How
can you not love a movie where both Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis supposedly
sprang from the loins of Ernest Borgnine? Well, THE VIKINGS ($15)
offers movie fans that and a whole heck of a lot more in big screen entertainment.
THE VIKINGS is a rousing action/adventure movie with impressive
battle scenes staged by director Richard Fleischer, plus the film features
the gorgeous Technicolor cinematography of the one and only Jack Cardiff.
The plot of THE VIKINGS concerns the Norsemen’s raids upon the
various kingdoms that comprise the England of the ninth century. During
such a raid, Viking leader Ragnar (Ernest Borgnine) kills the king and
rapes the queen of one such kingdom. With no clear heir to that kingdom,
Aella (Frank Thring) assumes the throne, thus forcing the deposed queen
to send the bastard child of her union with Ragnar off into hiding.
Twenty
years pass, with the Vikings continuing their raids against the English
coast. Ragnar’s handsome son Einar (Kirk Douglas) will someday lead his
people, but an encounter with a proud slave named Eric (Tony Curtis) leaves
his face scarred and forever changes his destiny. With the aid of an English
conspirator, Egbert (James Donald), Einar kidnaps Morgana (Janet Leigh),
the beautiful Welsh princess who is to marry King Aella. However, instead
of collecting the ransom, Einar decides to take Morgana as his Viking
queen. With the aid of Eric, Morgana is able to escape back to England,
but this only intensifies the feud between Einar and Eric- whom we learn
are half brothers. The cast of THE VIKINGS also includes Alexander
Knox, Maxine Audley and Eileen Way.
MGM
Home Entertainment has made THE VIKINGS available on DVD in a 2.35:1
wide screen presentation that has been enhanced for playback on 16:9 displays.
THE VIKINGS was shot in Technirama and printed in the old IB Technicolor
process- this film is an excellent example of why this particular combination
was capable of producing some of the most glorious wide screen imagery
of all time. The DVD produces an image that is out and out gorgeous, the
vistas of the Norwegian location photography are especially stunning.
Almost everything on screen appears wonderfully crisp and highly detailed,
although the sequences utilizing fog and filters do appear somewhat softer.
Colors are representative of the old IB Technicolor process, in other
words, lush and intensely saturated. Exteriors are impressively colored;
however, Jack Cardiff’s beautifully lit interiors allow the hues in the
costumes and set dressings to really stand out. Blacks have a velvety
quality and the picture registers with very smooth contrast. The dual
layer DVD doesn’t display any noticeable signs of digital compression
artifacts.
THE
VIKINGS is offered on DVD with
a Dolby Digital monaural soundtrack. Sound quality is very good for a
film from 1958, although the frequency limitations in the recordings are
rather apparent. Still, there isn’t any noticeable distortion or background
hiss, making the track well worth amplifying for Mario Nascimbene’s wonderful
score. Dialogue is cleanly reproduced without any intelligibility problems.
French and Spanish monaural soundtracks are also encoded onto the DVD,
as are English, French and Spanish subtitles.
The
basic interactive menus provide access to the standard scene selection
and set up features, as well as a couple of extras. Running twenty-eight
minutes is A Tale Of Norway With Director Richard Fleischer.
This is a recent on camera interview with the director, who shares his
memories of the film, as well as behind-the-scenes photographs and production
images. A theatrical trailer is also included on the DVD.
THE
VIKINGS is wonderful, old style
motion picture entertainment that features big stars, plenty of action
and incredibly beautiful cinematography. MGM’s DVD edition of THE VIKINGS
is superb looking, plus it offers some very good extras and is available
at a bargain price. For these reasons, THE VIKINGS is a must have
DVD for every movie buff out there.
How
can you not love a movie where both Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis supposedly
sprang from the loins of Ernest Borgnine? Well, THE VIKINGS ($15)
offers movie fans that and a whole heck of a lot more in big screen entertainment.
THE VIKINGS is a rousing action/adventure movie with impressive
battle scenes staged by director Richard Fleischer, plus the film features
the gorgeous Technicolor cinematography of the one and only Jack Cardiff.
The plot of THE VIKINGS concerns the Norsemen’s raids upon the
various kingdoms that comprise the England of the ninth century. During
such a raid, Viking leader Ragnar (Ernest Borgnine) kills the king and
rapes the queen of one such kingdom. With no clear heir to that kingdom,
Aella (Frank Thring) assumes the throne, thus forcing the deposed queen
to send the bastard child of her union with Ragnar off into hiding.
Twenty
years pass, with the Vikings continuing their raids against the English
coast. Ragnar’s handsome son Einar (Kirk Douglas) will someday lead his
people, but an encounter with a proud slave named Eric (Tony Curtis) leaves
his face scarred and forever changes his destiny. With the aid of an English
conspirator, Egbert (James Donald), Einar kidnaps Morgana (Janet Leigh),
the beautiful Welsh princess who is to marry King Aella. However, instead
of collecting the ransom, Einar decides to take Morgana as his Viking
queen. With the aid of Eric, Morgana is able to escape back to England,
but this only intensifies the feud between Einar and Eric- whom we learn
are half brothers. The cast of THE VIKINGS also includes Alexander
Knox, Maxine Audley and Eileen Way.
MGM
Home Entertainment has made THE VIKINGS available on DVD in a 2.35:1
wide screen presentation that has been enhanced for playback on 16:9 displays.
THE VIKINGS was shot in Technirama and printed in the old IB Technicolor
process- this film is an excellent example of why this particular combination
was capable of producing some of the most glorious wide screen imagery
of all time. The DVD produces an image that is out and out gorgeous, the
vistas of the Norwegian location photography are especially stunning.
Almost everything on screen appears wonderfully crisp and highly detailed,
although the sequences utilizing fog and filters do appear somewhat softer.
Colors are representative of the old IB Technicolor process, in other
words, lush and intensely saturated. Exteriors are impressively colored;
however, Jack Cardiff’s beautifully lit interiors allow the hues in the
costumes and set dressings to really stand out. Blacks have a velvety
quality and the picture registers with very smooth contrast. The dual
layer DVD doesn’t display any noticeable signs of digital compression
artifacts.
THE
VIKINGS is offered on DVD with
a Dolby Digital monaural soundtrack. Sound quality is very good for a
film from 1958, although the frequency limitations in the recordings are
rather apparent. Still, there isn’t any noticeable distortion or background
hiss, making the track well worth amplifying for Mario Nascimbene’s wonderful
score. Dialogue is cleanly reproduced without any intelligibility problems.
French and Spanish monaural soundtracks are also encoded onto the DVD,
as are English, French and Spanish subtitles.
The
basic interactive menus provide access to the standard scene selection
and set up features, as well as a couple of extras. Running twenty-eight
minutes is A Tale Of Norway With Director Richard Fleischer.
This is a recent on camera interview with the director, who shares his
memories of the film, as well as behind-the-scenes photographs and production
images. A theatrical trailer is also included on the DVD.
THE
VIKINGS is wonderful, old style
motion picture entertainment that features big stars, plenty of action
and incredibly beautiful cinematography. MGM’s DVD edition of THE VIKINGS
is superb looking, plus it offers some very good extras and is available
at a bargain price. For these reasons, THE VIKINGS is a must have
DVD for every movie buff out there.
