"When The Raven Flies" stands as one of the best historical Action movies, to have come out of the North. Stylistically it owes a great deal to Italian Spaghetti Westerns and Japanese Jidaigeki. In fact back in the day, some critics dubbed it a "Cod Western" because of this. The setting certainly helps. The Icelandic Sagas are full of tales of Revenge, Bloodshed, Honor that must be gained and upheld and Grudges that wont let go, all told in a laconic and ominous manner. Like his heroes Kurosawa and Leone, Gunnlaugsson has a good eye for faces. Our hero Gestur, has rugged good looks, while the Viking thugs are impressively ugly. Helgi Skúlason who plays Thord deserves a special mention. He has a terrific thousand yard stare, which he displays widely whenever he is angry or has his plans ruined.
As for the plot this is a straight remake of the "Yojimbo/Fistful Of Dollars" story save for a few things. In this movie our hero is motivated by revenge, instead of monetary gain like Eastwood or unknown motives like Toshiro Mifune. There is also a moral theme running throughout the film, which questions if Gesturs really did the right thing after all.
All in all "When The Raven Flies" is a great action movie, even if it didn't change the world. The only downsides i can think of is the 80's synthesizer soundtrack which can get damn annoying after a while and the crudely designed weapons (the knifes and swords resemble giant butterknives and the axes are obviously just regular woodworking axes) but other than that it is along with the Arn movies, one of the best historical action movies from the North, ever.
As for the plot this is a straight remake of the "Yojimbo/Fistful Of Dollars" story save for a few things. In this movie our hero is motivated by revenge, instead of monetary gain like Eastwood or unknown motives like Toshiro Mifune. There is also a moral theme running throughout the film, which questions if Gesturs really did the right thing after all.
All in all "When The Raven Flies" is a great action movie, even if it didn't change the world. The only downsides i can think of is the 80's synthesizer soundtrack which can get damn annoying after a while and the crudely designed weapons (the knifes and swords resemble giant butterknives and the axes are obviously just regular woodworking axes) but other than that it is along with the Arn movies, one of the best historical action movies from the North, ever.