It is also story about courage, inner strength, human resolve, and
man’s slow emergence from superstition and barbarism to something greater and
nobler. The 13th Warrior
Starring Antonio Banderas
Screenplay by Michael Crichton
Directed by John McTiernan
Touchstone Pictures
Rated R
by Shirley J. Gregory
The 13th Warrior, starring Antonio Banderas, playing now in area theaters, is an exciting gem of a movie.
It has the edge-of-your
seat thrilling battle scenes and enough violence and gore to satisfy the biggest
thrill seekers among us movie goers, but there is so much more.
It is also story about courage, inner strength, human resolve, and
man’s slow emergence from superstition and barbarism to something greater and
nobler.
The 13th
Warrior takes place some time during the 7th or 8th
centuries. Banderas’ character
and an elder statesman from his
country (played by Omar Sharif) have left their enlightened, civilized culture,
on a mission for their Arabian prince to establish diplomatic ties with their
Northern “brothers” in Sweden and Denmark.
The Viking king they first encounter and eleven of his warriors are
preparing to go to the aid of a kingdom that is being terrorized by the
superhuman beast whose name must not be spoken.
The king’s Seer further instructs him that a 13th warrior
must accompany them – and that he must be a foreigner.
The young Arab is a lover and a poet, not a warrior, but he is selected,
and he cannot decline.
It’s hard to explain
how one can grow to care for, and even learn to love a band of barbarians, but
we do. And the superstition that is
such a part of their lives begins, after a while, to seem natural to us as well.
One scene in particular caused the hair on the back of my neck to rise.
For just a moment, when the snake of fire makes its way down the
mountainside just as foretold, I could feel a stir in that tiny seed of
superstition that is still buried deep in the core of all of us.
I hadn’t really believed in a snake of fire, but there it was
-- inexplicable. I was surprised at my reaction, but Crichton’s plotting
had set me up. I had been primed and I was vulnerable for that strategic
moment.
As we watch the Vikings
through the poet’s eyes, their humanity and dignity slowly blurs the
impression wrought by their
roughness, fearful appearance and fierceness in battle.
We are transported, certainly not a better world, to that cold, harsh
world in humankind’s distant past, and civilization’s beginning.
And we, like the poet, witness action worthy of being told to generations
to come -- heroic human actions in
the face of grave dangers.
This reviewer thinks Michael Crichton deserves an Oscar nomination for the screenplay. He masterfully leads the viewer where he wants them to go. The 13th Warrior is one of the most original action adventure screenplays to be produced by Hollywood in a long time. But, believe it or not, English literature buffs are in for a treat as well, for reasons I won’t divulge. Discovering the connection is part of the treat. Banderas gives an excellent performance, and he’s won my respect for him as an actor for the first time. The directing, acting, and editing are flawless. The 13th Warrior is an instant new classic.
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