The time is AD 922, a refined Arab courtier named Ahmad IbnFadlan (Antonio Banderas), representative of the powerful Caliph of Baghdad, was sent to establish peace with the King of The Land of the Bulgars, which is present day Bulgaria.
On the way, he met and stayed with many different and interesting cultures, but none had made him more disgusted or curious as the Viking clan he stayed with.
He was separated from his caravan and had to stay with this clan for a while. He did not like the clan because of their lack of cleanliness, their disgusting love of sex, their underbathed women, or their strange rituals, for he believed there was only one true god.
Sometime later, another viking from another Viking clan came from the North asking for the help of 13 warriors to help him fight in his homeland as a duty to another clan. IbnFadlan was chosen as The 13th Warrior and enlisted to travel with them.
Against his will, he went and along the way discovered the truth behind everything that was going to happen: the vikings needed help combating the Wendol, another name for the Eaters of the Dead, who were savage beasts that came at night to devour the vikings flesh and carry them off for their own cannibalistic needs.......
Fahdlan starts off by looking down at the Northerners, with their lowbrow culture and their iron weapons. Coming from the first-world culture of Persia, with its learning and politics, he scorns their lifestyle of violence.
However they are tolerant of, even amused by, his cultural differences - treating him almost as a mascot for their expedition. Gradually he starts to appreciate their way of life and integrates with the rest of the warriors.
The story comes from a novel by bestselling author Michael Crichton, "Eaters Of The Dead", written in 1976. Crichton read records by the Arab traveller Ibn Fahdlan and filtered it into a book. Virtually every Crichton novel, including Rising Sun, Jurassic Park and Westworld, has made it to celluloid and many have entered the classic canon. Combine this story-telling ability with the vigorous direction of John McTiernan (Die Hard, Hunt For Red October), and you have a fast-moving, evocative action movie with a gang of hard-drinking heroes and a sinister, malevolent enemy.
Alternative title(s):
The Thirteenth Warrior
Keywords:
Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Based-on-Novel, Movie, Film, Movies, Films
Film
(1999) 
(3 Star)
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