though it's not very realistic he could start speaking without any practicing and already make sense without big grammar errors

That's very true and I always thought that as well but I give the movie a lot of latitude since it's such a fun flick. Who knows, you can learn a lot about a language based on just frequency analysis. Maybe he was a prodigy at that.

That language montage was probably my favourite scene back in high school years. Made me giddy when I understood the vikings choosing their warriors and yelling "I'll be the first man" and so on. Re-watched this maybe a month ago, now reading the book. Still love it :)

I too felt that it was a very clever scene and unique. In fact, the entire movie caught me by happy surprise. You think you're watching a Nordic monster movie, ala Beowulf, but then it turns out to be relatively grounded in reality. As others have said, John McTiernan is a pretty singular action director and I dearly hope we see a string of new movies now that he's served his time.

It's one of those films I never get bored of watching.

Still have it on DVD. Back when a Spaniard could play an Arab and no one cared. I think the language learning was a clear trick. The whole movie was well done and I think still holds up today.

@OddRob said:

Still have it on DVD. Back when a Spaniard could play an Arab and no one cared. I think the language learning was a clear trick. The whole movie was well done and I think still holds up today.

What I find interesting is that while Banderas was the "star" of the movie, and other than Omar Sharif the only well-known actor, each of the actors were given enough to do that they were fully-developed in their own right. Buliwyf was easily one of the coolest characters in an action movie that I've seen, and Tony Curran was simply awesome as Weath (the redheaded, sarcastic one.)

I'm anticipating finally buying a 4K TV soon (I still have an early 1080p Samsung I bought in 2008) and this is one of those movies I'd LOVE to see released in UHD.

EDIT: And where the F*** is John McTiernan these days? He was released from prison four years ago and filmed one trailer for a video game and that's it. The man can make outstanding action movies! Looking at interviews, one can assume he's a very difficult, opinionated bastard. But there are plenty of divas and primadonnas in Hollywood; the only maxim they need to observe is, "Make Us Money!"

I'm anticipating finally buying a 4K TV soon (I still have an early 1080p Samsung I bought in 2008) and this is one of those movies I'd LOVE to see released in UHD.

I suggest a Sony X900E. Really great image and cheap for what you are getting. Basically a 2K TV for half the price. Usually around 1k now but will most likely drop in price for next Black Friday if you want to wait. As for John McTiernan, I think Hollywood has moved on.

@OddRob said:

I'm anticipating finally buying a 4K TV soon (I still have an early 1080p Samsung I bought in 2008) and this is one of those movies I'd LOVE to see released in UHD.

I suggest a Sony X900E. Really great image and cheap for what you are getting. Basically a 2K TV for half the price. Usually around 1k now but will most likely drop in price for next Black Friday if you want to wait. As for John McTiernan, I think Hollywood has moved on.

I've been hearing really great things about the new TCL 6-Series. I can buy a 65-inch 6-Series for the same price as the 55=inch Sony and the reviews on the TCL are outstanding so far. The only other option I'd consider would be an OLED because there really isn't a LED technology that can compete with an OLED image.

@AlienFanatic said:

@OddRob said:

I'm anticipating finally buying a 4K TV soon (I still have an early 1080p Samsung I bought in 2008) and this is one of those movies I'd LOVE to see released in UHD.

I suggest a Sony X900E. Really great image and cheap for what you are getting. Basically a 2K TV for half the price. Usually around 1k now but will most likely drop in price for next Black Friday if you want to wait. As for John McTiernan, I think Hollywood has moved on.

I've been hearing really great things about the new TCL 6-Series. I can buy a 65-inch 6-Series for the same price as the 55=inch Sony and the reviews on the TCL are outstanding so far. The only other option I'd consider would be an OLED because there really isn't a LED technology that can compete with an OLED image.

Heard the older OLEDs have issues but the newer ones are ok. So Id be careful. Havent heard anything about the new TLC 6 series. But TVs are basically like phones, you buy the newest version and 8 months later a brand new one comes out.

@tmdb67572229 said:

The way they handled the characters speaking different languages was pretty interesting. Banderas, as our viewpoint character, doesn't know the language his new friends are using so we get a montage of him learning it over time. Then we get a moment of awesome reveal at the end when he proves he has learned enough of their language to be comfortable speaking it himself.

John McTiernan always makes such "guy" movies. Die Hard, Predator, Red October and this one are some of my favorites. This one, for me, always had a sort of "Magnificent Seven" vibe to it.

it was ridiculous

@tmdb67572229 said:

The way they handled the characters speaking different languages was pretty interesting. Banderas, as our viewpoint character, doesn't know the language his new friends are using so we get a montage of him learning it over time. Then we get a moment of awesome reveal at the end when he proves he has learned enough of their language to be comfortable speaking it himself.

Yes, a good scene, and I liked the way it made us understand that English is only being spoken for the viewers sake. IIRC McTiernan did a similar trick with the Hunt for Red October. Another clever one was Valkyrie. All well done.

John McTiernan always makes such "guy" movies. Die Hard, Predator, Red October and this one are some of my favorites. This one, for me, always had a sort of "Magnificent Seven" vibe to it.

Also Tears of the Sun which I've always liked along with this. Although I know not done by McTiernan, King Arthur was in the same vein while also being underrated.

@AlienFanatic said:

@OddRob said:

Still have it on DVD. Back when a Spaniard could play an Arab and no one cared. I think the language learning was a clear trick. The whole movie was well done and I think still holds up today.

What I find interesting is that while Banderas was the "star" of the movie, and other than Omar Sharif the only well-known actor, each of the actors were given enough to do that they were fully-developed in their own right. Buliwyf was easily one of the coolest characters in an action movie that I've seen, and Tony Curran was simply awesome as Weath (the redheaded, sarcastic one.)

I'm anticipating finally buying a 4K TV soon (I still have an early 1080p Samsung I bought in 2008) and this is one of those movies I'd LOVE to see released in UHD.

EDIT: And where the F*** is John McTiernan these days? He was released from prison four years ago and filmed one trailer for a video game and that's it. The man can make outstanding action movies! Looking at interviews, one can assume he's a very difficult, opinionated bastard. But there are plenty of divas and primadonnas in Hollywood; the only maxim they need to observe is, "Make Us Money!"

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9202810/?ref_=nm_flmg_unrel_1_dr

@NeoLosman said:

Clever way to deal with the issue of different languages

Have the entire cast speak English, even though the story takes place in 10th century Scandinavia

Because a film shot in fully spoken 10th century Scandinavian would do amazing at the box office.

@NeoLosman said:

@OddRob said:

@NeoLosman said:

Clever way to deal with the issue of different languages

Have the entire cast speak English, even though the story takes place in 10th century Scandinavia

Because a film shot in fully spoken 10th century Scandinavian would do amazing at the box office.

Quest For Fire(released almost two decades before The 13W)was profitable, despite English not being spoken in it

Times change, peoples expectations also change as well.