Erik the Viking (1989)

Erik the Viking and his men travel across the sea to find Valhalla to ask the gods to end the Age of Ragnarok.

Director:

Terry Jones

Writer:

Terry Jones

Stars:

Tim Robbins, John Cleese, Mickey Rooney

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tim Robbins	...	Erik
Mickey Rooney	...	Erik's Grandfather
Eartha Kitt	...	Freya
Terry Jones	...	King Arnulf
Imogen Stubbs	...	Princess Aud
John Cleese	...	Halfdan the Black
Tsutomu Sekine	...	Slavemaster
Antony Sher	...	Loki
Gary Cady	...	Keitel Blacksmith
Charles McKeown	...	Sven's Dad
Tim McInnerny	...	Sven the Berserk
John Gordon Sinclair	...	Ivar the Boneless
Richard Ridings	...	Thorfinn Skullsplitter
Freddie Jones	...	Harald the Missionary
Samantha Bond	...	Helga

Storyline

Erik the Viking gathers warriors from his village and sets out on a dangerous journey to Valhalla, to ask the gods to end the Age of Ragnorok and allow his people to see sunlight again. A Pythonesque satire of Viking life.

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Plot Keywords:

viking | ragnarok | sword and sorcery | 11th century | 10th century | 

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Taglines:

Be there... or beheaded!

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Genres:

Comedy | Adventure | Fantasy

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

UK Sweden

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

22 September 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Erik el vikingo

Filming Locations:

Lee International Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Box Office

Gross:

$1,932,642 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

KB Erik the Viking, Prominent Features, Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min 79 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Roger Ebert gave this movie a "thumbs down", calling it "an utterly worthless exercise in waste and wretched excess, uninformed by the slightest spark of humor, wit or coherence".

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Goofs

Erik runs through waist-deep water to get on shore to get the Cloak Invisible. When he arrives in Aud's bedchamber minutes later, his pants are completely dry.

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Quotes

Snorri the Miserable: First we're flying - now we're sinking!

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Crazy Credits

This film also does not involve SPAM. This will hurt Hormel's sales.

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Connections

Referenced in Behind the Director's Son's Cut (2007)

User Reviews

Norse Star ...

Seen as a poor relation to true-Python movies (even forgotten), it tells the tale of a young adventurous Viking, Erik, who sets out on a quest to find Asgard. Along with a selection of other Norsk villagers, they sail into the unknown, encounter a sea monster and stumble across the idyllic 'Hy-Brazil', a land ruled by King Arnulf (Director, Terry Jones) who keeps insisting that in the face of adversity "It's alright. It's not happening".

The badness in this piece is care of Halfdan the Black (John Cleese) and delivered in typical Cleese fashion. Loki ((now) Sir Anthony Sher) plays to Halfdan as a crooked little stoolpigeon, only looking to improve his standing and possible gains.

Sadly, no other members of the original Python team played a part in this film as, rumour has it, after the death of Graham Chapman (in October of 1989), the remaining Pythons. Gilliam, Palin and Idle, decided not to appear.

Erik The Viking is a light comedy with occasional droplets of Python rain, gently falling about the story. Director, Terry Jones, relies on a pair of old-school character actors who number his and many Python films: John Scott Martin (Ingemund the Old) and Charles McKeown (Sven's Dad).

Jones allowed his cast to keep their mother-tongues: Tim Robbins (Erik) and Mickey Rooney (Erik's Grandfather) keep their American drawls and John Gordon Sinclair (Ivar), his broad Scottish accent. One of the best interactions is between Ivar and Thorofinn, discussing seasickness aboard their boat and a welcome diversion comes in the shape of 28yr old Imogen Stubbs (Princess Aud).

In the end, it's just a bit of fun and serves as a good 'hors d'oeuvre' to anyone who needs a gentle initiation into the world of Python.