Based on a fairy tale book which he himself wrote, Terry Jones' Erik The Viking is an amusing kid-friendly film that incorporates a few Monty Python-esque moments of absurdity into its structure but which, for the most part, stands fairly far removed from the work that Jones did with The Flying Circus boys.

The movie follows a Viking named, surprise surprise, Erik (Tim Robbins) who accidentally kills a girl who he had just started to develop a crush on. Since this incident, Erik has been pretty temperamental and has found himself in a bit of a funk. He realizes that he's tired of his life and figures that there has to be more out there than just raping and pillaging and so he looks for something more. He finds it in a quest given to him in which he must travel to the land of the gods in order to wake them from their slumber to bring back the sun... and the dead girl he liked so much, if she'll have anything to do with him at this point.

Sounds easy enough, right? Of course not! Erik and his rag-tag crew (including his grandfather, played by Mickey Rooney) run into problem after problem on their quest, having to deal with a dragon suffering from hay fever, strange singing natives, and a warlord (John Cleese) who would love nothing more than to keep the world in the Dark Ages for all of eternity.

First things first, this is NOT a Monty Python film even if the marketing materials allude to that. This is a family film, a fairy tale, and those expecting the farcical and dirty humor that the Pythons were known for will be disappointed. That said, keeping expectations in check and viewing this as a family film, Erik The Viking isn't a bad movie. Cleese is laugh out loud funny as the craggy warlord and Mickey Rooney steals almost every scene that he's in. Robbins does a fine job of playing that morose lead character and it's hard not to laugh at Jones himself (who plays the King of Hy-Brasil where Erik begins his quest) when he appears in his ridiculous wig.

The set design, costumes and effects work are all appropriately soiled looking, everything appears to be fairly gritty and on that level the picture resembles Jaberwocky a little bit, but it works and there's certain primitive charm to the look of the film. Much of the enjoyment of the film, however, comes not from the look or the story but from spotting the various character actors who pop up in the picture. Eartha Kitt, Freddie Jones, and quite a few other familiar faces all show up in the picture at one point or another, allowing viewers to play their own game of 'spot that recognizable actor.'

While Erik The Viking is far from a classic, it's a reasonably entertaining family film that plays as much like a low-fi version of Pirates Of The Caribbean than a follow up to something like Monty Python And The Holy Grail. It's unlikely to set your world on fire but it does have its moments and it isn't as bad a movie as its many critics would have you believe... at least it was...

Notes About The Director's Son's Cut: Jones states in the extras that due to contractual obligations he was unable to finish editing the picture to his liking and now, through the magic of DVD, he and his son, Bill, have gone back to tweak the film. There are subtle differences, such as the credits appearing right away rather than a few minutes in as they did in the theatrical version, and quite a few scenes have been rearranged. That said, a lot of material that was in the theatrical cut (roughly 24 minutes worth) has simply been cut out of the picture. This does tighten up the running time but those familiar with the theatrical version will be disappointed to know that the older cut of the picture has not been included and none of the excised material even appears as deleted scenes or supplements - it's simply gone, albeit at least we're given an explanation for it. The faster pace of the film comes at a price, however. Much of the character development and some of the more subtle parts of the story are missing and the film definitely feels like it's been 'dumbed down' for those with shorter attention spans. Had both versions of the picture been included on this release it wouldn't be that big a deal but considering that t he theatrical cut is not available on DVD domestically at the time of this writing, it's quite frustrating - almost a full quarter of the footage is missing.

Video:

Erik The Viking is presented in a decent 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that presents the film in its original aspect ratio. There's a bit of grain and some mild print damage around if you want to look for it as well as some mild compression artifacts but there isn't any heavy edge enhancement to complain about and aliasing is isn't ever much of an issue. Color reproduction is decent and black levels stay fairly strong from start to finish. This is far from a reference quality transfer but it's certainly a very decent one.