ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Video Review</TITLE></HEAD> <BODY background="background.gif"> <center> <table border=0 width=800><tr> <td width=150 align="center"><img src="ep15_022.gif"></td> <td align="center"> <font size=5><b><i>Revenge of the Barbarians</i>: A Video Review</b></font></p> <font size=4><b>or </font></b></p> <font size=4><b>No, I m Not Kidding, Read the Review</font></b></p> <font size=3><b><i>by Orrick of Romney</font></b></i></p> </td> <td width=150 align="center"><img src="ep15_023.gif"></td> </tr></table> </p> </p> </center> The title certainly sounded like a bad movie. The cover graphics promised a wealth of bad-movie-cheap-thrills. Taking it home from the video store and popping it in the VCR revealed not the expected Hollywood trash-fest, but an Icelandic production providing a remarkably accurate view of the Viking era.</p> The plot is simple. Viking raiders wipe out an Irish family, save two a young brother and sister. She is taken by the raiders, he is left for dead. Years later, the boy, now a man, travels to Iceland to retrieve his sister and seek vengeance on his family s slayers. His sister is now married to one of the raiders and has a son. She wishes to see neither her husband nor brother harmed, but must now choose between them.</p> Costuming, attitudes, weapons usage the sort of thing every SCA-er seeks in a movie are done correctly. Details of everyday Icelandic life: furniture, implements of cooking and eating, and tools are displayed waiting the careful freeze-framing of the video for study by the Early Period reader. Even English language dubbing isn t too bad; characters rarely continue to move their mouths after they stop talking. Finally, the credits themselves are a treat for Norse-ophiles. Icelandic names haven t changed much since the Viking age, and it does an anachronist s heart good to see credits like  directed by Snorri Stalgrimmson . (I don t remember the director s real name, but his is typical.)</p> <i>Revenge of the Barbarians</i> is, alas, a bit obscure. (Every review deserves one understatement.) If you can locate it in your local video store, I strongly recommend renting it. I doubt if it will ever make television, so video is the only option. Just like a book, you can t judge a video by its cover!</p> <hr> <center> <a href="http://www.housebarra.com/EP/ep15/06eggs.html">Previous Article</a> | <a href="http://www.housebarra.com/EP/ep15/08earlyhair.html">Next Article</a> | <a href="http://www.housebarra.com/EP/ep15/index.html">Back to Early Period #15 index</a> <br> <a href="http://www.housebarra.com/EP">Back to Early Period Index</a> | <a href="http://www.housebarra.com/PastTimes/">Back to PastTimes</a> </center> </BODY> </HTML>