The 13th Warrior (1999)

Directed by John McTiernan. Starring Antonio Banderas, Dennis Storhøi, Vladimir Kulich, Omar Sharif, Tony Curran, Sven Wollter, Maria Bonnevie, Anders T. Anderson, Diane Venora, Richard Bremmer, Clive Russell, Daniel Southern. [R]

Banderas’ exiled 10th-century Muslim ambassador ends up traveling with a dozen Norseman warriors to a small village under constant attacks from an ancient evil in this loose, semi-revisionist spin on the epic poem of “Beowulf” (itself the inspiration for the Michael Crichton novel, “Eaters of the Dead,” upon which Warren Lewis and William Shipler Jr.’s screenplay is based). Sturdy physical production enhanced by gloomy scenery, plenty of blood-splattered action, costuming and makeup as atmospheric as the photography…but it’s the sort of handsomely-produced genre picture that never quite satisfies. The failures are more about what is not in the movie rather than what is, namely a story told with clarity and rooting interest, and characters in which the audience can invest (only three or four of the thirteen warriors get even the faintest hint of a personality or arc—the rest of them are just a tangle of beards, glowers, and reckless courage whose names are easily overlooked or forgotten). Troubled production saw co-producer Crichton take over directing duties for reshoots and extensive re-editing; if there was any heart or humanity captured on film at any point, it ended up on the cutting room floor.

51/100