ada the leading man is my tpye

Interesteg What makes it different from others?

Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Michael_Elliott Erik the Conqueror (1961) *** (out of 4) Eron (Cameron Mitchell) and Erik (George Ardisson), as children, witness their father brutally murdered during a Viking massacre. After the massacre Erik is taken in by the Queen while Eron grows up as a viking. Twenty-years later the two are on a collision course.ERIK THE CONQUEROR is quite the action picture as director Mario Bava certainly made the film look like a much bigger budget than I'm sure it had. There's no question that this film was riding on the success of THE VIKINGS but obviously the Italian production didn't have the big stars, the big budget or an unlimited amount of resources. That's what made Bava so special. He could take a small budget and make the picture look like something from a major studio.I think the weakest thing here is the actual story since it's really nothing original and there's really nothing here that we haven't seen countless times before. Where the film succeeds is on every other level and we can start with the wonderful cinematography. This is certainly a beautiful picture to look at with the camera-work really bringing the settings to life. You've got the wonderful use of color that adds to the picture and just take a look at the camera work during the opening battle. This battle sequence was perfectly shot and it manages to grab you and throw you right into the action.The action scenes are all handled with extreme craft and perfection. The movie certainly contains some rather violent moments to add to the fun and I'm sure the kiddies watching this during a matinée were quite shocked. The film also benefits from some nice performances with Mitchell leading the way. He was very strong in the lead role and managed to really sell the character. Ardisson isn't quite as good but he's at least fun as is Alice Kessler and Ellen Kessler as the love interest.ERIK THE CONQUEROR isn't a masterpiece but it's certainly a highly entertaining action film.

Jon Ted Wynne (wynne-1) One of my favourite movies of all time is the Kirk Douglas-produced adventure saga THE VIKINGS.  I love that movie.I've known of the Viking film ERIK THE CONQUEROR for years but just never got round to watching it.  I suspect I thought there was no way this Italian-produced spectacle could come anywhere near Douglas' vision.  After all, ERIK THE CONQUEROR is a film that intentionally invites comparisons to the Douglas film.Well I'm sorry I waited so long! With a beautiful new Blu-ray and DVD transfer from Arrow Video, ERIK THE CONQUEROR can now be enjoyed in all its restored glory.And what a magnificent film it is!  Directed by the Cinematographer-turned-Director Mario Bava, a cult favourite whose reputation is predominantly based on his being a master of horror films--sort of a Grand Guignol/Italian Alfred Hitchcock--ERIK THE CONQUEROR is packed with glorious compositions, opulent colours and action and spectacle galore.And of course, being one of the first "Sex & Sandal" films, it has beautiful women in skimpy outfits.  It is when pursuing some of these more questionable elements that it becomes apparent that ERIK THE CONQUEROR is not as good a film as THE VIKINGS.  But it is still a superb film in its own right. (And I have nothing against women in skimpy outfits--I'm just saying that sometimes giving sway to more sensational content can compromise the artistic intent of a film. Sometimes.) Instead of watching with a critical attitude: "Oh, that's a rip-off of THE VIKINGS", it makes much more sense to simply enjoy the comparisons.  One of the extras on the new release does just that, it compares the two movies, sometimes with segments from each film shown side by side.  This is almost as fun as watching the movie.  Yes, there are two brothers at the core of the story whose strained relationship accounts for much of the drama.  Yes, there is a stunning sequence when Erik climbs a drawbridge with the help of strategically-placed arrows from his dead-eye archers, a sequence that is so obviously inspired by (better than "a rip-off of") the scene in THE VIKINGS when Kirk Douglas climbs a drawbridge with the help of several battle axes which have been thrown by his men to help him gain access to the enemy's castle.  ERIK THE CONQUEROR is full of segments like this.If there is one element that stood out for me as being superior to THE VIKINGS it was the way several shots of the sky looked like paintings, especially during battle scenes.  It is one of the major achievements of ERIK THE CONQUEROR. It brought to mind Kubrick at his visual best, i.e. BARRY LYNDON.But when you get right down to it, THE VIKINGS remains a superior movie to ERIK THE CONQUEROR.  Why?  Sheer star power.  Kirk-Tony-Ernie-Janet, as well as some solid supporting actors like James Donald and Frank Thring give THE VIKINGS a weight that ERIK THE CONQUEROR simply can't match.  Cameron Mitchell is the only star of note.  He is terrific, though saddled by being 20 years too old for the part. That and having his lines dubbed into Italian while the English subtitles and his mouth movements clearly match.  Some of the Italian actors are terrible, including one sad attempt at comic relief.  Were Cameron Mitchell (a really wonderful actor who never got his big break) supported with actors of greater or equal talent, ERIK THE CONQUEROR may have transcended its status as a B movie.  A brilliant B movie, but a B movie, nonetheless.Still, ERIK THE CONQUEROR will appeal to action fans as being one of the very best of its kind.

Leofwine_draca Mario Bava's first credited viking movie (after he worked as an uncredited director on LAST OF THE VIKINGS, made in the same year and also starring Mitchell and Ardisson), is an above average entry for the genre enlivened by stylish direction from Bava which makes it a cut above the rest. The plot is different and involving and the characters fleshed out enough to make you interested in their actions. Primarily noted as a horror director, Bava can't resist inserting a scene involving a girl chained in a dank dungeon being terrorised by a tarantula held over her face in a glass tank towards the end of the movie, a macabre treat for his loyal horror fans. Elsewhere, he shoots imaginative scenes involving men climbing up ladders made out of freshly-shot arrows and the like which make for entertaining and surprising viewing.Cameron Mitchell stars as Aaron, a just and noble viking warrior. George Ardisson is his younger brother Erik (after having also played Mitchell's brother in LAST OF THE VIKINGS), the film's real hero character, and is surprisingly good in the role. Meanwhile Andrea Checchi makes for a convincing but underused villain and the addition of real-life twins Alice and Ellen Kessler to the cast makes for novelty value. Bits parts come from the muscular Joe Robinson (TAUR THE MIGHTY) as a viking rival of Aaron's, and Tony Kendall - later a Euro action man appearing in all kinds of genres - amusingly showing up before he was famous, acting and looking very odd.The photography is as good as ever, the movie is ambitiously made on a low budget and often cuts back and forth between England and Norway, and the music effective. What makes this film work, though, is the inventive plot - as involved as you're going to get with this viking sub-genre - and the characterisation, which combined with the strong cast helps to make an intelligent, straightforward, and largely entertaining action-adventure yarn, offering up just about everything you could want from the genre without ever resorting to silliness. Bava's final viking movie was 1965's KNIVES OF THE AVENGER, which throws a unique spaghetti western slant on the genre.

ma-cortes Movie costumer of early England under partial Viking rule. In the 786 A.D. , two Viking children (one time grown-up Cameron Mitchel, George Ardisson), separated since their early childhood with one raised by the English and the other by Vikings . The Viking half-brothers fight it out the throne . This entertaining adventure contains pillaging ,ax-throwing, manly talk about the glories of Odin , Viking soap-opera , storming of castles and final heroic jumping into walls on fortress where finds enemy .Fairly elaborate but comic-book level costume adventure of Vikings battling the British for power and glory in the 9th Century . This enjoyable picture packs adventures, thrills, good action scenes and is very amusing. Cameron Mitchell is good , he gives a nice performance as leader of a band of Vikings driving his ship sets sail for the unknown land in search of Britanny kingdom . Big-name Italian cast as George Ardisson, Folco Lulli , Andrea Checchi and colorful secondary casting as Franco Ressel , Raf Baldassarre, Franco Giacobini and the gorgeous Kessler sisters who had an ephemeral career as singers. Although full of stupid historical errors and unbelievable events , the film is pretty entertaining. Great location footage with sweepingly photography of booth England , Dover and Britanny and Titanus , Appia studios , Roma, Italy. Shimmer and glimmer cinematography by Mario Bava. Spectacular and evocative musical score by Roberto Nicolisi. The picture is handsomely shot and directed with verve and muscle by Mario Bava . Rating : Good, fine battle scenes and wonderful cinematography and locations make the movie a standout . This throughly amusing historical epic stands up to teens and adults viewings . Don't miss for Bava aficionados.This basic costume epic belongs to Viking genre such as : The classic ¨The Vikings(1958)¨ by Richard Fleischer with Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis , ¨The long ships (1963)¨ by Jack Cardiff with Sidney Poitier and Richard Widmark ; ¨The Norseman(1978) ¨ by Charles B Pierce with Cornel Wilde and Mel Ferrer ; ¨The Viking queen(1967)¨ by Don Chaffey with Don Murray and Andrew Keir; ¨The Viking sagas(1995)¨ by Michael Chapman with Ralph Moeller , among others .