The cult favourite Roger Ebert called “an utterly worthless exercise in waste and wretched excess”
It’s impossible to manufacture a cult classic, with audiences the deciding factor on which movies go on to enjoy enduring appreciation despite their many shortcomings. Roger Ebert was a man for the here and now, though, which led to him eviscerating a fantasy comedy that ended up winning plenty of fans.
As somebody who made a living offering critical insight and analysis on the latest releases, Ebert’s profession was built around cutting to the chase. He couldn’t take several steps back and gauge whether or not any film had the potential to become a multi-generational favourite if it didn’t impress him then and there, so if it was shite when the credits came up, then in his mind, it would be shite forever.
These days, ask 100 different people for their opinions on Erik the Viking, and there’s going to be a myriad of different answers. What can’t be argued is that it should have turned out much better than it did, if only for the calibre of talent attached on either side of the camera.
Monty Python veteran Terry Jones directed and penned the screenplay for a feature inspired by a children’s book that he’d written himself, although the story was changed dramatically when it made the jump to the big screen. He’s a comedy icon for many very good and valid reasons, but his touch deserted him on this occasion.
Tim Robbins plays the title hero, who decides to set out on a journey of self-discovery after growing tired of the pillaging that comes as part of the Viking parcel. When the goddess Freya – played by legendary songstress Eartha Kitt – lets him know that a wolf has eaten the sun, it’s up to Erik to venture forth to Asgard and save the world from perpetual darkness.
John Cleese pops up as Halfdan the Black, Mickey Rooney lends support as Erik’s grandfather, and Jim Broadbent appears, too. That’s an impressive array of names, but the end result was largely that of indifference and box office disaster. It wasn’t universally reviled, but few were anywhere near as harsh on Erik the Viking as Ebert.
“Every once in a while a movie comes along that makes me feel like a human dialysis machine. The film goes into my mind, which removes its impurities, and then it evaporates into thin air,” he wrote in his review before describing Erik the Viking as “an utterly worthless exercise in waste and wretched excess, uninformed by the slightest spark of humour, wit or coherence”. Zero stars, then.
It appealed to plenty of viewers who weren’t quite as scathing, and that adoration was only reinforced by the warm and fuzzy glow of nostalgia that tied it to a specific moment in their formative years. The Monty Python connection encouraged countless more to check it out, to the point Erik the Viking has been embraced and is viewed today as a cult oddity and not the cinematic abomination Ebert declared it to be.
