Watch The Vikings For Free

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Best movie of this year hands down!

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Recently shown again for the first time in many years, "The Vikings" definitely holds up as a rattling-good, old-fashioned, action- adventure epic. You know exactly what you're in for right from the start when a movie begins with a brutal raid in which a Viking hacks to death the King of England and then rapes the Queen beside his mangled body. Hey, What's not to like?Let it be understood right from the outset that "The Vikings" is definitely not a "chick-flick". The story takes place in "The Dark Ages", which is another way of saying "The Good Old Days". In other words, the era before women became "empowered" by means of political correctness, daytime talk shows and court-issued protective orders. According to "The Vikings", the 9th Century Norwegians treated their women in about the same fashion as did the prehistoric Cave-Men, to whom the Vikings were apparently closely related. In one scene, in which the heroine is about to be brutally raped by a Viking, the best defense she can come up with is to say, "I'm not going to lift a finger to help you" (as if she believes he would care!). In another scene the Vikings administer an ingenious trial to determine whether or not a certain woman has committed adultery (as if any of them don't!). They stick her head through a wooden target, at which her drunken husband proceeds to throw battle-axes. If he manages to cut her braids, but miss her head, then her innocence is proved and she's allowed to go free. Sounds fair to me!The movie does have a plot, involving the rivalry of enemy half- brothers. who aren't actually aware that they are related, over a captive English princess. However, that is merely an excuse for the action, of which there is plenty. According to the filmmakers those old-time Scandinavians apparently spent most of their time getting drunk, screwing and killing people. There is a lot of the latter. Among other highlights there are eyes torn out by hunting falcons (they do love eyes!), limbs sadistically hacked off with swords, a guy chained up in the sea either to be drowned by the rising tide or eaten by crabs (whichever occurs first), and a guy thrown into a pit of ravenous wolves. But, after all, in the Middle Ages they didn't have any internet or television, so they had to make do with more primitive forms of entertainment. As for the quality of the production, "The Vikings" had an excellent cast and the production values were absolutely first-rate. It was filmed on location in Norway, which looks simply spectacular. In addition, the movie was made before the advent of blue screens or CGI special effects, so everything you see was actually done by somebody. In fact, some of the stunts look pretty dangerous, and one can only wonder how they were ever done at all.All in all, as epic film-making, "The Vikings" is about as good as it gets. This unaccountably and undeservedly neglected classic movie is definitely worth another look.

United Artists THE VIKINGS (1958) is one of the great epics of the fifties. Based on the book "The Vikings" by Edison Marshall it was produced by Jerry Brasler for Bryna Productions (Kirk Douglas' own company which he named after his mother).Beautifully photographed in Technirama and Technicolor by ace British cinematographer Jack Cardiff more than 4000 multinational performers and technicians worked on the giant production. Filmed on actual locations in the mountains and fjords of Norway the picture is well remembered for its scenic beauty and authentic sets. The splendid screenplay was put together by Dale Wasserman and Calder Willingham and Richard Fleischer directed with a deft hand an all star cast. The picture is also notable for the fine polished narration spoken by an uncredited Orson Welles. Ragnar (Ernest Borgnine) is the savage Viking chieftain who with his Viking horde rape and pillage along the English coast. On one such raid he rapes an English Queen who later gives birth to a boy they call Eric (Tony Curtis). But his existing son Einar (Kirk Douglas) is unaware he has a half brother and grows to hate Eric especially after the Vikings attack an English ship and abduct the princess Morgana (Janet Leigh) whom both sons desire. Sometime later Eric rescues the princess from the Viking camp and in a small boat makes a dash for England with Ragnar and Einar in hot pursuit. During the chase Ragnar's ship goes aground in the fog but Eric saves him, pulls him aboard and takes him to England as well where the treacherous king Aella sentences Ragnar to die in the dog pit. Later Eric returns to Norway to muster Einer and his men to attack the English castle where Morgana is being held and to avenge Ragnar's death. The picture ends in a marvellous set piece as the Vikings take the castle after a blistering well staged battle and Eric and Einar battle it out to the death in a terrific sword duel atop the dizzying castle parapets.Performances are superb from the entire cast. Douglas himself is a standout in his own production. His facility for knockabout action is a joy to behold. His prowess and unerring skill at stunts is well revealed in THE VIKINGS exemplified in the taking of the castle sequence. Here Douglas, under fire from rocks and arrows, charges and leaps across the open moat grabbing onto the axe handles which his men had already thrown and embedded in the underside of the raised drawbridge. Then using the axes to grip he clambers up and over to let the bridge down. It is a stunning and spectacular piece of stunt work! Again in an earlier scene Douglas can clearly be seen doing what is known as Dancing The Oars whereby he hops from oar to oar outside the ship for the amusement of the camp. Excellent too was Tony Curtis! Here was the emergence of Tony Curtis the ACTOR which manifested itself in Burt Lancaster's "Trapeze" (1956), with Lancaster again in "Sweet Smell of Success" (1957) and then in "The Defiant Ones"(1958). Gone were his pretty boy days at Universal International the studio he started with and where he would become their top pinup male star alongside a young Rock Hudson and Jeff Chandler. Also a standout in THE VIKINGS is Ernest Borgnine giving a powerful portrayal of the Viking leader Ragnar - a part he was born to play. Others in smaller roles are good too such as Alexander Knox as the Friar, Frank Thring as the sly and dubious Aella, James Donald as Egbert the English traitor and Janet Leigh (Mrs. Curtis at the time) as the princess.My only problem with the movie is the staid and laboured music score by Italian composer Mario Nascimbene a composer who never really distinguished himself in anything he did. Despite the haunting and echoing motif that sings out the two words of the film's title on a giant elephant tusk the colourless tinny sounding score is quite insipid and uninspired. It is surprising that a composer the calibre of Miklos Rozsa or Dimitri Tiomkin - two men who could score such epics in their sleep - were not approached to work on Douglas' picture. Their involvement would have added immeasurably to the film giving it a greater buoyancy and density. However, the score not withstanding THE VIKINGS is still a great movie and remains one of cinema's finest blockbuster epics.

Hollywood has never managed to make a decent Viking film and THE VIKINGS doesn't alter that trend. Sure, THE VIKINGS is an entertaining enough movie in the finest old-fashioned sense, full of crowd-pleasing moments of pleasure like they used to do in the 1950s, but it's hardly authentic and at times descends into the kind of B-movie fantasy favoured by such fare as SIEGE OF THE SAXONS.I could go through and nitpick this movie for an age, but let's suffice to say that the Anglo-Saxons didn't build in stone, so watching the Vikings attacking a Norman-era castle build a couple of hundred years later is complete nonsense. Not to mention the silly intricacies of the plot, which presents the Vikings themselves as ambivalent at worse, if not the outright 'good guys', despite their reputation as bloodthirsty marauders.Inevitably, the fun aspects of the film are largely down to the actors. Headlining the cast is Kirk Douglas in one of his more memorable turns, and indeed Douglas is the reason to keep watching. He's the life and soul of the party, tackling each of his scenes with gusto and never flagging for a second. Tony Curtis is more sensitive and thoughtful, and nearly as effective, and Ernest Borgnine a treat.Despite a fairly lengthy running time, THE VIKINGS never really flags although there's a lot of to-ing and fro-ing in the plot. The battle sequences are well-staged and fun, although filled with plenty of silliness, particularly at the climax which asks the viewer to suspend their disbelief over and over again (and then some!). THE VIKINGS is pure Hollywood hokum, and as fun as it sounds, but a classic it isn't.

over three decades ago, I watched it with my father. twenty years ago, my father slept and this film , the memories about it, are part of a precious affective legacy. blockbuster of a time. and magnificent work. not exactly a history lesson but a powerful story with impressive characters, dramatic scenes, extraordinary fight moments and a smart script. a show of images about values, secrets, competition and fragility of truth. all with a great cast as letters. because the performance of Kirk Douglas is out of definition. and the art of Tony Curtis to build a dark-complex hero is admirable. force and wise solutions. precise exercise of art and slice of mythic world. a fairy-tale with all essential ingredients. and a great film , seed of touching memories.