The Northman [DVD]

As someone who has grown up with and been a fan of classic 80’s fantasy/epic/adventure films such as “Excalibur”, “The Sword and the Sorcerer” and of course “Conan the Barbarian” and being interested in the works of Robert Eggers; even if it’s just been “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse” before this film; this is not only one hell of a ride in terms of storytelling(actually using the original origins for what would become the famous Shakespeare play Hamlet) and filmmaking(saw this beast of a film on opening night in a packed theater and what an experience!) but also shows how much both audiences and filmmakers miss the classic 80’s epics. On every single level, the film is shot gorgeously with some beautiful on location shots in Prince Amleth’s uncles area, the acting is top notch even the minor roles leave an impact on the story and the audience(Björk only has just one scene as a future teller but her performance is phenomenal), the story is brilliantly paced and did not feel as though it was taking too long; if anything you want to stay longer to know more about the characters and the world; and finally the action scenes. Oh how to count the ways of how brutal yet amazing the action scenes are! From the raid on a village where Amleth catches a wooden spear with his hand then throws it right back to where it was thrown, to the fight for Amleth’s sword between a zombie king(you read that right), to the nightly ambushes, and then to the outstanding finale! This is the kind of movie I’m certain I and many others have missed for several decades! Much like “Mad Max: Fury Road” and how it showed how to make a real action film with actual stunts and not rely on CGI, so does this movie with some of the most brutal and bloody yet amazing fight scenes. This is also serves as a great love letter and look into Norse mythology as well as Viking mythology! And if you read the behind the scenes of the film, you’ll see that both Robert Eggers and Alexander Skarsgård had always wanted to make a Viking/Norse epic for quite some time and it absolutely shines in the final product! With so many audiences looking back at classic 80’s fantasy epics and adventure films this serves as a love letter to those films as well, but with a gritty and brutal tone as well as retelling a classic story that has been around for centuries. Perhaps the only criticism I would have for the film would have to be just a single shot of the film(yes, just a single shot) where the actor portraying Valkyrie is shown to have braces; which was also shown in the trailers; and it seems Eggers was not given final cut to make sure nothing like this would be seen, so there’s that little “whoopsie” in an otherwise amazing movie experience. I absolutely recommend “The Northman” for not just fans of Robert Eggers, Alexander Skarsgård, Anya Taylor Joy, Nicole Kidman and many more, or even just fans of 80’s fantasy epics or lovers of Vikings and Norse mythology; but for lovers of outstanding movies, incredible storytelling, and just wanting to have one hell of a film experience! I can say without any question that “The Northman” is absolutely one of the best movies of 2022 so far! I can only hope perhaps the film will be re-released in theaters again so not only can I experience this epic masterpiece on the big screen again but for others who did not get a chance to do so as well! As for home media, have the biggest tv and an amazing stereo system to fully experience this masterpiece!

Good movie

One of my favorite films from the past 5-10 years. An underrated revenge tale. Beautiful lot shot, well acted and directed. I knew Robert Eggers was going to nail “Nosferatu” after seeing this one in theaters.

Movie is good but it's BD-100 -_-

•Blu-Ray looks & sounds amazing• □ Disc specifications ( special features, extras, art, etc. ) are exactly as listed □

Amazing Viking saga you can’t look away from

Great movie with lots of action.

While nothing special, The Northman is a nice breath of fresh air from the crazy CGI fests we see in today's cinema. While the 3rd act suffers to some extent, the rest of the film is very well paced, written, acted, and directed. It maybe simple but that's kinda part of its charm.