TotalTelly.co.uk
Devoted to Popular, Cult and Retro TV
Sword Of Xanten [2004]
![Sword Of Xanten [2004]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5160GB60E9L._SL160_.jpg)
RRP: £15.99
Our Price: £3.48 (subject to change)
Editorial
Synopsis
The son of a man who makes swords for a living, finds himself saving his country from danger over and over again. Little does he realise that he's heir to the throne. Based on the myth 'Ring Of The Nibelungs'.
A Viking Saga Brought to Life
Review date: 2008-05-09 Rating: 8 out of 10
If you like dark-age/medieval/viking age films then you will like this one. This film is a good film, its not in the league of '300' or 'Gladiator' but it was only ever made for TV. But the special effects of the Dragon are shockingly good. The story is long (3hours) and is full of twists and suprises, so explaining the story is difficult (I dont want to ruin anything). Here's what to expect.
Cursed gold, lots of sword fights, a dwarf, a dragon fight, cheesy grins, "evil pagan magic" according to the Christians, fit birds with swords, betrayals, courage, honour, tragedy, Ghosts, more cheesy grins, lots of frowning, sly looks and a very fit Queen of Iceland. And there is a moral to the story, dont take drinks off Ginger women.
Similar Products
Reviews
Story telling at its best
Review date: 2008-05-05 Rating: 10 out of 10
Good plot with plenty of twists and turns. Kristanna Loken performance is near perfect while Max von Sydow is back to his best. (Almost as good as in The Seventh Seal). A must for fantasy fans.
An extremely good film
Review date: 2008-04-18 Rating: 10 out of 10
It is based on the Volsungs Saga but is not bogged down in difficult to read English or as long to read/watch. It is not 100% true to the story but it does the best, I think, that would ever be done by any film company. Altogether a brilliant film with great special effect a tragic Norse story line of deceipt and failed heroism. Very much worth buying especially for fans of Norse mythology. But do not expect it to be the exact same as the Volsungs Saga, it is not as dark and twisted but still extremely good.
Disappointing
Review date: 2008-02-25 Rating: 6 out of 10
Just in brief, I rented this film on the basis of the other reviews already given on this site.
Whilst it is indeed perfectly watchable, it is in no way cinematic genius and is pretty much on a par with most fantasy films out these days.
The best part was the dragon, and, without wanted to spoil the plot, you don't see a lot of him.
By all means buy or borrow this, but don't raise your hopes that it is anything other than a fairly standard fantasy fodder film.
Bringing back the time of heroes!
Review date: 2008-02-12 Rating: 8 out of 10
This literally is a film of 2 halves - it came as a bit of surprise when the credits started to roll half-way through! But it's then immediately followed on the same DVD by the remaining half. The second DVD gives some interesting other facts in the five featurettes but they're not essential viewing.
I grew out of 'sword and stone fantasies' a long time ago, but some of the Amazon Reviews got my attention and having seen the film I'd say the review of 8th Jan '06 is pretty close to the mark.
The story builds very slowly, but keeps growing even up until the end and contains many elements you'll have seen depicted in other movies, therefore, it'll be easy to say "oh, I've seen that before!" but the roots of this story pre-date more modern equivalents as they are planted 1,500 years ago in a 5th Century Nordic saga.
The CGI is good (in places very good) but isn't up to the best Hollywood standards, however, it's credible enough and better than many made-for-TV films.
But it's the story itself that rules here, and for such an ancient myth to have stood the test of time, it had to be good! Having said that, the producers fleshed it out by combining it with 2 other myths; a later 13th Century Norse myth and a Germanic one.
This film isn't about a 'He-man' being macho, it's more clever than that, and has a liberal sprinkling of; deceit, treachery, angst, sorcery, betrayal, jealousy, ambition, political shenanigans, honour and public humiliation! Phew! Just what you want for a night's entertainment!
Whilst watching I couldn't help but draw parallels with King Arthur, Lancelot & Guinevere, Achilles, Romeo & Juliet, and Lord of the Rings - all heroic tales in their own rights.
A special mention goes to Kristanna Løken who is excellent as Brunhild and perfectly portrays in equal portion the beauty and might, and even vulnerability of the warrior Queen of Iceland. She puts in some very gutsy action sequences, and is the stand-out performance in the film.
Benno Fürmann in the lead role puts in a credible performance too with the rest of the cast varying between average and good. The story is worth 5 stars but production makes it a more realistic 4 - 88% is how I'd really rate it.
It's such a relief not to have a typically schmaltzy Hollywood retelling of this tale (and all that entails) it's even whetted my appetite for more though I suspect I might just have struck lucky with this one.
After the slow start, I enjoyed this film in the end and if you like the themes above I think you will too.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Benno Furmann
Alicia Witt
Samuel West
Kristinna Loken
Julian Sands
Creators:
Benno Furmann (Primary Contributor)
Kristinna Loken (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
EAN: 5035822587137
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 2
Format: Anamorphic, Box set, Dubbed, PAL,
Release date: 2005-12-26
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 190 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2004
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Hindi (Subtitled)
Language: Portuguese (Subtitled)
Language: Spanish (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: Spanish (Dubbed)