The 13th Warrior 1999

Additional Captures

Director: John McTiernan (Die Hard; Last Action Hero)

Co-Stars: Dennis Storhoi (Herger), Vladimir Kulich (Buliwyf), Omar Sharif (Melchisidek), Diana Venora

Studio:Touchstone Pictures (Disney)

Filming Locations: British Columbia, Canada

Viking Prayer:
Lo, there do I see my father
Lo, there do I see my mother, my sisters and my brothers
Lo, there do I see the line of my people back to the beginning.
Lo, they do call to me. They bid me take my place among them in the halls of Valhalla
Where the brave may live forever.

Based upon Michael Crichton's novel, Eaters of the Dead, this film gathered dust on a shelf for nearly two years before reaching screens in August, 1999. Rumors flew that Michael Crichton, one of the producers, was not satisfied with director John McTiernan's final product. Re-shoots were done, new music scored, and the film was re-edited, apparently by Crichton. We will probably never know what really happened. But it was well worth the wait because Antonio is on screen 95% of the time!

Set in 922 A.D., the movie follows the journey of Ahmad Ibn Fadlan (Antonio), an Arab courtier and poet who is banned from Baghdad by the Caliph after eyeing a nobleman's wife one too many times. Ibn (as he comes to be called by the Vikings) is sent as an ambassador to the land of the Tartars, in the unknown Northern regions of Europe. They come upon a camp of Vikings led by Buliwyf, a quietly fearsome and powerful warrior, and stay with them for a time. They discover that one of the Vikings, Herger, a happy and friendly fellow, understands Latin and acts as interpreter.

A ship arrives bearing Wolfgar, young son of Rothgar, a great king from the North. He reports to Buliwyf that their kingdom is under attack, menaced by an ancient evil that must not be named (the Wendols). They seek the aid of Buliwyf and his warriors. An oracle (the angel of death) is called in to read the bones. She says 13 men must go. Buliwyf and Herger are amongst those who declare they will go. But the oracle declares that the 13th warrior must be no Northman. The 13th warrior is Ibn.

Thus, this man, who has never known courage, joins 12 warriors who have never known fear; this man of peace who wandered into a land of war, fights an enemy that comes without warning and leaves without a trace; and in so doing, becomes something he never dreamed possible - one of them.

What follows is a series of fierce confrontations between the Vikings and the Wendols, who turn out to be a race of Neanderthal-type men who wear bear heads and eat their dead. Buliwyf and the others come to respect Ibn's intellectualism and deductive powers. Ibn soon realizes these fierce men are deeply spiritual and will fight to the death, as many of them do, for what they believe in. What they learn from each other, what Ibn learns about himself, and the bond they forge is the true story of this film.

What quickly becomes apparent is how the director used the facial expressions of the Vikings and especially Antonio's face and eyes to convey much of the emotions in the film. The liberal use of close-ups is a treat for any "Antoniophile". The film is very violent, but not gratuitously so, and certainly not the "bloodbath" many critics claimed. These were violent and primitive times, when superstition and enigmas ruled.

Antonio turned in yet another fine performance, proving once again that he can make the most out of any script and character, whether the film eventually is considered successful or not.

Synopsis by Lisa.