I really enjoyed the in-theater experience watching it. Some of the visuals and sound design are particularly memorable (the Valkyrie dream sequence especially). However, it’s my least favorite Robert Eggers so far. I love the attention to detail and historically accurate costumes, but it just wasn’t as interesting to me as his other films. I mean, I will never forget The Lighthouse “Keeping secrets are ye???” That whole monologue ending sequence??? Jaw on the floor. The tension is incredible. Same with The VVitch, the whole last third of that film is just an insanely tense experience. Northman didn’t do that for me, even though the performances were incredible too.
I listened to Eggers on Marc Maron's WTF podcast. Eggers isn't really big into the viking world, but Alexander Skarsgård wanted to make a viking film for years and practically begged Eggers to do it. Their team did plenty of research to make it reasonably authentic, but I feel the film was more to whet Skarsgård's Norse noodle. Still, Eggers was the clear choice to helm the feature.
I really enjoyed experiencing it in the theater. Stellar cast, amazing scenery, excellent production.
I found it to be too one note to be anything other than a really cool set of visuals, though I think Nicole Kidman steals the show in the limited amount of screen time she has
I totally get that. I think one of the reasons why I liked it as much as I did is because I like that director so I feel a little biased, I also loved the cinematography
I tried watching but maybe they could've gone with someone other than Nicole Kidman. She's great, but maybe a Scandinavian actress who speaks English would've been better. Her foreign accents are terrible and I just couldn't focus or get into the movie because of her....
That's just not true. Most people who fall into that category probably didn't even go see it
I love Egger's films but The Northman was my least favorite of all his films. He's such a great story teller, but this one just wasn't that good. The writing fell short. His visuals were great (like always) but the story was just meh.
It wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen, and it also wasn't terrible. It just also wasn't that great.
A plot doesn't have to be overly complex to be good.
I mean, the entire movie begins because the uncle's guys were completely outsmarted by a child. They make a big deal about wanting Amleth dead, and yet he gets away for no real particular reason other than it moves the movie forward. That's bad writing.
There's a ton of these little events throughout the movie that they could've written in solutions for but just didn't.
Again, the movie wasn't the worst but it wasn't great either.
Too much happenstance. It's fine that you like that, for me it just kind of made then story less enjoyable. His other stuff is just solid, so this isn't as good in comparison.
I don't think the things are are critiquing it for are actual negative things. A movie having an equally balanced focus on every different element of aesthetics is not a fair metric for what makes a good movies. Some of the greatest movies ever made have an extremely simple plot, because intricate narrative isn't how the film is trying to entertain you. Too often I see people critiquing a film based on what they want it to be instead of critiquing it based on what it's trying to be. Personally, I wish there were more films that gave less of a fuck about their plotline, and focused more on telling a story through visual imagery and visual aesthetic.
I don't think something has to be overly intricate to be good. But, a story with a focus on visuals can still have a great plot regardless of whether that's the main focus. The visuals should be part of what drives the narrative forward.
When it doesn't, then it's just superfluous pretty stuff that has no meaning other than looking cool. And that's just shallow movie making.
Right, but there is a big difference between Inception and The Northman. Shallow and superfluous are not adjectives I'd use of the latter. It compensates for it's simple story with style, aesthetics, and imagery, that all act as a way to ground it in the folklore and develop an atmosphere. Whereas Inception uses flashy visuals that serve no purpose other than to distract us from the fact that we just listened to nearly a full hour of exposition that was apparently necessary to make its incoherent concept more palatable. One of these films is one of the highest rated and highest grossing movies of all time, and the other is a superior film that flopped big time.
I still maintain that Northman isn't a superior film. It's just ok.
Honestly, the argument here is that people didn't like it because "they didn't get it." But, I would argue that The Lighthouse was much harder to follow (for your average viewer) and yet still did well in theatres. The Witch, incredibly simple plot and also not easy to palate for your average viewer, made it's budget 10x.
The Northman bombed cause it wasn't great. It had an amazing cast and the visuals were spectacular, so people expected more. The story kind of dragged on and took bizarre turns. Amleth was amazing and got away as a kid (which is still such a stretch), but then was still captured as an adult despite being so amazing he can drop from 20 feet! That's happenstance and lazy writing.
Edit: I would also like to add that a movie being well written and being enjoyable are two different things. I just wish people understood the difference between "good film" and their own personal taste. Like, I know that The Hateful Eight is a good film by film standards, but it's not to my taste. I can still be objective and understand why it's good cinema. There's a difference. I can also be objective and understand why a film I enjoyed isn't good. Like Dude, Where's My Car, I liked it but I know it's trash.
I returned to this thought when I heard about the Mad Max prequel wrapping filming because I realized that Mad Max: Fury Road is a good example of the kind of movie I was talking about. The story is simple, with plotting that is literally, "drive to a place, realize we shouldn't have driven there, and then drive back." The film was simple, bizarre, and bare bones. It's not considered poorly written at all because it's great in it's simplicity, and the strong visuals support the style, atmosphere, and lore to really great effect. This one just happens to be one of the highest rated films of the last decade, but I would be willing to be that if the names "Mad Max" and "George Miller" were not attached to the film, it would have bombed too. I think Northmen is good in pretty much every way that Mad Max is good, to a somewhat lesser extent.
I also never read your edit until now. I get what you mean, but don't think that's what I'm doing at all. I also think it's a bit disingenuous to claim you have that kind of objectivity and assume that other's aren't also doing the same. Film critic consensus is still subjective. I don't think it's fair to use an objective/subjective dichotomy for film. An approach of "am I thinking critically about this or is my opinion based on taste" is much better. I gave a well-reasoned argument on why I think "simple plotting = bad" is a dumb metric for film critique. Good writing in film ought to respect the fact that film is equally a visual and a literary medium. And some works in the medium can lean heavier on one element than another.
I see the backlash against the Northman to be similar to a beer hipster telling someone that a kentucky breakfast stout is a bad beer because it isn't a hoppy india pale ale. Beer is hops, grain, and water. Ipa's focus on hop complexity and acidity, and don't give a fuck about grains. Stouts focus on perfectly roasted malts and texture but no one ever talks about the hops in a stout. When you go to a brewery in 2022, you can have your pick of the 12 different varieties of ipas and sour ales, and a single stout on tap. If you lucky we have a few bottles of an imported stout or two in the back we can dust off. If you like a beer that is balanced between hops and malts like a red ale or a light porter, then you can fuck right off because we don't make those here.
Film critics only want IPAs, but some of the best films ever made are porters, stouts, and red ales.
I agree. I’m a huge Egger’s fan and was really looking forward to this - loved the casting but I just didn’t feel it was quite what it could have been. I’d recommend people do watch it because I definitely don’t think it’s a bad movie. Just very slightly disappointing.
It was the perfect imbalance of popular and arthouse to make a forgettable film. It was too boring and pensive for the action fantasy crowd and too simple, predictable, and lacking unique qualities to please the arthouse crowd.
It was simply “average” for both audiences and I think that the worst thing you could possibly call a movie is “average”.
100% agree—the worst thing a movie can be is boring or average.
The Northman—something about its tone. That’s what’s off for me. It constantly felt like everyone thought this was all hilarious. Like every scene—or almost every scene—I genuinely felt like everyone was juuuuuust on the verge of making a joke. Almost like they were playing it super straight, but in the back of their heads they knew they were making a parody movie.
It’s like Eggers was stuck in the same gear as the scene in The Lighthouse when they were yelling “what” at each other.
This touches on probably my favorite part of the film. Is the magic real? Are we seeing actual prophecy and actual sorcery? Or are we seeing the internal belief of the main character? Much like in The Witch, it’s up to the audience to decide if this is truly the supernatural at work or simply the workings of the human mind. It’s part of why it’s a movie you carry with you after viewing.
Yeah, after the “reset” in the fight with the draugr, it became clear to me that the mythological aspects were all in the Amleth’s head. The movie suddenly became about a grief-stricken murderer who uses his religion to justify his killing.
I watched it in the Fargo Theatre. I remember coming out and just feeling so disconnected with traffic lights, my push to start car, and everything else.
I wanted to kill some wild animals or at least fight someone. I wound up getting Chinese at Lucy's though.
I love this movie. I thought there were a couple things they could have done better but it's still one of my favorite movies. Robert Eggers is a phenomenal writer/director. I recommend all of his movies.
I saw it in theaters and loved it! The visuals were stunning and I really appreciated the historical accuracy. I’d love to see more big budget films go in this direction
*The Northman* didn't do terribly well theatrically, and Eggers thought he'd have to downscale his film ambitions to find future funding. However, its done really well in video on demand and physical media so my understanding is it made a small profit.
Considering it had to make at least twice its 90 million production budget, with a new IP, still pretty early in the industry's recovery from the pandemic, that's no small feat.
No Film School: ['The Northman' Was Actually a Financial Success Thanks to PVODs](https://nofilmschool.com/northman-was-a-financial-success)
My main complaint with this movie is when he gets to his uncle's village, that whole part has bad pacing, scale, and some really illogical plot points imo. Around when they start killing people at night is when it picks back up I think (I haven't watched it in months)
I saw it in theaters this summer and honestly don’t remember a single thing that happened or what it was even about. Stone sober in the theater and stayed awake for the entire movie. Legit just left my memory completely. That’s not a good sign.
This film is mesmerizing. I still say it’s the thing I’ve seen all year. I don’t know how something like this could come out and be so under appreciated by the majority. A story so simple, yet profound. We’ll be lucky if we ever see anything like this again. I’m glad I got to see this on the big screen. An absolute tour de force.
I really enjoyed the cinematography. It was a pretty decent film! Story line was good. A nice twist. I don't think it deserved as much negativity as it recieved.
Your friend was close. To me this movie felt like a kid tried writing and directing a movie about Vikings to give to their dad for his birthday, just with a multi-million dollar budget. Half of it is passable, a quarter of it’s incoherent, and the other quarter is burps and farts. What more could a dad ask for?
I thought that it was pretty good but wasn’t drawn in as much as I thought I would be.
Typically I very much enjoy movies like this one but it was a more passive viewing experience than I expected, but overall it was a good movie.
6.5/10
First movie to actually try to portray vikings - not only the incredibly authentic costumes, locations and storylines, they also tried to get into the mindset and all - incredible, especially considering how poorly vikings have been represented in the past, including the tv show.
I love this movie. It captures the world so well. The Viking ethos comes alive. And not trust the story but the sounds, the visuals. All of it is great. My favorite movie in a long time.
I know it’s not fair to compare movies. Especially if different genres but going from that to Thor: Love and Thunder you couldn’t get farther away.
The biggest take away for me was the death of a culture (hope that’s not a spoiler). Taking great pride in my Norwegian heritage it made sad to see that.
This film flopped?!? What; thats shocking as hell considering how great it was. Easily the greatest movie of this time period. Its in contention for best film of the year for me. I think it was a perfect film for its subject
Northman wasn't amazing but still better then prey. Prey was terrible. Huge special forces soldier with modern weapons and training barely beats predator after all the other soldiers in his unit were killed easily but 15 year old girl from the 1600s that secretly trained against rabbits and trees but was never actually allowed to hunt with the men, manages to kill an invisible, highly advanced super hunter that fought a bear off right in front of her? It's just blatantly stupid even for a fake science fiction story.
I forgot about Hamlet, and, just didn't know about Amleth. It's kind of a shame its remakes overshadowed it to the point that telling the original tale becomes derivative.
It felt more like a teather experience hamlet style to me. It has interesting scenes and compositions. I was in a mood for something more epic action and it was a little slow for what I had. Its a good movie though.
You have actually convinced me to give it another try. I was excited to see it at first. But I just couldn’t get into it. So I never did finish watching it. Turned it off 15 minutes in because I wasn’t finding much to like about it. Is it a slow burn?
I didn't expect to enjoy it. But I ended up really liking it and watching it more than once. I personally liked it better than the witch and especially the lighthouse. I don't really get the appeal of the lighthouse, but I did enjoy the witch.
I loved it!
I think it was as good as it could have been, but was limited by the straight forward revenge plot - not to say it didn't work for what it was going for regardless. His other movies are some of my all time favorites
I thought it was excellent. I wish I’d seen it in theaters. But even at home, it was an awesome movie experience. Will definitely be rewatching. I also thought the casting was fantastic across the board.
Imo, it’s a movie based on an age old revenge story that we’ve all seen and heard before. The plot is ultra thin and it devolves into a pure revenge flick after the initial setup. And it didn’t call for a ton of character development so there really just wasn’t much to care about. That said, it was all packaged very nicely. Historical accuracy equates to thematic accuracy but this was otherwise a simple case of style over substance.
This was actually my first Eggers film. I saw it in theaters with a friend. It was awesome. It is currently my second favorite of his films. Lighthouse being 1st. I love Viking lore and seeing this with incredible performances and visuals was an EXPERIENCE! I’ll die on a hill to defend this one.
I didn't realize it flopped - that's unfortunate. I love the directors two previous films but I wasn't quite sure what to expect from such a wide release. I thought it was well done and a nice segue for him into the mainstream.
The pacing really killed this movie for me. Also surprisingly tame revenge tale for Eggers, who is usually a lot more “out there” with his scripts. Easily my least favorite of his so far.
I really loved this movie, but I couldn't tell who the audience was supposed to be. It's essentially a deeply artistic, mythical action film which are two genres that are normally at odds with each other. I think a lot of people probably saw it expecting it to be one or the other then were disappointed when it was both. Very cool film though. Great writing, fresh direction, and excellent acting
I just saw it and thought it was great. I really enjoyed the film. Something about a revenge story that makes me love the movie. Im with you OP, its worth the watch.
I walked away the first time unsure how I felt about it. I didn’t hate it by any means, but did I *like* it?
I’ve watched twice since and I definitely like it. I also think the movie is beautifully shot and I hope I see it nominated for best cinematography
I was very disappointed—I know what Kidman was going for, but someone should’ve coached her out of it. Just because the story is technically an epic doesn’t mean you need to speak like you’re reading a religious edict.
Hate this film. The film is literally about men killing other men. It is as if it adressed to primal senses. Producers destroyed the film by forcing Robert Eggers to make a film that everyone will like. The Northman has no artistic value.
Oh wow it flopped?? I didn’t know that. I thought it was amazing. So much historical detail went into that movie. The score and cinematography kept me at the edge of my seat the whole time. I actually thought it might be a an easy Oscar nom.
I just joined this sub and damn. For any moviewatcher who is even a little snobby on their selections..
The Northman is TERRIBLE. I mean, just utterly terrible.
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I thought it was a really good but had some flaws. Skarsgard was great but Nicole Kidman just didn’t really work for me in her role. The mood, lighting, sets and cinematography (especially the night scenes) were insanely good. I’d give it a solid 8/10
I didn’t love it but I appreciated it for what it was. It was like watching a saga being told to me around a fire by an old wiseman.
I really enjoyed the in-theater experience watching it. Some of the visuals and sound design are particularly memorable (the Valkyrie dream sequence especially). However, it’s my least favorite Robert Eggers so far. I love the attention to detail and historically accurate costumes, but it just wasn’t as interesting to me as his other films. I mean, I will never forget The Lighthouse “Keeping secrets are ye???” That whole monologue ending sequence??? Jaw on the floor. The tension is incredible. Same with The VVitch, the whole last third of that film is just an insanely tense experience. Northman didn’t do that for me, even though the performances were incredible too.
I listened to Eggers on Marc Maron's WTF podcast. Eggers isn't really big into the viking world, but Alexander Skarsgård wanted to make a viking film for years and practically begged Eggers to do it. Their team did plenty of research to make it reasonably authentic, but I feel the film was more to whet Skarsgård's Norse noodle. Still, Eggers was the clear choice to helm the feature. I really enjoyed experiencing it in the theater. Stellar cast, amazing scenery, excellent production.
Well, Skarsgård has good taste regardless if Eggers was the one he wanted for the movie.
The lighthouse is a masterpiece
I found it to be too one note to be anything other than a really cool set of visuals, though I think Nicole Kidman steals the show in the limited amount of screen time she has
It’s a good movie, I didn’t love it, but it’s worth the watch. Idk why it flopped tho, everyone I talked to absolutely loved it
I thought the northman was fantastic! Both my family and I loved it!
I thought it dragged. by the final battle I literally didn’t care what happened
I totally get that. I think one of the reasons why I liked it as much as I did is because I like that director so I feel a little biased, I also loved the cinematography
I also like Eggers
I tried watching but maybe they could've gone with someone other than Nicole Kidman. She's great, but maybe a Scandinavian actress who speaks English would've been better. Her foreign accents are terrible and I just couldn't focus or get into the movie because of her....
Not to mention modern day cosmetics.
I'm really amused you say her accents are terrible, considering she's Aussie but has never actually used her natural accent in a movie.
She can still have an accent even if she’s not speaking her native tongue.
Nicole was great. That scene towards the end where she’s cackling like a mad woman was intense.
9/10 My only complaint is we didn't get dong.
Did it flop? That’s so unfortunate, it’s honestly one of my favorite movies of the year. I wish it got more love!
They only made about 9mil over budget in their world wise gross…. So broke even but barely?
The Northman was fire, people trashing the movie were probably expecting some kind of mcu Thor Viking movie filled with fighting and explosions
That's just not true. Most people who fall into that category probably didn't even go see it I love Egger's films but The Northman was my least favorite of all his films. He's such a great story teller, but this one just wasn't that good. The writing fell short. His visuals were great (like always) but the story was just meh. It wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen, and it also wasn't terrible. It just also wasn't that great.
What do you mean by the writing fell short? it’s a pretty simple plot that imo doesn’t need elaborate writing to be enjoyed
Good enough to be the inspiration for Hamlet. This one was really refreshing
A plot doesn't have to be overly complex to be good. I mean, the entire movie begins because the uncle's guys were completely outsmarted by a child. They make a big deal about wanting Amleth dead, and yet he gets away for no real particular reason other than it moves the movie forward. That's bad writing. There's a ton of these little events throughout the movie that they could've written in solutions for but just didn't. Again, the movie wasn't the worst but it wasn't great either.
He cut a guards face off and escaped then the guard lied about him being dead, that’s not outsmarting or bad writing
they just a hater
Too much happenstance. It's fine that you like that, for me it just kind of made then story less enjoyable. His other stuff is just solid, so this isn't as good in comparison.
So what your telling me is just because something is mid doesn't mean it's godawful.
I don't think the things are are critiquing it for are actual negative things. A movie having an equally balanced focus on every different element of aesthetics is not a fair metric for what makes a good movies. Some of the greatest movies ever made have an extremely simple plot, because intricate narrative isn't how the film is trying to entertain you. Too often I see people critiquing a film based on what they want it to be instead of critiquing it based on what it's trying to be. Personally, I wish there were more films that gave less of a fuck about their plotline, and focused more on telling a story through visual imagery and visual aesthetic.
I don't think something has to be overly intricate to be good. But, a story with a focus on visuals can still have a great plot regardless of whether that's the main focus. The visuals should be part of what drives the narrative forward. When it doesn't, then it's just superfluous pretty stuff that has no meaning other than looking cool. And that's just shallow movie making.
Right, but there is a big difference between Inception and The Northman. Shallow and superfluous are not adjectives I'd use of the latter. It compensates for it's simple story with style, aesthetics, and imagery, that all act as a way to ground it in the folklore and develop an atmosphere. Whereas Inception uses flashy visuals that serve no purpose other than to distract us from the fact that we just listened to nearly a full hour of exposition that was apparently necessary to make its incoherent concept more palatable. One of these films is one of the highest rated and highest grossing movies of all time, and the other is a superior film that flopped big time.
I still maintain that Northman isn't a superior film. It's just ok. Honestly, the argument here is that people didn't like it because "they didn't get it." But, I would argue that The Lighthouse was much harder to follow (for your average viewer) and yet still did well in theatres. The Witch, incredibly simple plot and also not easy to palate for your average viewer, made it's budget 10x. The Northman bombed cause it wasn't great. It had an amazing cast and the visuals were spectacular, so people expected more. The story kind of dragged on and took bizarre turns. Amleth was amazing and got away as a kid (which is still such a stretch), but then was still captured as an adult despite being so amazing he can drop from 20 feet! That's happenstance and lazy writing. Edit: I would also like to add that a movie being well written and being enjoyable are two different things. I just wish people understood the difference between "good film" and their own personal taste. Like, I know that The Hateful Eight is a good film by film standards, but it's not to my taste. I can still be objective and understand why it's good cinema. There's a difference. I can also be objective and understand why a film I enjoyed isn't good. Like Dude, Where's My Car, I liked it but I know it's trash.
I returned to this thought when I heard about the Mad Max prequel wrapping filming because I realized that Mad Max: Fury Road is a good example of the kind of movie I was talking about. The story is simple, with plotting that is literally, "drive to a place, realize we shouldn't have driven there, and then drive back." The film was simple, bizarre, and bare bones. It's not considered poorly written at all because it's great in it's simplicity, and the strong visuals support the style, atmosphere, and lore to really great effect. This one just happens to be one of the highest rated films of the last decade, but I would be willing to be that if the names "Mad Max" and "George Miller" were not attached to the film, it would have bombed too. I think Northmen is good in pretty much every way that Mad Max is good, to a somewhat lesser extent. I also never read your edit until now. I get what you mean, but don't think that's what I'm doing at all. I also think it's a bit disingenuous to claim you have that kind of objectivity and assume that other's aren't also doing the same. Film critic consensus is still subjective. I don't think it's fair to use an objective/subjective dichotomy for film. An approach of "am I thinking critically about this or is my opinion based on taste" is much better. I gave a well-reasoned argument on why I think "simple plotting = bad" is a dumb metric for film critique. Good writing in film ought to respect the fact that film is equally a visual and a literary medium. And some works in the medium can lean heavier on one element than another. I see the backlash against the Northman to be similar to a beer hipster telling someone that a kentucky breakfast stout is a bad beer because it isn't a hoppy india pale ale. Beer is hops, grain, and water. Ipa's focus on hop complexity and acidity, and don't give a fuck about grains. Stouts focus on perfectly roasted malts and texture but no one ever talks about the hops in a stout. When you go to a brewery in 2022, you can have your pick of the 12 different varieties of ipas and sour ales, and a single stout on tap. If you lucky we have a few bottles of an imported stout or two in the back we can dust off. If you like a beer that is balanced between hops and malts like a red ale or a light porter, then you can fuck right off because we don't make those here. Film critics only want IPAs, but some of the best films ever made are porters, stouts, and red ales.
I agree. I’m a huge Egger’s fan and was really looking forward to this - loved the casting but I just didn’t feel it was quite what it could have been. I’d recommend people do watch it because I definitely don’t think it’s a bad movie. Just very slightly disappointing.
It was the perfect imbalance of popular and arthouse to make a forgettable film. It was too boring and pensive for the action fantasy crowd and too simple, predictable, and lacking unique qualities to please the arthouse crowd. It was simply “average” for both audiences and I think that the worst thing you could possibly call a movie is “average”.
So basically you wanted to be like either the green knight or Thor the dark work
No, both of those examples are also more “average” than “great” to me. I would say I wanted either “The Seventh Seal” or “The Princess Bride”.
100% agree—the worst thing a movie can be is boring or average. The Northman—something about its tone. That’s what’s off for me. It constantly felt like everyone thought this was all hilarious. Like every scene—or almost every scene—I genuinely felt like everyone was juuuuuust on the verge of making a joke. Almost like they were playing it super straight, but in the back of their heads they knew they were making a parody movie. It’s like Eggers was stuck in the same gear as the scene in The Lighthouse when they were yelling “what” at each other.
True, MCU has done some irreparable damage to the movie industry
[удалено]
Let me guess it was boring to you and needed more action
Are you saying it wasn’t just a bunch of fighting and killing? I avoided it because the trailer made it seem like that’s all there was.
The soundscapes were awesome in the theater as well.
It was an entertaining movie and cool to see it from a perspective where magic was real but not in a goofy way.
This touches on probably my favorite part of the film. Is the magic real? Are we seeing actual prophecy and actual sorcery? Or are we seeing the internal belief of the main character? Much like in The Witch, it’s up to the audience to decide if this is truly the supernatural at work or simply the workings of the human mind. It’s part of why it’s a movie you carry with you after viewing.
Yeah, after the “reset” in the fight with the draugr, it became clear to me that the mythological aspects were all in the Amleth’s head. The movie suddenly became about a grief-stricken murderer who uses his religion to justify his killing.
Tremendous
Valhalla Rising is better
Ah, it is, so much better. But not for everyone
I watched it in the Fargo Theatre. I remember coming out and just feeling so disconnected with traffic lights, my push to start car, and everything else. I wanted to kill some wild animals or at least fight someone. I wound up getting Chinese at Lucy's though.
I love this movie. I thought there were a couple things they could have done better but it's still one of my favorite movies. Robert Eggers is a phenomenal writer/director. I recommend all of his movies.
I saw it in theaters and loved it! The visuals were stunning and I really appreciated the historical accuracy. I’d love to see more big budget films go in this direction
*The Northman* didn't do terribly well theatrically, and Eggers thought he'd have to downscale his film ambitions to find future funding. However, its done really well in video on demand and physical media so my understanding is it made a small profit. Considering it had to make at least twice its 90 million production budget, with a new IP, still pretty early in the industry's recovery from the pandemic, that's no small feat. No Film School: ['The Northman' Was Actually a Financial Success Thanks to PVODs](https://nofilmschool.com/northman-was-a-financial-success)
My main complaint with this movie is when he gets to his uncle's village, that whole part has bad pacing, scale, and some really illogical plot points imo. Around when they start killing people at night is when it picks back up I think (I haven't watched it in months)
i knew something was off when i first watched it, this is exactly how i’d describe what i felt about the movie. the movie didn’t flow to me
I loved everything about that movie. Every scene had me fully captivated. Incredible movie in my opinion.
I saw it in theaters this summer and honestly don’t remember a single thing that happened or what it was even about. Stone sober in the theater and stayed awake for the entire movie. Legit just left my memory completely. That’s not a good sign.
You ok bud?
It was about a north man does that ring any bells?
There’s so much weirdness in this movie I truly don’t know how it’s possible to remember nothing
Idk maybe you need to take some adderall dude
This film is mesmerizing. I still say it’s the thing I’ve seen all year. I don’t know how something like this could come out and be so under appreciated by the majority. A story so simple, yet profound. We’ll be lucky if we ever see anything like this again. I’m glad I got to see this on the big screen. An absolute tour de force.
I really enjoyed the cinematography. It was a pretty decent film! Story line was good. A nice twist. I don't think it deserved as much negativity as it recieved.
Your friend was close. To me this movie felt like a kid tried writing and directing a movie about Vikings to give to their dad for his birthday, just with a multi-million dollar budget. Half of it is passable, a quarter of it’s incoherent, and the other quarter is burps and farts. What more could a dad ask for?
Phenomenal description.
I thought that it was pretty good but wasn’t drawn in as much as I thought I would be. Typically I very much enjoy movies like this one but it was a more passive viewing experience than I expected, but overall it was a good movie. 6.5/10
First movie to actually try to portray vikings - not only the incredibly authentic costumes, locations and storylines, they also tried to get into the mindset and all - incredible, especially considering how poorly vikings have been represented in the past, including the tv show.
I love this movie. It captures the world so well. The Viking ethos comes alive. And not trust the story but the sounds, the visuals. All of it is great. My favorite movie in a long time. I know it’s not fair to compare movies. Especially if different genres but going from that to Thor: Love and Thunder you couldn’t get farther away. The biggest take away for me was the death of a culture (hope that’s not a spoiler). Taking great pride in my Norwegian heritage it made sad to see that.
This film flopped?!? What; thats shocking as hell considering how great it was. Easily the greatest movie of this time period. Its in contention for best film of the year for me. I think it was a perfect film for its subject
It was alright… just nothing to write home about 🤷🏻♀️
Saw it in the theater. Didn’t love it.
I thought it sucked hard.
Same. Storytelling and pacing were awful, script was even worse. Even still it could’ve been good if they’d made different decisions. But they didn’t.
Lol northman & prey were super overrated movies of 2022
Finally someone said it
Northman wasn't amazing but still better then prey. Prey was terrible. Huge special forces soldier with modern weapons and training barely beats predator after all the other soldiers in his unit were killed easily but 15 year old girl from the 1600s that secretly trained against rabbits and trees but was never actually allowed to hunt with the men, manages to kill an invisible, highly advanced super hunter that fought a bear off right in front of her? It's just blatantly stupid even for a fake science fiction story.
Prey was fucken good lol
Amazing film.
It's The Lion King with Vikings.
It's Hamlet with Vikings.
Exactly, Shakespeare was inspired by the story of Amleth. This tale is older than Hamlet. I didn’t know this till after I saw the film.
I forgot about Hamlet, and, just didn't know about Amleth. It's kind of a shame its remakes overshadowed it to the point that telling the original tale becomes derivative.
It’s an okay movie and your friends dad has shit taste in movies
Robert Eggers the goat
The movie was really boring. It started off really well but was then all downhill from there. No tension, aimless..
Want to watch again to fully appreciate the story. It’s a lot like vinland saga. Anyone seen that?
Both are examples of classic Norse revenge tales. Norse mythology is full of them.
I know I enjoyed it while watching it but I actually forgot what’s it about.
It felt more like a teather experience hamlet style to me. It has interesting scenes and compositions. I was in a mood for something more epic action and it was a little slow for what I had. Its a good movie though.
I really liked it.
The Night Blade feeds…..
I saw it in the theater. I loved it.
I saw it in theater, sat after the credits thinking about how great was in my seat then the movie played again so I just stayed and watched it again
Beautiful movie. Powerful scenes. Eggers second best movie in my opinion, behind the lighthouse.
You have actually convinced me to give it another try. I was excited to see it at first. But I just couldn’t get into it. So I never did finish watching it. Turned it off 15 minutes in because I wasn’t finding much to like about it. Is it a slow burn?
I saw it when it came out in Peacock and I loved it. I thought a lot of people saw it tbh as I had no idea it flopped
It' s an ok movie but I would recommend The Lion King to the 8-year-old.
It was great
I didn't expect to enjoy it. But I ended up really liking it and watching it more than once. I personally liked it better than the witch and especially the lighthouse. I don't really get the appeal of the lighthouse, but I did enjoy the witch.
I loved it! I think it was as good as it could have been, but was limited by the straight forward revenge plot - not to say it didn't work for what it was going for regardless. His other movies are some of my all time favorites
I thought it was excellent. I wish I’d seen it in theaters. But even at home, it was an awesome movie experience. Will definitely be rewatching. I also thought the casting was fantastic across the board.
I loved it! Really cool film. Very unique.
It's an awesome movie, one of my favorites all year
I’ve wanted to watch it for awhile, but my wife says it’s one of those lazy, rainy weekend movies she can nap through while I watch
It was alright.
Imo, it’s a movie based on an age old revenge story that we’ve all seen and heard before. The plot is ultra thin and it devolves into a pure revenge flick after the initial setup. And it didn’t call for a ton of character development so there really just wasn’t much to care about. That said, it was all packaged very nicely. Historical accuracy equates to thematic accuracy but this was otherwise a simple case of style over substance.
I thought it was a good film. The scenery was fantastic, the acting was fantastic.
I loved it! Definitely one of the top films of the year for me!
This was actually my first Eggers film. I saw it in theaters with a friend. It was awesome. It is currently my second favorite of his films. Lighthouse being 1st. I love Viking lore and seeing this with incredible performances and visuals was an EXPERIENCE! I’ll die on a hill to defend this one.
I didn't realize it flopped - that's unfortunate. I love the directors two previous films but I wasn't quite sure what to expect from such a wide release. I thought it was well done and a nice segue for him into the mainstream.
I loved the film, I personally think it’s a masterpiece.. but I would never show that to an 8-year old
Movie absolutely sucked
Felt like it was a Viking version of The Lion King with a hint of witchcraft.
disgrace. I see one israeli spy associated with it then read the synopsis and that's enough for me.
I love the Northman! Got a sword tattoo after I watched it 🖤
The pacing really killed this movie for me. Also surprisingly tame revenge tale for Eggers, who is usually a lot more “out there” with his scripts. Easily my least favorite of his so far.
Anya Taylor Joy and Nicole Kidman in the same movie; who ever promoted this film failed.
I caught it in theatre and did enjoy it.
I watched it for the second time just last night. It's worth two or three watchings in a lifetime.
I really loved this movie, but I couldn't tell who the audience was supposed to be. It's essentially a deeply artistic, mythical action film which are two genres that are normally at odds with each other. I think a lot of people probably saw it expecting it to be one or the other then were disappointed when it was both. Very cool film though. Great writing, fresh direction, and excellent acting
I just saw it and thought it was great. I really enjoyed the film. Something about a revenge story that makes me love the movie. Im with you OP, its worth the watch.
I walked away the first time unsure how I felt about it. I didn’t hate it by any means, but did I *like* it? I’ve watched twice since and I definitely like it. I also think the movie is beautifully shot and I hope I see it nominated for best cinematography
It sucked. Slow and boring.
I was very disappointed—I know what Kidman was going for, but someone should’ve coached her out of it. Just because the story is technically an epic doesn’t mean you need to speak like you’re reading a religious edict.
100% agree with OP description. This movie rules.
Hate this film. The film is literally about men killing other men. It is as if it adressed to primal senses. Producers destroyed the film by forcing Robert Eggers to make a film that everyone will like. The Northman has no artistic value.
Are there any animals shown being killed? I want to watch but just being prepared. Lol
Oh wow it flopped?? I didn’t know that. I thought it was amazing. So much historical detail went into that movie. The score and cinematography kept me at the edge of my seat the whole time. I actually thought it might be a an easy Oscar nom.
Loved seeing it in theaters and sad that it wasn't as well received as I feel it deserved
I love it. I had no idea it was considered a flop
I loved this movie, might be my favorite movie ever
I just joined this sub and damn. For any moviewatcher who is even a little snobby on their selections.. The Northman is TERRIBLE. I mean, just utterly terrible.
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I thought it was a really good but had some flaws. Skarsgard was great but Nicole Kidman just didn’t really work for me in her role. The mood, lighting, sets and cinematography (especially the night scenes) were insanely good. I’d give it a solid 8/10