Valhalla Rising
Born of violence. Born of blood. Born of hell.
Acclaimed Danish director Nicholas Winding Refn follows his worldwide smash Pusher trilogy and the widely praised Bronson with his most daring film yet. Valhalla Rising is a brutally beautiful Viking film with international star Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale, Clash Of The Titans) as One Eye, a chained prisoner forced to fight to the death for the entertainment of his captors. When One Eye escapes, he stumbles upon a group of warriors headed to the Crusades. But fate has something else in store, as the men drift into the New World, where savages stalk them one by one in increasingly violent ways. Is One Eye an avenging angel or just the guiltiest of them all? The answers can be found in this ruthless, hallucinatory, one of a kind journey.
Member Reviews
Not for everyone, but incredibly well done. - Laouik
This is a slow movie. Friends had warned me that they had fallen asleep in their attempt to watch it. I, however, was captivated. There is very little dialogue. There are long shots of landscape. However, the silence and imagery encouraged my mind to anticipate. Sometimes right, sometimes wrong, every little conclusion was impactful. I'm very glad I saw this.Pretentious - rnhaas
Well this is quite the artsy attempt at an "action" film (for lack of a better term, though there is little action). One suspects that a lack of budget somewhat contributed to this, as its certainly easier to film in "mist" than worry about backgrounds and such. Unfortunately, too much is left out of the picture to really get enough of what is supposedly of import (I really have no idea). I have some major issues with the geography of the film (though Scotland does a good job of standing in for Canada, how the hell did they get to Canada?) and some problems with its excessive moodiness. On the other hand, it certainly prompts more questions than just about every other viking movie I've seen.If you find Terrance Malick films too mainstream, you'll love this - Peggy
In many ways a fascinating and innovative film, but bewarned: by no means does it have a traditional narrative structure. There is almost no dialogue (though what there is, is powerful: at one point a chieftain despairs about how Christians "eat their own god") and scenes have a dreamscape, hallucinatory logic. The action and violence sequences are sober and quite brutal. The "story" from what I can tell concerns a Viking ("one eye," Mads Mikkenson) separated or lost from his raiding party, and now a prisoner gladiator traded among the Scottish chieftains. When Christians kill the chiefs (in the name of God, of course) One Eye becomes part of their plan to journey to Jerusalem and join the Crusades. Somehow they end up in what seems to be the New World, and the story portrays how One Eye's instinctual understanding of sacrifice outpaces his Christian counterparts.
Member Reviews
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Not for everyone, but incredibly well done. - Laouik
This is a slow movie. Friends had warned me that they had fallen asleep in their attempt to watch it. I, however, was captivated. There is very little dialogue. There are long shots of landscape. However, the silence and imagery encouraged my mind to anticipate. ...Pretentious - rnhaas
Well this is quite the artsy attempt at an "action" film (for lack of a better term, though there is little action). One suspects that a lack of budget somewhat contributed to this, as its certainly easier to film in "mist" than worry about backgrounds and ...If you find Terrance Malick films too mainstream, you'll love this - Peggy
In many ways a fascinating and innovative film, but bewarned: by no means does it have a traditional narrative structure. There is almost no dialogue (though what there is, is powerful: at one point a chieftain despairs about how Christians "eat their own ...