The Vikings (1958)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Richard Fleischer

Writers:

Edison Marshall (novel)
Dale Wasserman (adaptation)

Release Date:

28 June 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Tagline:

Mightiest Of Men... Mightiest Of Spectacles... Mightiest Of Motion Pictures!

Plot:

Einar and Eric are two Viking half-brothers. The former is a great warrior whilst the other is an ex-slave...

Plot Keywords:

Warrior | Viking | Princess | Father Son Relationship | Epic

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Kirk Douglas	...	Einar
Tony Curtis	...	Eric
Ernest Borgnine	...	Ragnar
Janet Leigh	...	Morgana
James Donald	...	Egbert
Alexander Knox	...	Father Godwin
Maxine Audley	...	Enid
Frank Thring	...	Aella
Eileen Way	...	Kitala
Edric Connor	...	Sandpiper
Dandy Nichols	...	Bridget
Per Buckhøj	...	Bjorn

Also Known As:

:The Vikings: (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | West Germany:16 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Brittany, France

Company:

Brynaprod S.A.

Trivia:

In an interview given shortly after the release of the film both Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis said that they had been cold during the entire filming. The water in the fjord was just above freezing and the air temperature was only slightly warmer.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In the early scene where the viking ship is first returning to the village a shot from the front of the viking boat (from the camera boat in front) clearly reveals the camera boat's wake trailing behind - but in front of the viking ship.

Quotes:

Ragnar: [about Einar] What man ever had a finer son? Odin could have sired him, but I did!

Movie Connections:

Featured in ... A Father... A Son... Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2005) (TV)

A Massive Film, still

I saw this film at the pictures a long, long time ago.

I was a kid and was as wide eyeyed as any kid seeing a spectacular of comparable impact as Star Wars or Harry Paintpot or any derivative.

How on earth could any little lad be less than profoundly moved by the images of of eyes being ripped out by a hawk, people being eaten by crabs, wild wolves eating people in a pit, hands being chopped of.

This was a bloody massive movie and still is.

I just bought it on VCR and feel like a kid again.

I cannot imagine any modern kid being as equally moved but I'm sure they will come across it one day the same way I see impressive movies on TV made way before I was around.

Trouble is, for some reason this film never seems to get shown on either satellite or terrestrial TV. Why is that?

Setting asside my middle aged predudice, I challenge anyone to put forward a movie of a more spectactularly impressive introductary sequence and haunting theme music.