Pretty Good

hyped garbage

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

After the enormous success of Monty Python, the individual members of the innovative troupe started to branch out to work on their own passion projects, which often yielded fantastic results. Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits, for example, is now considered a family classic and remains a firm childhood favourite for many who grew up in the 1980s. A Fish Called Wanda, starring Python alumni John Cleese and Michael Palin was a hilariously farcical movie that went on to be Oscar nominated for Best Director and Best Screenplay, and winning for Kevin Kline's unhinged supporting turn. Some ventures, however, were less successful, although some Python loyalists may insist otherwise. Terry Jones adapted his own children's book for Erik the Viking, a movie that shares much in common with the aforementioned Time Bandits, but shares little of its sense of wonder, imagination and wit.While on a routine raping-and-pillaging expedition, Viking Erik (Tim Robbins) realises he has grown tired of the never-ending circle of violence and misery celebrated by his people. He falls for a girl (Samantha Bond) after saving her from some of his bloodthirsty brothers, before accidentally killing her. The experience sends him seeking answers and wisdom from the wise woman Freya (Eartha Kitt), who explains to Erik that Fenrir the wolf has gobbled up the sun and plunged the world into the dark days of Ragnarok. Determined to see the sun again, Erik sets off on a quest to find the Horn Resounding which, when blown, will transport him to Asgard where he can confront the Gods. However, such a miracle will spell the end of war, thus putting blacksmiths Keitel (Gary Cady) and his underling Loki (Antony Sher) out of business, as well as threatening the reign of the brutal Halfdan the Black (John Cleese).Erik the Viking takes Norse mythology so seriously that there are long stretches of the film during which it is easy to forget that it's a comedy. 10 or 20 minutes can easily go by without so much of a giggle, as Jones struggles to keep the tone consistent and, with an obviously limited budget, the action exciting. Still, although Erik pales in comparison to some of the wonderful work Jones has been involved in over the years, it certainly isn't a bad movie, and in no way deserves the stigma still attached to it. There are some laugh-out-loud moments, including the bickering relationship between beserks Sven (Tim McInnerny) and his father (Charles McKeown), and a Japanese slave master who berates his subjects with racial slurs ("You incomprehensible. horizontal-eyed western trousers wearers/How I abominate your lack of ancestor worship!"). Ultimately, the film is too inconsistent and tonally uneven to work, but go in expecting a handful of laughs and a few famous cameos and you may not be too disappointed.

This movie has one third of the Monty Python troupe and about only a micron of the laughs.Eric the Viking after killing a woman in a raid, decides he's going to go to Valhala and awaken the gods to end the age of Ragnorak. Accompanying him is a group of misfits including a wanna-be berserker, a Christian Missionary who is incapable of converting anyone and a blacksmith who wants to keep Ragnorak going because it's good for the blacksmith trade.John Cleese plays a bad guy who is pretty much just playing JOhn Cleese.The thing is, unlike Monty Python, these guys just can't make it funny.The movie had okay special effects for a 1980's film, but special effects and comedy really don't mix.

The time is Ragnarok. Clouds block out the sun and the world has been plunged into an eternal winter. People fight, kill, and rape, simply because it is a jolly good thing to do. Then comes Eric, who accidentally kills the woman that he has fallen in love with and comes to realise that there must be more than this, so he takes the men of his village on a trek to find the gods and ask them to end Ragnarok.This is a cool little comedy movie done in the Monty Python style, though not exclusively Python, since only Terry Jones and John Cleese are in it. Even though, the bizarre comedy of Monty Python comes out of it, along with its mockery of the human attitude.I guess one thing is the antagonist, Hadron the Black, who wants to stop Eric simply because to him Ragnarok is pretty good for business. There is also Loki, who is the tempter trying to get the Blacksmith and Hadron to stop Eric's expedition because if he succeeds, it will be the end of the blacksmithing business. But it is not the Blacksmith that wants it, but rather the evil and nasty Loki.The nation of High Brazillia is quite interesting, especially when it is being destroyed. The story about this place is that it has been blessed by the gods, but if any blood is to be spilt on the ground then the land will sink beneath the waves. Such a thing happens (due to Loki's interference) and the island starts to sink, but in the face of disaster, the citizens of High Brazillia remain ignorant to it, and sink beneath the waves. It is the attitude of: if we ignore it then it will go away. It is hilarious in this film, but in a way we are laughing at ourselves, because in essence we solve our problems by trying to ignore it, as that is the easy way to deal with it. Ignore it and it might go away, but unfortunately that never happens.The other interesting thing is that the gods of Midgard are portrayed at children. In essence that is what they really are for anybody reading classical Greek literature will understand that the god's really do behave like this. I guess it is simply saying that all that we worship in the end is simply childish (though the Christian missionary is paid out quite a bit as well).In the end this is a jolly funny movie and most enjoyable to watch. Personally I would say that it is one of the classics from the eighties. And remember, you can't sit Sven next to Sven's dad: they'll argue all the time.

American actor Tim Robbins plays young Erik, who comes about the shocking realisation of the few laudable aspects of the Viking lifestyle, and wants to change the image of the Vikings for the better, and sets off on a capricious journey conflated of erratically hit & miss satire, and overblown special effects.There are constant bursts of rapid fire dialogue to be found here, but honestly, lacks any real inspiration or inventiveness to be genuinely humorous, even if there may be the odd chuckle, you just sort of take it in the films loose strides. The production is admittedly quite smart, and the impressive set designs give you something interesting to absorb while one scene unravels itself after the other.Apart from this, only the cast inclusion of veteran Cleese manages to liven up the proceedings somewhat for his, albeit brief, appearance as an evil tyrant, but it's just not enough in order to give the buoyancy to float this leaky ship.