The 13th Warrior (1999)

Of all the Michael Crichton books that have been turned into movies, I would say that this one is second best, only to Jurassic Park. The 13th Warrior is the story of an Arab who gets caught up with a group of Norse men who travel to a distant land to fight a menace known as the 'Eaters of the Dead' (name of the book). This is a really exciting film with a lot of cool action. It stars Antonio Banderas in his prime, and he is terrific in this picture. He translates really well into action roles, and is very believable as an out of place warrior trying to figure out what the hell is going on. The rest of the cast is a lot of large Scandinavian dudes who all due a great job wearing fur and looking broad. The 13th Warrior is very gripping, with a plot line that does a great job of portraying fantastic situations in a realistic way. The scenery in the film is amazing. There are countless beautiful rolling hills and wooded forests that help the audience get a real sense of what the warriors are going through. I have not actually read 'Eaters of the Dead', but I imagine that I would enjoy it. Compared to most of the crappy movies that are made from crappy Michael Crichton, John Grisham and Stephen King books, The 13th Warrior is really good. I do not believe that my wife has ever seen this film; I doubt that she would like it. That said, every guy that I know that has seen the movie seems to really enjoy it, and I know that at some point, I will watch it again. I give The 13th Warrior 3 stars.