The Norseman (1978)

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Excellent but underrated film

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

I give this a 7 because I like Viking movies and had not gotten to see this when it came out. Once should not be too hard on Lee Majors as he had his money tied up in this and also unfortunately I understand it did not do well at the box office. I am sure he was able to get a tax write off. Given that he had gotten to the top at this time, it is also clear that this was a personal project for him as successful actors often try to do.All of the actors did as well as they could with the material they had to work with. I think this was too big a project for Charles B. Pierce, rest in peace, and it showed in the writing and directing. A different director may have made it better. It is also fun to watch Jack Elam, Denny Miller, and Christopher Connelly who had probably never done a Norse movie before get to stretch their acting muscles and do something different. May they all rest in peace.Lee Majors had done well in his career and is still in the business 39 years after this so he must be doing something right. He is also doing Christian movies in addition to other projects so he is still stretching his acting muscles. A good movie to watch if you are looking for something to stay up late with.

A band of courageous Vikings led by mighty warrior Thorvald (woodenly played with hopelessly stiff earnestness by Lee Majors) go to America to rescue their beloved Norse king Eurich (Mel Ferrer sporting laughable flowing blonde hair and beard) from the evil clutches of a savage tribe of Iroquois Indians.Writer/director Charles B. Pierce really fumbles the ball with often uproarious results: The dodgy accents, highly questionable historical accuracy, glaring anachronisms, some seriously egregious casting (Jerry Lewis movie regular Kathleen Freeman as an irate old Indian woman and Jack Elam as a sinister wizard complete with cowl, falcon, and hunchback win the grand booby prizes), clumsy use of strenuous slow motion, the ridiculously solemn narration, and a few ineptly staged battle set pieces all give this gloriously atrocious gut-buster a certain irresistible kitschy allure. Cornel Wilde fares well as the noble Ragnar, the luscious Susie Coelho cuts a mighty fetching figure in revealing animal skins as helpful fair maiden Winetta, and Jimmy Clem manages to be both credible and endearing as lionhearted mute hulk Olif. Jamie Mendoza-Nava's thunderous score hits the stirring spot. Robert Bethard's sumptuous widescreen cinematography provides a handsome sweeping look. An absolute hoot and a half.

That's my only comment. I see that the Susie of the movie was Sonny Bono's 3rd wife. But I swore she was Sarandon throughout the film until I checked IMDb. I'm surprised no one else noted this. Am I blind? Or did Sarandon secretly block this on her resume? I need 10 lines. The rest is filler. I actually enjoyed the movie. But agree with how awful it was. Oh, to be a kid again. Then one could enjoy nonsense thoroughly. I had thought this might be a Cornel Wilde production. He did some pretty seedy films, though some good ones too. I thought Majors had plenty of competition for bad acting in this film. But the color was fine. And there was excitement. Gotta lower your cynicysm.

I'm sure that these points were made in the other member post, but I didn't read it because the guy was so long winded. Lee Majors is The Norseman, who pronounces it as Noors-man, there is a black viking who wears the tongue of an enemy around his neck, a wizard who's face has never been seen, yet we see it throughout the film, and vikings being killed by getting an arrow to the ass. This movie is GREAT, if you are the type of person who feels that watching "bad" movies makes you stronger. I watched it with two friends and my younger brother, my two friends "hated" it, yet they were the ones showing it to me and this was not their first time watching it (on Video-Disc, no less!!). My brother and I loved it, it was a good time and made for a great double feature with Kurthisss The Drug Free Snake. (I also bought a copy of the original theatrical poster).