The best Viking movies like God of War Ragnarok

The evocative places, characters, and tales recounted in Outdated Norse histories, epic poems, and tales have impressed filmmakers for the reason that earliest days of cinema. That historical past goes way back to Arnljot, a 1927 Swedish silent film by Theodor Berthels that’s now sadly misplaced, and continues proper as much as and thru 2022’s The Northman (see beneath). Past the massive display screen, Viking myths and legends have impressed fiction, cartoons, graphic novels, music, and naturally, video video games, with God of Battle Ragnarök set to develop into the newest must-play journey.

What higher means then to rejoice the eagerly anticipated launch of this installment within the well-liked online game sequence than immersing your self within the equally wealthy and visually fantastic universe of Norse-related movies? From family-friendly animated adventures to swashbuckling classics, and with loads of brutal swordplay and shifting monologues, you’ll discover a film on this listing to swimsuit all of your Viking wants.

The Northman

Picture: Focus Options

Previous to engaged on The Northman, director and co-writer Robert Eggers had earned essential acclaim for 2 equally placing photos: The Witch (2015) and The Lighthouse (2019), each of which set fantastical components towards credible historic backdrops. Little surprise, then, that The Northman was eagerly anticipated. Fortunately, the movie doesn’t disappoint, delivering a uncommon sort of artfulness contrasted towards determined brutality, a lot of which is ready towards some actually breathtaking surroundings.

Icelandic author and frequent Björk collaborator Sigurjón Sigurðsson (also called Sjón) takes co-writing credit for a narrative closely based mostly on the legend of Amleth, a legendary Scandinavian character who straight impressed Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Filmed on location all through Eire and Iceland, the film’s co-producer, Alexander Skarsgård, stars alongside Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Pleasure, Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, and Björk herself. Regardless of essential acclaim, The Northman underwhelmed on the field workplace, however don’t let that forestall you from immersing your self on this well-realized and surprisingly nuanced work.

The Northman is accessible to stream on Prime Video.

Valhalla Rising

Picture: IFC Midnight

A joint English-Danish mission, 2009’s Valhalla Rising is a type of movies which, though it slipped beneath most individuals’s radar upon preliminary launch, has steadily and deservedly constructed up one thing of a cult following. Mads Mikkelsen places in an distinctive efficiency as One-Eye, a Norse warrior who accompanies a band of Christian crusaders searching for the Holy Land solely to search out himself stranded in an unknown nation, beset by forces each mortal and otherworldly. As ferocious and barbarous as it’s uncannily lovely, there’s loads to get pleasure from right here, not least the shifting efficiency of Maarten Stevenson as “the boy.”

Nicolas Winding Refn directs, along with his typical eye for visceral kinetics, fashionable angles, and simmering atmosphere. Two years on from Valhalla Rising, Refn secured himself each a Cannes Competition Award and a BAFTA nomination for Drive, the movie which did a lot to ascertain Ryan Gosling as a reputable motion star.

Valhalla Rising is accessible to stream on AMC Plus via Prime Video or without cost with adverts on Tubi and Pluto TV.

The Vikings

Picture: United Artists/Kino Lorber

The Vikings (1958) stands proudly alongside Ben-Hur (1959), Spartacus (1960), and El Cid (1961) as one of many nice historic epics from the golden age of Hollywood. There’s plenty of pedigree behind this film. Director Richard Fleischer helmed many different classics, together with 20,000 Leagues Underneath the Sea (1954) and beloved sci-fi film Soylent Inexperienced (1973). With The Vikings, the filmmaker had a plethora of heavyweight skills at his disposal.

None aside from Kirk Douglas stars as Viking prince Einar, battling it out along with his on-screen half-brother Eric (Tony Curtis) in a tangled story of rights and lineage. Ernest Borgnine is unforgettable (if transient) as King Ragnar, and Janet Leigh (who was married to Curtis on the time) shines as Morgana. Greater than 50 years on, The Vikings remains to be a rip-roaring watch. The varied battle scenes are thrilling and visceral, with loads of iconic moments, such because the Viking “ax climb” and the ultimate dramatic duel. Its historic accuracy is questionable, although the screenplay is predicated upon the 1951 novel The Viking by Edison Marshall, which in flip took inspiration from historic Icelandic sagas.

The Vikings is accessible for digital rental or buy on Amazon and Apple.

The thirteenth Warrior

Picture: Buena Vista Dwelling Leisure

There’s loads to get pleasure from about this 1999 film, not least the intriguing and imaginative plot, which considerations Ahmad ibn Fadlan (performed by Antonio Banderas), a poet in service of the Caliph of Baghdad. Fadlan finds himself caught up within the affairs of the Norsemen, whose kingdom is beneath assault from an “historical evil.” Fadlan’s journey from mocked outlander to revered companion is each plausible and entertaining. Banderas brings loads of charisma to the position of his character, whose intelligence, braveness, and horsemanship regularly wins the Norsemen’s approval. Diane Venora, Vladimir Kulich, and Omar Sharif present first-rate assist.

The screenplay is customized from Michael Crichton’s novel Eaters of the Useless (1976), which is itself based mostly on the Outdated English poem Beowulf and the first-hand accounts of the real-life Fadlan, a Tenth-century traveler and chronicler. Director John McTiernan is aware of a factor or two about motion motion pictures, having been liable for each the unique Predator (1987) and Die Exhausting (1988), and it exhibits within the film’s exhilarating struggle sequences, that are each imaginative and bruising. Specifically, the “final stand” of the Norsemen is dealt with with each aptitude and emotion.

The thirteenth Warrior is accessible to stream on Hoopla with a library card and for digital rental or buy on Amazon and Apple.

How To Prepare Your Dragon

Picture: DreamWorks Animation

This charming 2010 household film from DreamWorks owes a lot to the power of its supply materials — the books of British kids’s writer Cressida Cowell, whose sequence of novels set in a legendary Viking world observe the adventures of Hiccup, a would-be dragon slayer whose views are radically altered when he captures and trains his personal dragon, Toothless.

The visuals are nearly as good as you’ll count on from the workforce behind Shrek (2001) and Kung Fu Panda (2008), nevertheless it’s the story and the characters which impress essentially the most. Hiccup’s emotional journey towards understanding the true nature of each himself and the dragons is genuinely shifting, and the movie doesn’t shrink back from real trauma, albeit with a suitably upbeat ending that can depart children and adults alike with a heat glow. Jay Baruchel, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, and Gerard Butler lend their skills to this film, which justly earned itself an Academy Award nomination for Greatest Animated Function.

How To Prepare Your Dragon is accessible to stream on Peacock.

Erik the Viking

Picture: Distinguished Options

The Norwegian historic comedy tv sequence Norsemen proves that the thought of blending Vikings and humor could make for a successful method. Journey again to 1989 and you could find a precursor, of types, on this extremely pleasant romp written and directed by former Monty Python star Terry Jones. The plot follows the titular Viking as he and his ragtag crew try to achieve Asgard, the house of the gods, with a view to petition the celestial deities to stop Ragnarök (the tip occasions) and return the solar to the sky.

Viewers can have nice enjoyable taking part in spot-the-star. There are loads to select from. Jones himself shines as King Arnulf, alongside Tim Robbins as Erik, Mickey Rooney, Eartha Kitt, Imogen Stubbs, fellow Python John Cleese, Tim McInnerny, Jim Broadbent, and Neil Innes. Visually endearing, the movie serves up a satisfying and genre-twisting mix of base visible gags and clever humor, shot via with a delightfully Pythonesque sense of the absurd.

Erik the Viking is accessible to stream without cost with a library card on Hoopla, or without cost with adverts on Tubi or Pluto TV.

Beowulf

Picture: Paramount Dwelling Leisure

The second animated movie on this listing, and the second to take inspiration from the Outdated English poem of the identical title, Beowulf (2007) is a characteristic that, regardless of being overloaded with star energy, strikes simply the appropriate stability between atmospheric weight and engrossing journey. Writing credit are shared by Roger Avary (Pulp Fiction) and Neil Gaiman, a number of of whose works have beforehand been tailored for the display screen, notably Stardust (2007) and the brand new Netflix sequence The Sandman.

Beowulf is directed by Robert Zemeckis, who made the Again to the Future trilogy and has additionally labored with animation a number of occasions (Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Polar Categorical). Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, Crispin Glover, and Angelina Jolie all contribute stable performances. Beowulf makes use of live-action motion-capture strategies, lending the animated protagonists a placing presence. The movie performs considerably quick and unfastened with its supply materials, however this isn’t a film striving for historic accuracy. Beowulf is visually charming, and properly deserving of your time.

Beowulf is accessible to stream on Netflix, without cost with a library card on Hoopla, or without cost with adverts on Pluto TV.

The Lengthy Ships

Picture: Warwick Movies, Avala Movie/Columbia Photos

We’re again to 1964 for one more evergreen basic and one other worldwide mission, this time courtesy of England and Yugoslavia. (Very) loosely based mostly on the novel of the identical title by Swedish writer Frans G. Bengtsson, the plot of the The Lengthy Ships facilities round a legendary golden bell, the “Mom of Voices,” and the Moorish king Aly Mansuh (performed by Sidney Poitier) who’s determined to own it. Enter shipwrecked Viking Rolfe (Richard Widmark), who professes information of the legendary bell’s location.

There follows a convoluted but entertaining story involving kidnapped princesses, stolen longships, surprising revelations, and an epic quest searching for the “Mom.” Route is by Jack Cardiff, whose profession stretched throughout a number of many years, and who’s remembered for his extremely influential cinematography on many celebrated movies, together with A Matter of Life and Demise (1946), The African Queen (1951), and The Crimson Sneakers (1948). Right here, he conjures a suitably epic, sweeping really feel, ably supported by a fantastically lush rating by Serbian composer Dušan Radić.

The Lengthy Ships is accessible for digital rental or buy on Amazon and Apple.

The Final Viking

Picture: World Serpent Productions

We end with a brief however placing up to date movie. 2016’s The Final Viking is a extremely atmospheric, intimate drama that stars Philip Stevens (who additionally directs) as Harald Hardrada, the famend Eleventh-century Norwegian king whose exploits have impressed numerous works. Hardrada fought his first battle on the age of 15, and his final, infamously, at Stamford Bridge in 1066, the place English King Harold Godwinson and his forces ambushed and slaughtered the Norseman. Hardrada’s dying is commonly cited as signaling the tip of the Viking age.

The Final Viking facilities on Hardrada’s last moments as, gravely wounded, the king recounts his story on the request of a mysterious one-eyed customer (the Norse god Odin, performed by David Clayton). Stevens justly earned essential popularity of this stirring piece, which wrests a large amount from a easy setup. The movie’s confined, intimate setting coupled with its very good, lyrical script permits the viewer’s creativeness to totally interact with the fabric in a means few motion pictures can. By means of it’s largely only one voice and backdrop, Stevens makes long-dead historical past really feel each fast and related. It’s as high quality a means as any to finish your visible Viking feast.

The Final Viking is accessible to observe on YouTube.