Vikingdom (2013) User Reviews

Oh my...

[ra-223-320116 · 2/10 · 27 January 2015]

I know it is labeled fantasy, but nevertheless, I would expect a certain degree of authenticity.

On the positive side - The county I live in (Trøndelag) and my city of birth (Trondheim) is mentioned. I noticed some of the archers were carrying their arrows in hand, that would be the way it was done, at least while fighting. The plot and dialogue is not terrible.

On the negative side - Just about everything else. Costumes, weaponry, props, SFX. As an example: The hero use a sword type that would come into play 3-4 century's after the era of the viking. Other weapons are just fantasy props.

To be honest, is this one of those movies you don't know whether it is supposed to be a parody or taken "seriously"

One reviewer told kids to grow up...I am 42 years old, and I enjoy a GOOD film in any genre. This was not one of them.

Kungfu expert in Viking movie ?

[gurubesar · 2/10 · 18 December 2013]

Any Viking movies will always picture the Viking as giant of a human being and they live bare-chested in a country that is covered by snow. There is not much CGI in this movie except maybe the "colossal type army gathering" which cause the earth to tremble.

If you want to see a huge muscular male, then this is the right movie. These Vikings do not seem to feel the cold. To make it more ridiculous, you have a Chinese kungfu master to from time to time talking in Mandarin and able to beat a person who is twice his size with his kungfu movement. And of course you have a girl who is so skinny but yet so powerful and of course she has to wear something like a bikini in the land where the snow is falling. Now, how great is that.

Again, even when you make a fantasy movie, try to make something which is reasonable. A tiny girl beating a giant Viking does not make sense. The story is simple, so to extend the movie time, the scenes were extended to the point of boring. The war takes too long, the sailing takes too many minutes to make it relevant to the plot.

I said earlier that there is very little CGI. In fact it is too little that a little bit more would be welcome. A gory fight without blood is not very interesting. But then again, what would you expect from a B grade movie with some body builders acting ? A vote of 2 is too much already, but I like the girl...

A lot more to this movie than what appears on screen.

[expatinasia · 2/10 · 13 October 2013]

The film was cast in several places, including Bangkok, Thailand. Along with dozens of erstwhile actors, I auditioned for a part. Knowing many of the final cast members, and others who were not successful, I got some inside information. The entire production process was incoherent. Casting was done in the worst of weather, during the Bangkok rainy season. Casting was done on rooftops while it was raining. More casting was done with thunder and lightning in the background. A portent of things to come. Accommodations for actors varied wildly. Some had to pay their way in Malaysia, and others had to pay for their own hotel. At least one actor was hired and, for his character, had his entire body shaved, and covered with henna tattoos. When he walked onto the set, he was dismissed, without explanation, and had to pay for his return to Bangkok. Worse, many of the actors and contractors were either not paid at all, or only paid a fraction of what was due. After the filming was completed, and the facts of KRU's lack of professionalism becomes apparent, I was happy that my audition was unsuccessful.

Worst movie in ages

[davish_wulf-1 · 1/10 · 13 October 2013]

"Vikingdom", the title had the word "Viking" on it and being a Viking movie fan I just had to see it.

What can I say? Worst computer generated graphics I ever saw, the movie is all made with computer landscapes/scenery and that could be good if well made ("300", "Sword of Xanten") but it failed miserably.

The color palette seems to only have 3 colors at times, red, greed and white. The actors seem to have been cut down from paper (yes, it is that bad).

That could fit the main actor role Dominic Purcell since he has the acting skills of a cardboard, or should I say a piece of wood. I noticed this in previous movies of him and this one just confirms it.

Also, whats up with the native American look? I can't decide if I'm seeing a native American playing a viking, or if they tried to give him some kind of a ridiculous "Conan the Barbarian" look.

Speaking of looks, what's up with Thor with his plastic hammer? Surprisingly Thor plays the part of the bad guy here (constantly in bad temper) but he wears a plastic hammer and has the strength of a normal guy. In fact his strength either is capable of blowing up doors (dynamite style) or he wrestles the main actor in a equal match...

Thor's hammer is famous in myth and history of being a magical object that ONLY Thor could lift.... how come the main character can lift it in the end? The film is a constant mess, ridiculous characters, ridiculous plot and scenery, the movie editing is confusing to say the least, fake bears in some cuts, a dragon with just a head and legs (no budget for the body?), Asian guys kicking around, total garbage.

Special effects looks like animated gifs, editing looks like it was made by a 5 year old, I couldn't stop but laugh all the way till It wasn't funny anymore and I had to fast forward on many scenes.

This is an insult to every Viking movie ever made and to Viking culture.

Actually this is more an insult to cinema than anything else.

Avoid like the PLAGUE.

Not worth the time

[allemailhere · 1/10 · 14 October 2013]

Low cost set, no effects, BUT you made me laugh about the "dragon" that looks like a paper mache tadpole. I just wasted my time watching this movie. REALLY This is the first rubbish film i watch in 2013!

The movie is trying to disgrace THOR? FTW? i just recently heard it came from malaysia? I really can't understand how did the film cost up to $15million, It certainly looks a LOW BUDGET FILM.

You will laugh if you visit youtube trailer. THE COMMENTS ARE DISABLED lols wonder why? I BET to many negative comments they can't handle :P

Don't watch don't download don't waste your time please its a very frustrating movie.

p.s. actors looks like they are on steroids or something

Terrible.

[diaphanous19 · 1/10 · 27 September 2013]

You will like this movie if you are 5-8 years old.

Lousy cgi, cheap looking costumes, horrible dialogue, bad cinematography and a clichéd storyline. The overall casting was terrible as well.

If you were expecting an intelligent, enjoyable, epic movie set in olden times, you will be extremely disappointed. Vikingdom should be classified as comedy instead of action or adventure.

I'd rather be forced to watch Twilight all over again. That's how bad it is.

This film is absolutely unwatchable.

Fun way to spend a a few hours.

[Melrosemiss · 5/10 · 26 July 2020]

Props for creating Norway in a tropical climate. Is this equal to The Last Kingdom? Definitely not but if you love fantasy and Viking lore, there are worse ways to spend a few hours. It was nice to see Dominic Purcell in a role in which he has hair.

Rubbish

[auzin · 1/10 · 26 September 2013]

It's so bad,you might give up watching movies altogether. Forget any controversy. This is just so bad that I regret watching it. I think this is definitely KRU's worse effort, not that most of theirs have been any good. I paid to watch this to give it a chance, and everything from the storyline to editing, to the sporadic quality of visual effects, is not even worth watching even if it was just a freebie. Yes, this is my personal response, and I would call on international film loving society to not lump this rubbish with quality Malaysian films out there. It is embarrassing to say the least. Ugh! Please do check out many more Malaysian movies out there including from the late Yasmin Ahmad. Meanwhile, on Vikingdom-give it a pass.

The concept is good, the execution is weak

[TheLittleSongbird · 3/10 · 24 July 2014]

Vikingdom is not the piece-of-whatever-with-no-redeeming-values that it has been said to be in previous negative reviews, and when it comes to Thor-related movies it is nowhere near as bad as Almighty Thor(honestly if there was a movie where the piece-of-whatever-with-no-redeeming-values term applies it's that one). Vikingdom has a cool opening sequence, Craig Fairbrass brings dignity to his character far out-shining the rest of the actors, Natassia Malthe is a beauty and is not a complete blank as an actress at any rate and the movie had a clever concept going for it. Sadly it was a concept that deserved better execution. The rest of the acting doesn't come across well at all, John Foo does try and has some good karate-like moves but his acting is not as natural. He is at least better than Conan Stevens and especially Dominic Purcell, Thor's cheap-looking hammer here had more subtlety than Stevens' acting(here Thor is all moody and angry and no other emotions) and Purcell's lead performance is devoid of any expression or involvement whatsoever other than staring into space in a just-had-a-quick-fix sort of way. The music is constant monotone sluggishness and repetition, and often it is at odds with the style and mood of the movie, while the characters are simplistically drawn with shallow personalities and the script is horrendously stilted and is not sure whether it wants to sound archaic or modern because it became across as an awkward hybrid of both. The story had real potential, but was quite dull and drawn out with some scenes that felt like filler but didn't need to be there, there were also some good ideas that were not fully explored. The worst asset about Vikingdom were the production values, there are low-budget movies out there that are decent with in some instances acceptable production values but these production values ranged from bizarre(the garish mish-mash of costumes and make-up) and awful(the underground basement-like sets, especially the castle interiors, and the wigs that would even give Bride of Frankenstein's hair a real fright). The camera work and editing really hinder the action sequences going way overboard with the slow-motion, the limited colour palette the movie is shot and lit in are both garish and over-saturated and that further adds to how hard on the eyes the movie looks. And you cannot comment on Vikingdom without mentioning the laughably plastic props and jaw-droppingly bad special effects, especially the papier-mâché-like creature that you weren't sure whether it was meant to be a dog or a dragon(it didn't really convince as either). Overall, loved the idea but the execution left much to be desired. 3/10 Bethany Cox

the worst movie

[McPerfect · 1/10 · 1 January 2014]

i think this movie doesn't belong to the 21th sentry.

its one of the most horrible movies I've ever seen, the cast were very bad, though the only one i knew was Lincoln Burrows from the TV Series Prison Break.

I don't think this is Hollywood film, it could be a film that a fat lazy boy made in his mother basement with poor quality cinematic.

he just flashed a flying people, people being hurt with out someone touch them, and as expected love story between the heroes out of nothing.

i thought we are 2013 the movie would be better, but i was shocked with poor scenario, the cast were talking rubbish suddenly mentioning topics out o context.

man i wasted nearly two hours watching it, but that was not the worst part, the worst part was a GOD wearing yellow, he locked like a cup-cake.

WAS AWFUL MOVIE DO NOT SEE IT.

A Good, entertaining story outside of the Hollywood Ethos...

[Rabh17 · 8/10 · 5 October 2014]

A Lot of posters here are giving the Thumbs down for 'cheesiness' or 'Not as Good' or 'Wasted effort'...but negative reviews because something didn't knock you off your feet in the first 10 minutes is easy.

One-- This ain't a Hollywood production...but the creators put effort into the story, the set, and the action. The fight/battle scenes were actually very well choreographed and never looked 'hokey'. You can actually see the swords cutting open wounds. And remember, this is Live Action...everything isn't Anime, after all!

Two-- This isn't a Movie out of the Christian Ethos, which makes this stand out when you see it for what it is, a story set in ANOTHER Mythic circle, that of the Norse Gods. It's done in the same vein as that classic 'Jason and the Argonauts'-- so the story is being told in the manner of a Mythic Tale or 'Epic Fable'. There's a little 'stiffness' involved in the dialogue and the characterizations, but it doesn't go into 'stupid' or 'cheap'.

Three-- The special effects aren't in the range of the Multi-million dollar Hollywood productions...but what they managed was in character and fitting to the story. I especially like the 'Hel' sequence.

All in all, This is a Good, Entertaining fantasy movie of decent length in the 'Epic Quest' category. An extra star for the respectful treatment it gives us of the Norse Mythic Ethos.

Weirdly enough, this movie is best for a nice, quiet Sunday Night.

I liked it

[nemisis_0 · 7/10 · 16 February 2014]

I have always been into fantasy and i really enjoyed this movie. I was going into it expecting it to be a terrible movie but they actually did a good job with what they used and how they used it in the movie. I can't understand at all someone giving this movie a 1 out of a 10 saying it's the worst movie they seen. Who ever gives this a 1 hasn't seen a lot of movies, on top of that the few movies they have probably seen have been only Oscar winners and 300 million dollar budget Hollywood block busters. I could never call this a bad movie, I've seen 10's or thousands of movies and i can tell ya, I have seen some 1 out of 10 truly bad movies in my life time, but this one I give them credit for putting the work they put into it with what they had to make it into what looked like they were most shooting for. A wild viking fantasy with sword play, fighting and magic. Yes there are a hell of a lot better movies but i was pleasantly surprised and cheered me up on a sick night. You just have to accept it for what it is.

The movie chronicles a forgotten king who is tasked with saving the Middle Kingdom with a band of volunteers from Thor.

[tomkatali · 15 September 2013]

ESG 2020's Movie Review Of Vikingdom - The Blood Eclipse

Good Story Telling Let Down By Bad Hair Pieces And...

This is KRU Studios' most ambitious project about a forgotten King, Eirick Bloodletter (Dominic Purcell) who is tasked with the quest to save the Middle Kingdom from the insecure and angry Thor, the God Of Thunder .

Together with a retinue of rag-tag volunteers, they embarked on a journey fraught with danger and derivatives the viewer will get used to. My advice for those intent on watching this movie is to suspend reality and fastidious standards and to just enjoy the movie. It is among the rare movies from Malaysia with good story telling with its plot's twists and turns.

Let's have a closer look at some of the characters in the movie.

Purcell's wooden acting as Eirick blends well with the wooden structures on the set which seem to be among the motif of the movie. His chemistry with Brynna (Natassia Malthe), the captain of the ship for their perilous journey seems passable enough as she is to ensure safe passage and motivation for Eirick and the volunteer warriors. Divinities in the form of Frey (Jesse Moss) and Freyja (Tegan Moss) have their respective agendas of assisting Eirick in his quest. Frey, the male divine manifestation, whose costume looks like it is designed as if for him to float instead of walking for fear of him tripping on the apparel. Freyja, the female manifestation, whose costume looks like it came from the bodice and legging of a fashion week design.

Jon Foo as Yang, a slave from China does not look exotic enough but he has among the best fight sequences in the movie. Craig Fairbrass as Sven, the sidekick for Eirick tolerated well the use of an egregiously done wig throughout the movie. Some of the other characters wearing hair pieces had their hairline covered with headbands to cover the 'malady'. Alcuin (Patrick Murray) the wizard is a disheveled, emaciated and somewhat disoriented looking version of the luminary white wizard of a great movie viewers are familiar with, often holding the staff with a lit mast and nothing can be more derivative than this. Conan Stevens as Thor looks more like a one dimensional villain in WWE.

As regards production design, other than the wigs 'debacle', this is among the departments in the movie that could do with observance of minute details and finesse in creativity. The brightly lit greenish in color giant quartz crystals submerged in the water in the hell scene seem out of place in a macabre and sombre environment. CGI and the rendering have been bold and innovative efforts but the aspect involving the gatekeeper of hell in particular which stumped me for being passed as the final product by the creative panel. The creature has a head like a dragon with an uncharacteristically short body. In the wide shot, it looks like the son of Sylvester the cat which the former has a big head with a small body chasing the mouse.

There is a scene in the cave when Brynna and Yang are on their way to save Eirick when they are about to encounter their enemies who are still quite a distance away. The enemies have not seen them yet and Brynna and Yang hid among the rocks. They could have just let their enemies pass by without ambushing them and avoid a near fatal encounter. This is reminiscent of the James Bond movie, Dr No, when Bond and two others with him in a river could have remained hidden from an enemy soldier instead of taking on him by surprise.

Among the relics to be acquired as the condition for Thor to proceed with his scheme is the necklace of Mary Magdalene. This condition is a bit corny and contrived to be one of the relics of an owner whom as at that period of time has not been known yet to be of any religious significance and the necklace being identified as a relic.

As I mentioned earlier, the movie has good story telling but certain departments are found wanting. Major international distributors and movie aficionados do not compromise on details oversight before accepting a movie as being of high quality and be a box office hit. Let's hope KRU Studios endeavor to enhance the workings of the relevant departments to achieve the international success it aspires to.

Different take

[kymeera · 4/10 · 26 April 2014]

This is no comparison to the big budget Thor movies but it wasn't meant to be. There are worse takes on Thor. There are two that make this look like it should get an Oscar. One with Zachary Ty Bryan which is atrocious then there's the one with Richard Grieco as Loki which is even worse. I watched because I have an affinity for Norse stories. I read every book on Norse mythology I could get my hands on growing up. I also like Dominic Purcell and Craig Fairbrass. I thought the guy playing Thor was miscast but then I didn't like the way they wrote the character. There was a mention in one review of why no mortal could touch Thor's hammer and then the main character did. The story told why - he was Thor's son so half god and could pick up the hammer. Also, in the mythology Thor isn't really very nice. He's arrogant and selfish. He's more the way Thor played by Chris Hemsworth is at the beginning of the first movie. All that aside the movie was OK. It is rather slow and dreary. They should have cut at least 30 minutes out and edited it better. It falls in the category I have for most movies - its not great but I've seen much worse unfortunately.

Would have probably become 80' blockbuster, if it is released at that time

[sweed79 · 4/10 · 16 October 2013]

First of all, i would like to congratulate the effort given by the KRU production. It is not an easy task to come up with a large scale movie set especially when you trying to make a viking movie on malaysian geographical landscape. I couldn't have imagined the hardship and difficulties they have to overcome to create a similar background and weather condition that is to the Nordics. But as usual the storyline is awful. And what with the zombies and the hound of hell? The creature is the worst i have seen in all 'B' grade monster movie. The person who made that creature sure rips you off your money. It is like a monster from a five year old dream. Or it could have been inspired by a project made by a five year old. The action is okay, nothing unusual or captivating. You can actually guess what parts will be freeze or slow mo during the fighting sequence. Shame because there is a lot of potential actors here. Another thing to ridicule about this movie is the hairpiece the vikings are using. It looks so fake a child could point it out. Nevertheless, i enjoyed watching it and making fun of it just like when i watch piranaconda or sharknado. It could have become a great movie if it is released way back in the 80 s and it is black and white. That way it is flawless. But producing this kind of movie in 2013, is sure not making any Malaysian proud. Maybe some are but definitely not me.

300 Wannabe sucks wind!

[omni_purch · 1/10 · 5 March 2014]

I couldn't believe how bad this was! Gee... copy the effects of 300 and we have a hit - NOT! Didn't make it past 10 minutes (which included credits, or should I say miscredits). Gargling with Drano would be preferable to watching this!!

Oh Crap, IMDb wants 10 lines of drivel to post! (Plus all my INFO, first born, etc. No way!

So, here's more crap to fill....

I couldn't believe how bad this was!

I couldn't believe how bad this was!

I couldn't believe how bad this was!

I couldn't believe how bad this was!

Vikings with horrible WIGs

[iz-one · 3/10 · 14 September 2013]

Went to see the movie on 14th September here in Malaysia and I really can't say much about this movie except that it could have been a better movie if the KRU brothers could have a couple of more millions to spend on this film. The storyline is interesting portraying the god ThoR as the main enemy...I wonder what's Chris hemsworth think about this bad version of Thor. From the main characters to the supporting cast I fell that they are lacking of charisma and energy in this Viking flick. Probably all the fake wig disturbing their acting skills. hehehe. i love Dominic Purcell in prison break and killer elite but it seems that I don't feel the energy or the charisma that he portrays in this movie. Jon foo is lousy in his fake mandarin and his fighting scenes are average compared to his Tekken movie which is cool in its own way. Some of the set design are better of stay inside a school Theather production. It's like one of those early P Ramlee movies. Overall i do have to tell you that this is a good start for A Malaysian film company to show what they can offer to the international movie community. Kudos to the Kru brothers.

Really bad. Almost a Bad Movie (genre, not adjective)

[daarbuke · 2/10 · 1 January 2017]

This is a terrible film. I understand that they had a very small budget to work with, but that's not an excuse for a bad script and bad editing.

There's just so much cheese that you wouldn't believe it.

The sets look fake. The weapons look fake. The locations are ridiculous. Everything looks like it's made of cardboard and spray painted with a stone look. The CGI is absurdly bad.

I understand that some things are expensive, but there are places where you can buy realistic-looking or even real weapons for cheaper than these fake ones. We have rocks and stones everywhere. There's no shortage of that to resort to using cardboard. There are places that rent out castles and forts for weddings and birthdays, they're not that expensive, I know people that do cosplay and recreations that take videos that look more professional than this.

But you can say they had a $1000 budget and everything was beyond their price range, but what's the excuse for the terrible script and cheesy dialogues?

Don't watch it unless you're looking for a laugh.

this movie is religious hate speech

[erinlale · 1/10 · 21 September 2013]

What if a Muslim director made a movie full of the same kind of hateful propaganda as "Innocence of Muslims" about someone else's god? That is this movie.

Asatruars and other heathens tolerate Marvel's Thor movies because they portray him positively, if a little inaccurately. Some of us are offended by Marvel's Thor movies but most of us enjoy them. But Vikingdom says our god is evil. That is offensive. This movie is clearly trying to ride Marvel's coattails, but it fails.

Don't give your money to this anti-Thor propaganda film. It is hate speech.

A respected member of our religion, Karl E.H. Seigfried of the Norse Mythology blog, sent a letter to director Yusry Abdul Halim asking him how he could claim on the movie's official website that this movie was "based on research" and is a "collision of myth and history" when it turns everything we know about Thor upside down. He responded that there is no proof that either Thor or the Vikings ever existed.

What if Hollywood made a movie where Allah was the villain and if Muslims complained about it the director said there is no proof Allah ever existed? Heads would roll.

Asatru, Forn Sed, Theod and other forms of heathenry for whom Thor is one of our gods are small minority religions but we demand the same respect one would give to any other religion.

Erin Lale, gythia of Asatru and author of Asatru For Beginners

Worst movie in a very long time

[andzat · 1/10 · 29 December 2013]

This movie is so awful, that I'm too lazy to explain why. Do not watch it, waste of time. I watched it with my 12 y.o. son, and even he was disappointed. Everything looks so fake that it makes you sick. Spent 15.000.000 $ ? This makes me feel even worse. Some of the main things which made me sick:

A Viking movie and Thor is a bad character? I'm sorry, but I come from the land of Vikings, and in this case I assume that in Malaysia they believe in Justinbieberism or some other crap.

Some Asian kung-fu guy walking around in Scandinavian villages? It is nowadays so, but certainly not in those times.

And I would like to ask the producers to sell me the paper suits of Frey and Freyja, they look exactly the same my daughters wear in kindergarten's's New Years play, and that plastic Thor's hammer would be a good toy for my 2 years old boy.

And please , pretty please, never make another movie spending 15 millions. Send that money to me.

It's a fiction.

[lunitari00 · 5/10 · 1 October 2013]

I'm going to cut this short.

It's a fiction. It's not written by Asian. It is directed by Malaysian and produced in Malaysia.

Down side : 1)Draggy script almost textbook type at some scenes. 2)Really bad wig. Like those previous movie they produce. They better seriously look into this. Natural hair probably work out better.

Up side : 1)I like the openings animation, sort of like 300. 2)Like the twist at the end of the movie although kinda expected. 3)Pretty gals.

It's almost like a B-grade movie that refuse to be a B-grade. Need better animations and fighting scenes are too long. Something about fight fatigue to the audience.

I gave a 5 because of it is monumental feat for a small company (comparatively) to produce such a big scale movie.

Pure FUN from start to end !!! The Lord of the Rings of B-movies !! Ignore the bad hype.

[Alcaminhante · 9/10 · 26 January 2014]

I really do not understand the bad reviews surround this movie. It all depends on your mindset i guess. If you're going into this comparing it to the usual Hollywood stuff, well OK, we can see this is not exactly Lord of the Rings but that isn't exactly a bad thing. In fact...if you love B-movies, i can guarantee this is the "Lord of the Rings" of B-Movies ! It's definitely the most fun independent fantasy film i've ever seen.

To begin with, the plot might be a bit crazy, but it's very original because it tries to stand apart from the usual lack of imagination we see nowadays coming from Hollywood. Sometimes it works, others not really but who cares, it's a B-movie people, it does not need to make sense, it only needs to be fun and filled with adrenaline, and this movie is all that.

Also the design is fantastic most of the time. OK, it's all CGI and it's evident that it is CGI. So... ? Do you mean that in the big blockbuster Hollywood movies you don't notice the backgrounds are also CGI ?! Really ?!! Besides this is not a big blockbuster movie although sometimes manages to feel like an incredible epic piece of work. The scenery looks amazing most of the time, the whole graphic look is beautiful throughout and as far as "photoshop" movies go, this is the best one since the french "Vidoq" a few years ago. A lot more fun than 300 or Sin City combined because it does not take itself seriously too and that makes it work.

The plot is well paced, some fun twists, lots of diversity in the "road movie" locations and everything a fantasy fan can ask for if he just relaxes and leaves the brain out the door for a couple of well spent hours. As for the racism or religious offenses claim some people mention...you must be joking. This is not exactly a great adaptation of Norse sagas but it manages to capture some of their best pulp-fiction plot points and it does not need to be an accurate study in mythology to work perfectly.

If you love B-movies and you love fantasy don't hesitate, go get this movie. After i've seen my torrent copy, i went to amazon and ordered the 3d blu-ray which i cannot wait to see.

Ignore the bad hype. Do not compare this to Hollywood stuff because, actually in some things its a lot better than what comes out of American giant blockbusters most of the times. At least it tries to do something different and be as original as it can without fear of loosing audiences.

Oh, and by the way this has buckets of blood in it. If you love gory battle scenes this is the movie to check out. Although they are all totally cartoon and so they are completely harmless and fun , which is exactly what the movie is asking for.

I can hardly believe a movie with this look was entirely shot in Malasia !! Just by this it should be praised because Vikingdom looks fantastic and i though this was some kind of independent European production shot in Norway or something. It's not, it's an oriental movie. Amazing.

The only thing to me that is really bad in it are some castle interiors which really look like square rooms with not much personality or design in it and i don't understand this as most of the movie looks beautiful. Perhaps production run out of money to build more stuff.

Nevertheless ignore the bad hype, this is a great little B-movie, with tons of fun, great action one-to-one fighting scenes, a vast epic feel sometimes and the best Thor ever put to screen.

If you love independent low budget fantasy cinema go for it. It's really the best out there and i hope they make a sequel very soon.

A Monumental Effort for Its Budget

[nimwrites · 7/10 · 2 October 2013]

In one sentence, Vikingdom is about a forgotten Viking king, Eirick, who is summoned by the god Frey to get Odin's horn from Hell so he can use it to defeat Thor who is angry at the people for abandoning their worship of him in favour of Christianity.

The film aspires to be an epic so there are standard procedures to follow. The introduction of the hero, he goes to assemble a team, they go on a quest… an epic battle in the end. However, that is where the similarity ends. The plot deviates enough to deliver a couple of fresh twists that nobody would see coming.

The cast did a good job making their characters memorable too. Conan Steven's very angry Thor shows the God of Thunder at his baddest and makes Marvel's Thor look like a harmless whiner. The wizard Alcuin looks a bit like Gandalf with his long hair and staff but is so quirky that he becomes one of the more memorable teammates. Equally good is Craig Fairbass's Sven and even Eirick's father in Hell. Natassia Malthe and Jon Foo show promise as Brynna and Yang respectively.

Unlike most epics, this one has humour sprinkled in, watch for the banter between Sven and Yang and a funny scene when Eirick tries to command a team to follow him to Hell.

Now moving into set designs. If you are very observant, you will notice that Vikingdom may be similar in look to Hollywood epics but there are some freshness to it. This is because Vikingdom is actually not a Hollywood production. Being crafted from an international cast allowed for new ideas for doing things. The vast cave they traverse is an actual cave and not a set, the castle and homes depicted each have their own identity and the costumes are boldly imaginative. The CGI dog guarding Hell is a miss but the many breathtaking CGI landscapes makes up for it.

The biggest disappointment, I have to say, is star of the show Dominic Purcell himself. He was almost plastic throughout the movie. I thought long and hard about why an actor of Purcell's calibre could deliver such an average performance. Purcell's Eirick experienced many emotional ups and downs and the story itself has many tense moments but Purcell's expressionless demeanour diluted the emotional effect evoked from the many twists and turns of the story.

The only reason I could think of for this happening is that Purcell portrayed a character who died and was brought back to life – technically an undead. Perhaps he was truly embodying the emotions of an undead, thus the lack of emotions? To enjoy the movie, this is the premise you must believe.

Overall, this seems like an ordinary epic… but it became extraordinary because of its micromini budget. It was made with 15 million. If you watch the movie with this understanding, you will appreciate it. And if you think about the many big budget Hollywood blockbusters out there that got away with wooden acting or bad script or uninspired CGI and so on, you would realize that this is truly an achievement. At first glance, one might rubbish the slightly low budget feel but on second look, one would appreciate the work they pulled out of that kind of budget.

For pulling the proverbial rabbit out of the hat, Vikingdom, the cast and crew deserves a big thumbs up.

I look forward to seeing more of these actors on screen, and the crew on their next project.

Vikingdumb

[uffda_77592 · 2/10 · 2 March 2014]

So many things wrong with this movie, they even misspelled the title.

Basically the Viking artistic re-interpretation of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, except with ridiculous costumes, bizarre hair and plastic weapons. But then, maybe all Viking warriors put on cheap wigs and walk around the Tundra in shag carpet kilts with no shirts?

Strange vocal effects, high school drama class costumes, Kung Fu fighting styles, Vikings leaping 20 foot walls, unintelligible dialogue, nonsense plot, weird music....

I wish the preview contained the title sequence, as that would have been a fairer representative. It looks like the opening of a WWE Wrestling pay-per-view show. The only thing redeeming is that they did find some decent filming locations and splurged on extras and horses. Just wish they had saved some money on the horses, and purchased some decent hair pieces.

Just go watch Conan again, or see the 13th Warrior.

Just an Epic B Movie

[fabimzim4 · 2/10 · 23 December 2013]

Nothing much to say about this.I could really name it as a parody or maybe a joke or something else . Please if anyone have a definition for it ,let me know. Maybe a new gender.Epic B Movie? This movie is so crappy and poor ) for what it was supposed to mean . And i ask my self if these people really made it , expecting for someone to take it seriously. Even if they tried to picture any real mythology or whatever , for a noble cause. Sorry I will not mention any good points on it.( is there any ? ) Just wondering here.Who on earth really got guts to invest any money on it. Something must be wrong . A terrible movie , even for Brazilian ( awful ) movies standards. Don't buy it. Don't rent it. Never ever watch it. Be advised .