Erik the Viking (1989)

Erik the Viking is a hoot and a half. Tim Robbins plays a Viking who reconsiders the morality and consequences of raping and pillaging in a gently comical opening scene. Eartha Kitt suggests an expedition with a cosmically significant alternative, which John Cleese as Halfdan the Black opposes. My second favorite scene is when Halfdan is blithely issuing judgments as to which peasants are to be skinned, beheaded, and so on. My favorite scene is when Tsutomu Sekine as the rowing taskmaster on Erik's longboat is casting imprecations on the northern European crew. The rest of the movie continues to be silly and Pythonesque, a mix of mostly authentic stagecraft and improbable pratfalls. More serious than Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and a bit sillier than A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Enjoy! 3.5 stars. (7-23-2016)