Steinesongo Too many fans seem to be blown away

SteinMo What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

Hayleigh Joseph This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

Wyatt There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

BA_Harrison The Long Ships is a rather unremarkable Viking adventure, barring one scene that involves an eye-wateringly nasty method of execution called 'The Mare of Steel'; I haven't seen this film since I was a child, but I can still vividly recall how the poor vikings were sent to their gruesome death, sliced down the middle while sliding down the Mare's large and wickedly sharp blade.Except that this isn't what happens, as I have just found out by at long last revisiting the film. Over the years, my memory has been deceiving me: the scene in question is extremely tame, only one person, a Moorish guard, riding the Mare, his demise not in the least bit graphic, making the film as a whole quite the disappointment.The humdrum story sees ruffian Rolfe (Richard Widmark) leading a group of scrawny Viking warriors on a quest to find a fabled bell made of solid gold. Also looking for the bell is Moorish king Aly Mansuh (Sidney Poitier), who isn't about to let the pale northerners steal his prize.Poorly executed action scenes rub shoulders with moments of embarrassingly bad slapstick comedy (the raucous vikings' wild antics—drinking, brawling and raping—are played for laughs), leading to an uneven film that lacks the rousing sense of adventure to be found in the earlier Hollywood viking epic The Vikings (1958).A usually reliable cast do little to distinguish this mediocre romp, Poitier clearly not taking matters seriously judging by his ridiculous James Brown hairdo, Widmark and Russ Tamblyn (as Rolfe's younger brother Orm) failing to put any swash into their buckling, and Brit comic actor Lionel Jeffries camping it up in black-face as an effete eunuch!And don't even get me started on the film's many goofs, which include the massive bell being towed on a raft (which would sink immediately under the weight of all that gold), Rolfe seemingly able to swim from the Barbary coast to Scandinavia, and the small matter of who has been ringing the bell all this time and why (the rocky outcrop on which it is found being totally deserted).My rating: 5 deafening golden bell bongs out of 10. Moderately entertaining, but mostly for the wrong reasons.

chaswe-28402 The name of Frans G. Bengtsson features on the credits. He must be turning in his grave. He was an outstanding Swedish writer, and the author of several novels and historical works, including an exciting best-seller, in two parts, which was translated into English as "The Long Ships", and into 22 other languages. This film, so far as I can tell, has virtually nothing whatsoever to do with that excellent book. The film does have a character called Krok, who bears no resemblance to his namesake in the book. Otherwise the whole production is a ghastly travesty.Richard Widmark was of Swedish descent, and he does look quite Swedish. However, he doesn't look anything like a Viking. His acting in this film is atrociously inappropriate. None of the other actors seem anything like Vikings or Moors, especially not Russ Tamblyn and Sidney Poitier, or any of the variegated British crowd. Leonard Rossiter and Lionel Jeffries for God's sake! Was this meant to be a comedy ? It's riddled with plot holes and serious impossibilities, including a bell made of solid gold, perhaps the least suitable metal for a bell, 18 foot tall.The film starts off immediately on the wrong note with an excruciating introductory narrative in a light, gentlemanly English voice, by an actor called Edward Judd. Strange that characters in films of this era, notably females, always have impeccable hairdos, even if they've just been dragged through a storm backwards. The wife of the head Moor (was that really Poitier ?) has an exceptionally dishy deshabille.Widmark is reported as having said of the shoot, which took place in Yugoslavia during the rule of Tito, that "It wasn't a happy time." That is apparent. It's an unhappy film. There are one or two good maritime scenes, hence the extra star. Made for uncritical ten year olds.

Blueghost Someone at Amazon already took the title line I wanted to use; "Viking ... where is the bell."I saw this film with a bunch of friends many many years ago, and it was one of the most memorable experiences I ever had. This film is nothing but pure fun the old fashioned way. The preamble mixes and contorts historical periods of all sorts, and makes no apologies for it.Richard Widmark, an interesting choice to play a Viking, plays Rolfe, the wayward Viking master in search of adventure and riches. He is not a hero by any means, but, in my opinion, the quintessential and original anti-hero of the silver screen.The costumes are terrific, the art direction is excellent, the script is nothing but adventure wrapped in old fashioned Hollywood film making. The dialog isn't bad, but it's memorable, again in a Golden-Era Hollywood kind of way. Feats of daring, obsession, religious fanaticism, collision of societies; the rugged boorish barbaric Norse bring their Nordic ways to the civilized and technologically advanced Moorish coast of North Africa.We go from the streets of Islam to the fjords of a thawed north, back to the sea, the beach and beyond.This is high adventure. One could call it "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" during the so called dark ages. Sword and steel, sail and sailors, guile and wit and military prowess, sprinkled in with wit and a desire on everyone's part to get the ultimate prize.And that's the real charm of the film. Everyone wants one thing. They're obsessed with it, and will stop at nothing to gain it. In the meantime we're with Rolfe as he dares one escape to the next.The sets are impressive, as are the overall production values. This is grand film making at its absolute classic best.Again, no deep messages. No angst ridden characters. No one is hiding any secrets here. Oh sure, they play fast and loose with the rules when dealing with one another. They fight, they drink, they have let their spirits soar as they challenge one another, fight, laugh and play.There's not much more to say about this film. It truly is my favorite. Watch it and have fun as you revel in classic commercial film making :)Enjoy!

Neil Welch I'm of an age where I was brought up on films which suffer by comparison to today's, so the fact that the effects were not really comparable (for instance) is not a factor in my comments.But this just wasn't very good. The story was weak, the acting was not so much bad as not really appropriate to the characters, the script was drivel, Poitier was truly dreadful, and the musical score simply didn't fit what was on screen. And never mind the miraculous bell.The best thing about it is the host of prominent British actors who you can't recognise through their beards, but you can have fun trying if you know beforehand that they're in it.On the whole, though, too poor to even be classed as fun, I'm afraid.