MovieChat Forums > The 13th Warrior (1999) Discussion > Huge Lack Of Logic (Small Spoiler Here)

Huge Lack Of Logic (Small Spoiler Here)

posted 9 years ago by he88
7 replies | jump to latest

This army with huge bear heads and claws really made the story come off as just hokey and silly. I could buy in to the idea that they have some warriors in the front lines appear like this, but not a whole army of hundreds.

First off: Bears don't travel in packs and they spread out away from each other. To kill off enough bears to equip an entire army would take many years over a great distance....Especially using the weapons of the times.

Second: Like I mentioned..... You might have some warriors in front dressed that way for a psychological effect, but not your total force. Imagine going to war with swords and knives in a head gear with extremely limited vision (The head looked full bear so there couldn't have been much vision holes to look out....I'm guessing even the stunt guys had a real tough time using them). This is even more crucial considering they attacked under cover of the mist and in the dark. How they could see anything is beyond me. On top of that is hearing anything behind you......Ya right. A warrior who does close quarters hand to hand is going to wear a huge head that prevents him from hearing anything behind him......Never happen.

The movie was pretty good up to that point, but from there on it just seemed silly.....I couldn't even sta awake to the end because of the nonsense

[–] beeger 9 years ago

How about the great helms of the middle ages? Not much for vision/breathing capabilities in those either.

[–] he88 9 years ago

You might be thinking the helms used in jousting. They were very limited because you only needed to see in front and it was a competition....Not actual war. Other than that every helm I've ever seen or read about was basically battlefield ready with enough vision and usually openings around the ears. They went from that to wearing red coats and funny cloth hats and then fought in a straight line....Sort of like they tried to prove every bad idea wouldn't work

[–] TRinzler 9 years ago

They weren't soldiers. They were a marauding tribe of cannibals who preyed on easy pickings such as villages. They dominated through fear and probably weren't well trained/equiped for proper fighting.

Why expect military tactics/strategy from what was essentially a band of thugs?

[–] charlzonder-es-maas 9 years ago

Good point... and history even proves that often, when a community isn't well organised, on it's downfall or in either economic recess or social turbulence - multiple reasons which can make it vulnerable - then it can happen quite possibly on occasion that a tribe of savages plunders and vandalises it to the point of slaughtering it and whiping it out or causing them to migrate almost completely. If that tribe then happens to be operating in a region which is inhabitated by multiple weak communities, say because of temporary lack of resources, then it can even happen that this wild tribe becomes relatively very powerful and domineering in that region.
But I can understand that it looks a bit rediculous to see a whole army-worth legion of savages dressed in bearheads if you think logically about it for a second. I personally didn't take the film all to serious and didn't think it over to much but rather enjoyed it as a thrilling adventure-story with great camera-work. 😊

[–] janos-schumacher 8 years ago

They made this other movie where two dudes kill a couple bears and make hats out of them. They tried to raid a town. They were both immediately killed by two children who had only rocks. The movie was only 2 minutes long. They didn't even do any back story. It was also shot on super 16 and none of the actors spoke any English. They also didn't have anyone to do subtitles as they were speaking an old Norse dialect that nobody but the actors spoke. Also, blah, blah, blah, authentic.

It did poorly in testing, so they made this one instead.

I don't think it's the best movie ever made. However, it makes flickering on my TV distract me from the pit of hell that is existence. For that, I give it a "entertaining but not the best movie ever made"

"Citizen Kane" is the worst movie ever, and you can quote me on that. "Freddy Got Fingered" for the win!!!!!

[–] vicky_lc2001 (1907) 7 years ago

The wendel were supposed to be left over Neanderthals actually and no they weren't an army but a tribe.

[–] kuatorises (7467) 3 years ago

People who lived 1000s of years ago attributed everything they didn't understand to God, gods, or magic - and you're bothered people thought these were monsters or didn't understand bears are generally solitary creatures. Like....really?