GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Donald Seymour This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

tomgillespie2002 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.

david-sarkies 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.

Joseph Sylvers I forgot how entertaining this was. Not as skillfully directed as Gilliam's fantasy films, but Terry Jones, manages to make a dark, silly, comedy about Vikings trying to reach the afterlife and save the world. The age of Ragorok means constant war and pillaging, which is a fine life for a Viking, until Tim Robbins, instead of raping a young village girl, begins to talk with her, but still accidentally kills her. We later learn Erik is also a virgin, this kill weighs heavily on his mind, and he begins to question why there must be constant violence and chaos, why the sun is always obscured by clouds. He is told by a sorceress played by Ertha Kitt, that the only way to end the dark age is to wake the sleeping Gods in Vallhalla. So Erik (played by Tim Robbins) sets off with a group of fellow Vikings, to find the horn resounding, and save the world (though they are more interested in the chance for more battle than Erik's idealism). Amongst them are a berserker who always goes berserk too early egged on by his demonstrative father who insists on coming along the voyage "so there's at least one Real berserk". To the towns lone Christian missionary who has lived in the village for 16 years and never made a single convert, except for one woman who converted to Buddhism, which to the Vikings is the same thing. Some of the most clever bits of this movie come from the subtle jokes between cultures, such as the arrival at the actual literal Vallhalla, which the missionary can neither see, nor touch, as one character points out "It doesn't exist for him". So if you like Vikings with British accents, this is for you. It's much more plot driven than a usual Python project, all of whom rightly have small roles, John Cleese, is the warlord profiting off of Ragnorok, while Terry Jones is the oblivious tone deaf king of Hybrazil (aka Atlantis). It's nothing great, but enjoyable and clever. The giant Angler fish, and the sequence when the crew cross over the edge of the flat earth are both impressive. I watched this with someone who never cared for Monty Python, and they liked it. You may too.

Enkidu_of_Abydos I expected this movie to be a typical Python-esquire comedy, with silly jokes constantly popping up. I don't really like such comedies (I prefer more intelligent humor), but I saw a scene from the movie and thought it was really funny so I watched the movie. What I found out surprised me. The jokes are really funny, but they make up only a small part of the movie (perhapse a quarter of the time). The rest is not that funny (if you're expecting to laugh all the time), but is a relatively decent mythological adventure movie, which strongly reminded me of the movies about the adventures of Odysseus and Jason. You have sea voyages to unknown places, mythical beasts, gods, heroes, magical artifacts... I really like that kind of stuff and I have seen quite a few movies based on Greek and Celtic myths but few based on Nordic (Germanic) myths until now. I don't know if it's really based on an existing myth but it's still in the setting of Nordic mythology. And while it's not really high quality, it's still relatively convincing.