RedBad DVD

I didn't know anything about Redbad until I started watching this movie & did some research. Fascinating times. It's important to remember (as the Kingston Trio said on one of their albums "After the Battle of Hastings, the losers sat around saying "Shut up & deal." that it's the winners who document what happened & naturally, they tend to see it from their point of view. So, what we know about any losing culture is only what the winning culture wants us to know. This still holds true today.Some of the complaints had to do with the violence (all different types) & frankly, those were nasty, bloody, often inhumane times. Humankind isn't very forgiving when it comes to warfare. The value of human life was not something taken much into account. We at least make an effort these days to appear to care. Actually, it's only a peaceful, prosperous society that can afford to show compassion of any sort.I felt the film portrayed the times much more accurately than films in the past did. It was dirty, muddy, & smoky inside the long houses. People didn't bathe very often - it's often been said that a person needs to be bathe 3 times: (1.) When they're born, (2.) When they're getting married, & (3.) they've died.Frankly, I felt the acting was quite good. I have no problem with the closed captioning - so what if the translation into English is a bit awkward - English isn't an easy language - if you've got a bit of smarts, you can figure out what the translation was meant to convey. If weapons weren't that common as one reviewer complained about - remember the main characters are all from the nobility of the time & they were most certainly going to have weapons. Yeah, the serfs, slaves, common person was going to have to rely on a pitch fork, or some farm tool that could be converted into a weapon. This went on for hundreds of years prior to the time period of this film & it continued for hundreds of years to followJust sit back & watch the film. If you're not into violence then DON'T WATCH IT. Like I said these were turbulent times & most people didn't live all that long because of disease, lack of hygiene, etc.""

While the cinematography is excellent, the story is even better since its based in history (just one that the Holy Roman Empire did not write.)Battle scenes were some of the best you will see. FAR better battles and fighting action than 'Alexander' with Colin Farrell..which --should-- have been one of the best historical battle action movies ever made.Most of these reviewers problems with following plot, seems to come from their inability to follow along with the subtitles, not with the movie itself. You do need to both watch AND read, since depicting three peoples; Danes, Frisians and Franks, required some creative workings and extra subtitling. They managed fine, and any fault with not knowing what is going on, lies with 'less capable' minds of viewers. Maybe 'How to Train Your Dragon' would be more your speed?If you regularly watch foreign movies with subtitles as I do, you will have NO problem. But if this is your very first subtitled movie (because you are going through History channel: Vikings withdrawals), then you'll have it a little tough since this movie has to weave languages of three different peoples...and sound in the subtitles like they are doing so.Very creative use of the three languages to differentiate the peoples. I've had enough horrors of things like 'Beowulf back to the Shadowlands' where they actually...actually...used only clothing colors to differentiate peoples. One tribe in gold, one in blue, one in red. THAT is lazy and despicable. But here, you were shown the people as they see each other properly in their historical context...they LOOK the same, but are different in language and location.Aside from the American actor speaking English for box office value, the characters were well-acted and believable, and even the American actor was not terrible. You do empathize, root for, or loathe characters..as intended.Direction was good, staging was good. An evocative movie overall. Watch it. I will argue that it is one of the BEST viking age/era films ever made, on par with Russia's 2016 'Viking'. I mean come on! what can you realistically compare it to?More historical than 'The 13th Warrior' (13th had better cinematography but weaker plot)More relatable, exciting and immersive than 'Valhalla Rising''s slow plodding drag100 times a better film than 'The Vikings' (Kirk Douglas)Better production values than 'Northmen: A Viking Saga' which was not bad either.Animated 'Beowulf?' come ON!(And if you think Marvel Thor belongs on this list, you shouldn't be here.)

Redbad truly is an excellent film in the tradition of epic films from a bygone era. No, they didn't have a boatload of modern special effects, just great action, and epic battles. The acting was surprisingly good as was the script. The storyline was a bit long but stayed on task and was understandable without a bunch of guessing who was who, what was supposed to be happening and/or without the normal lack of back-story found in recent films. It was long but well worth the time I spent watching it. I have over 5000 DVDs and Blurays in a rather extensive collection that I have accumulated since DVDs first came out. This is one of the better epics I have in my collection. No, it's not modern Hollyweird and/or their obsession for pushing their bizarre ideology or political agenda, it's just very good storytelling and writing. I gave it 4 stars because I like to see a film without reading subtitles, but this was a very good mixture of two languages and I didn't get annoyed or visually taxed by the exchange between English and Nordic subtitles. A very good film!