A Viking Saga: The Darkest Day (2013)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

hyped garbage

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

**Warning spoilers ahead**I was totally going to give it nine stars up until the last 25min, then it just got a little to cheesy. As far as production and action goes I give it an A but the acting at times could be a little corny. And as far as the ending goes they really could have done something to make it a little more believable. I mean come on, he just picks up a sword and starts swinging it around like he has been doing this his whole life. I would have like to had seen something a little more original when it came time for the "saving the day" part. And am I the only person that noticed the angle of the arrow that went through his neck?? Didn't know arrows could fly at 33degree angles. Well at the end of the day did it keep me entertained and would I suggest it to friends and the answer to both of those is a solid yes. For a lazy Wed afternoon it definitely kept me interested.

My son won a free movie at Red box by buying a big mac sandwich at the local burger joint and so he chose this movie title A Viking Saga: The darkest day. I guess we thought it would be entertaining and have some merit but little did we know. We picked out another boring and worthless movie that came to us free but alas I will have to pay for the gas for my car to return it. Nothing said nothing gained. If you do get the opportunity to choose a movie free I suggest you pick out something different than this one. My son is usually a good critic and he said only one word summed up the name for this movie.. BORING VIKINGS nothing worse ... If only I had the opportunity to read this critique I would not have wasted my time driving to and from the Red box.

Solid acting performances and some riveting cinematography have gone under appreciated in this dark, gritty tale of medieval monks running for their lives.Paul Jibson gave a really good performance but, sadly, we get to see to little of him in my opinion. I think he should have been cast in a longer lasting role.Mark Lewis Jones gives a solid showing as the grizzled warrior trying his damnedest to save the monks from the vikings and their own stupidity.Marc Pickering plays the coming of age monk trying to live as the monk amidst the reality of viking assaults. He commands a solid understanding of his role and leaves you wanting more.Jibson, Jones, and Pickering really deliver and I look forward to seeing more of them in the future.This good movie, while not perfect, is worthy of a watch if you are into medieval pieces.

I also have to express dismay at the low rating this film has on IMDb. It seemed a well done, decently acted movie with a story that is neither ridiculous nor simplistic. I honestly believe it is deserving of an above average rating. Probably what annoyed a lot of people is the poster, which has nothing to do with the movie at all. It is not a film about glorious deaths in violent battles.The Viking raid on Lindisfarne monastery is a real event that is considered by historians to be the beginning of the so called Viking Age. As with the TV show Vikings, the event is used to inspire the storyline in The Darkest Day, without much concern for historical accuracy, but this film has it a bit closer to reality.The plot is seen through the eyes of a young monk, one of two escaping from the Lindisfarne's raid and carrying the Lindisfarne's Gospels, a beautifully crafted book that holds "the word of God" and without which the monks believe the Angles country is lost. The book is a real artifact that you can read about. The monks run away from a bunch of Vikings that want the book, believing it holds "the power of the white Christ" and can be used to rule the land. Their escape shows you glimpses of the wild and poor way of living in those times (around 800 AD) in the British Isles. Helped by an old warrior, they meet Christian sectarians and a Pict woman they rescue from bondage and try to fend off the raiders.I've watched a few Viking related movies lately, something spurned by the TV show Vikings, and this is by far one of the best. It is a low budget English and Welsh film with almost completely unknown actors in a small cast, but they each play their roles well and the bleak and violent trek through ancient England feels realistic and raw. The name of the young monk, Hereward, is an ironic hint of the end of the movie. Again: a clearly above average film, especially if you are in a Viking mood.