+- RepairmanJack.com Forums (https://repairmanjack.com/forum)
+-- Forum: Other Topics (https://repairmanjack.com/forum/forum-9.html)
+--- Forum: Off Topic (https://repairmanjack.com/forum/forum-4.html)
+--- Thread: Valhalla Rising (/thread-4006.html)
Valhalla Rising - The Mad American - 12-13-2010
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0862467/
I watched this movie on Netflix over the weekend and I have to say it was one of the weirdest movies I have seen in a long time. But, I really liked it. Beautifully shot with lots of stunning scenery.
Mads Mikklesen plays One Eye, a prisoner in a Viking camp who is forced to fight to the death with other prisoners, he escapes, ends up with some Viking Christians who think they are headed to Jerusalem to help in the crusades, they get lost at sea and end up in a place they don't understand.
Mikklesen is great even though he doesn't have one single word of dialogue in the entire movie (he has lost an eye and is mute from scars taken in battle over the years) he carries this movie.
Shot and structured almost like an art house indie movie it has some scenes of extreme violence but they work to illustrate the lifestyle these people lived.
Weird, very weird and a lot probably wouldn't enjoy it but I really liked this movie. Not your run of the mill arty farty movie because of the subject matter and the, very few, scenes of stark violence, and not your run of the mill Viking movie either because of the cerebral nature of the movie.
Valhalla Rising - Medusa - 12-13-2010
I actually had this on my Que and was planning to watch it but reviews didn't look so hot so I passed on it. Maybe I'll give it a shot.
Valhalla Rising - The Mad American - 12-13-2010
Medusa Wrote:I actually had this on my Que and was planning to watch it but reviews didn't look so hot so I passed on it. Maybe I'll give it a shot.
I would say give it a try. It is most definitely NOT an sword/action movie though. Way more cerebral and existential. More a movie to think deeply about after watching it than to escape into with action and hero's.
You may hate it, and if you do I will say sorry now. I like this movie more the more I think about it and ponder the structure and symbolism in it. But I am weird like that.
Valhalla Rising - Karithna - 12-14-2010
I thought it was worth watching, but there was a lot of nothing going on interspersed with some interesting stuff. Interesting and posibly accurate portrayal of viking life.
Valhalla Rising - GeraldRice - 12-14-2010
Karithna Wrote:I thought it was worth watching, but there was a lot of nothing going on interspersed with some interesting stuff. Interesting and posibly accurate portrayal of viking life.
I see this is an IFC film. I'll have to check their schedule to see if they're replaying it anytime soon. I can't request it from the library.
Valhalla Rising - The Mad American - 12-14-2010
Karithna Wrote:I thought it was worth watching, but there was a lot of nothing going on interspersed with some interesting stuff. Interesting and posibly accurate portrayal of viking life.
I think the writer/director intended to make something along the lines of "Heart of Darkness" and the accuracy of Viking life was secondary. But yeah I think the violence, as starkly as it is portrayed is a nice illustration of how they probably just went about it like it was an average daily activity.
Valhalla Rising - Blades - 12-19-2010
I liked it, but it is different. It is not your usual hollywood fare. A lot better the Centurion, in my opinion.
Valhalla Rising - The Mad American - 12-20-2010
Blades Wrote:I liked it, but it is different. It is not your usual hollywood fare. A lot better the Centurion, in my opinion.
Yeah, different is a good way to put it.
I haven't watched the Centurion yet. Have been tempted a couple times and probably will before all is said and done.
Valhalla Rising - t4terrific - 12-20-2010
This was maybe the most frustrating movie I've ever seen. It had me hooked from start to finish. I couldn't even blink, I didn't want to miss a second. I was so into "One Eye" and following the story. Then, the movie ended, and I was thinking, "What the fuck is going on?".
I was so frustrated. I wanted more. I wanted to understand what I had just spent the last 90 minutes watching. The ending was so disapointing, and unsatisfying. It made the story not even worth telling.
Valhalla Rising - The Mad American - 12-20-2010
t4terrific Wrote:This was maybe the most frustrating movie I've ever seen. It had me hooked from start to finish. I couldn't even blink, I didn't want to miss a second. I was so into "One Eye" and following the story. Then, the movie ended, and I was thinking, "What the fuck is going on?".
I was so frustrated. I wanted more. I wanted to understand what I had just spent the last 90 minutes watching. The ending was so disapointing, and unsatisfying. It made the story not even worth telling.
I actually really liked the ending and it made the movie work for me.
On a side note there are discussions all over the place on what it meant etc etc. I have my opinions but won't post them here to avoid spoilers. I can totally understand how it could be frustrating though.