I rewatched THE 13th WARRIOR last night, free with ads on YouTube. I loved this movie when it came out in 1999, and I still love it now, even though it’s considered a box office bomb.
I don’t think it bombed because no one went to see it. It debuted at #2 behind The Sixth Sense on its opening weekend, and took in $61 million at the box office. But extensive reshoots and a big marketing budget put a lot more pressure on this film to perform during a year when audiences were captivated by the likes of Star Wars: Phantom Menace, Sixth Sense, Toy Story 2, The Matrix and The Blair Witch Project. Tough acts to follow.
Released two years before Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone made fantasy the new hot trend, and twelve years before the Game of Thrones TV show and The Elders Scrolls V: Skyrim video game made bloody, violent fantasy all the rage, THE 13th WARRIOR was a little too early for the coming zeitgeist.
THE 13th WARRIOR also relied too much on star power. Just look at the original movie poster, pushing it as a collab between “the author of Jurassic Park” (Michael Crichton, who was retelling Beowulf), “the director of Die Hard” (John McTiernan) and leading actor Antonio Banderas, who was a rising star and Hollywood heartthrob after his appearance in movies such as Interview With the Vampire (1994), Desperado (1995) and The Mask of Zorro (1998).
But what does the poster actually convey about the movie itself? An eyeball and a Viking longboat? The tagline is “Fear Reigns.” OK? Even the movie posters and DVD box covers that show Banderas only feature him alone, holding a sword.
But if you’re into The Elder Scrolls video games, I highly recommend THE 13th WARRIOR, because this scenario will feel very familiar. It’s basically twelve Nords and one Redguard — played by Banderas with a curved sword, yes! curved swords! — fighting the Forsworn. Vladimir Kulich, who portrays their leader, Buliwyf, even went on to voice Ulfric Stormcloak in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
THE 13th WARRIOR also has a connection to God of War, when Atreus recites lines from the movie’s “Lo, there do I see my Mother” prayer at the beginning of the game. And Marvel’s Thor says it quietly while mourning in Thor: Ragnarok. Sean Kelly covered this in The Escapist.
Despite being considered a financial flop, THE 13th WARRIOR made ripples that we’re still feeling today and is totally worth a revisit.
~ J.L. Hilton
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