrible nightmares for sure.
Better than Deathstalker
phillipmelbourne5 October 2020
Viking Good, Bad & the Ugly
wsskfqy23 December 2023
Well. I was thinking about this as I went to the loo...how really awful it is. But then I thought....really, the people probably DD live in ramshackle little villages. They probably DID fall out with the people who lived over the hill. They probably DIDNT have a whole lot to say to each other and when they did, I might have been just as lame. They probably DID look as dirty.
Then I realised the lead was playing the villages off against each other and it is a Viking remake of Clint Eastwood's famous spaghetti Western. Is it Tgbau, or is it "A Fistful of Dollars"?
That made it a slightly better film, as at least there was a semblance of a plot - to copy the plot of another movie. Because otherwise, it didn't make any sense at all. Really.
Usually there is pretty scenery or something to make up for it. There wasn't.
Then I realised the lead was playing the villages off against each other and it is a Viking remake of Clint Eastwood's famous spaghetti Western. Is it Tgbau, or is it "A Fistful of Dollars"?
That made it a slightly better film, as at least there was a semblance of a plot - to copy the plot of another movie. Because otherwise, it didn't make any sense at all. Really.
Usually there is pretty scenery or something to make up for it. There wasn't.
An authentic Viking western.
castingvikings5 March 2019
It's 960 A.D., the waning years of the old Viking belief system. Christianity is slowly taking over, but there is still a large resistance to the new faith.
A stranger riding through the forest finds a woman bound and a hanging on a cross. He takes her down and brings her to a nearby village. He learns from an old trader that the lord in village, Earl Odisson, has expelled Gudrun and her Christian flock from the village and they are now at war.
The Stranger's natural instinct is to profit from this situation, but he soon learns that both sides are treacherous and makes a promise to the trader that neither shall prevail.
However, somewhere along the line he must put aside his greed and make a moral choice to become the man he is destined to be.
A thoroughly enjoyable film. Must be watched from beginning to end.
A stranger riding through the forest finds a woman bound and a hanging on a cross. He takes her down and brings her to a nearby village. He learns from an old trader that the lord in village, Earl Odisson, has expelled Gudrun and her Christian flock from the village and they are now at war.
The Stranger's natural instinct is to profit from this situation, but he soon learns that both sides are treacherous and makes a promise to the trader that neither shall prevail.
However, somewhere along the line he must put aside his greed and make a moral choice to become the man he is destined to be.
A thoroughly enjoyable film. Must be watched from beginning to end.
Amateurish but Watchable
m-dagati23 December 2020
Seems like a pretty amateur effort, but the actors take it seriously and I enjoyed it. Sort of a Viking era Western. Some of the other reviewers are right in that the editing is terrible. Has lots of other flaws but it has a certain charm that you only find in independent flicks.
A fistful of dollars in Denmark
leonardomodesto31 October 2021
It is a good film, enjoyable to watch. However, the story is extremely close to the one of the Sergio Leone's film '' A fistful of dollars. "It must be remembered that Sergio Leone himself had drawn the story of his film from a previous work by Akira Kurosawa.
Dark and bold Viking Spaghetti Western.
irenehunker20 March 2019
This Viking story was a pleasant surprise. An authentic, dark and bold viking spaghetti western, not overproduced, but honest and down to business. Visually stunning, convincing in it's simple and captivating journey into the darkness of mankind and their afflictions around 960 A.D in Denmark.
Intense and furious fight scenes that almost celebrates the old Macaroni Western masters like Kurosawa and Sergio Leone.
I'm glad I found this film especially when the poster doesn't really reflect or do this little amazing lowbudget film justice.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
