Hammer of the Gods - DVD

Content: Bagsecg (James Cosmo), king of the Vikings, is waging a desperate battle against the increasingly powerful Saxons. To counter the Vikings' waning influence in Britain, Bagsecg sends for reinforcements from across the seas. Ahead of the supporting army, his youngest son Steinar (Charlie Bewley) arrives with his companions Hagen (Clive Standen), Jokul (Guy Flanagan) and Grim (Michael Jibson) to help his father fight the Stuff. But Bagsecg has a very different mission for his son. For the old king is dying, and since he doesn't believe Steiner is ready to take his place yet, nor that his brother Harald (Finlay Robertson) is a worthy successor, Steinar is to set out in search of Bagsecg's outcast son Hakan (Elliot Cowan). But it's not just the fact that no one knows where Hakan is that makes this mission extremely difficult. The path through the land, teeming with Saxons and feuding Viking clans, isn't exactly without danger either, as Steinar and his men quickly learn in tragic fashion...

TV director Farren Blackburn (Luther, Doctor Who) has clearly made an effort to provide his viewers with a rousing and powerful Viking epic in Hammer of the Gods. Considering a rather low budget, the result is at least visually absolutely successful. The landscape shots have a raw beauty and are therefore extremely atmospheric. The battle sequences are also neatly realized, even if the effortfully stylish realization at the beginning, where the individual comrades-in-arms of Steinar are introduced, seems a bit out of place here.

But what the film ultimately lacks is a gripping script and interesting character development. The story itself has a lot of potential for decent suspense and good entertainment. But especially in the second half of the film Blackburn manages less and less to implement the possibilities that offer him the story in such a way that the viewer is really captivated and can overlook the small acting weaknesses.

It is also a pity that Hammer of the Gods had to be cut a little for the German version. True, the cuts aren't so rough that it ruins the film overall. But they are still noticeable, which clouds the overall picture just a little bit more.

Hammer of the Gods has not become the gripping Viking epic, which it could have been alone because of the visual implementation. But if you're just looking for something for the eye and don't expect any acting or dramaturgical feats, you might well get your money's worth here. And then also applies: With deductions quite still worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The image of the DVD pleases with its rough, earthy tones, through which especially the beautiful landscape shots are well accentuated. The image sharpness is on a good, in bright moments even on a very good level and also the matching of the contrasts leaves a positive impression. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix presents itself sometimes rather restrained, when the dialogues are tone dominant, but is filled with very much dynamics and pleasant surround feeling during fight sequences. Good!

Extras: The bonus material starts with a worth seeing Making of (approx. 21 min.), which is followed by four promo interviews with the actors (approx. 37 min.). A behind-the-scenes look at the special effects (approx. 6 min.) rounds out the concise but very informative supplementary material.

Conclusion: Hammer of the Gods is a Viking flick that is very coherently realized in places and lives primarily from its atmospheric landscape shots and decent fight sequences. The rather clichéd character sketches, the somewhat wooden acting of the actors and some small cuts that had to be inflicted on the German version, spoil the pleasure of this bloody search for a successor to the Viking king a little. Still, if you're only looking for something for the eye and not for the intellect, you might well get your money's worth here and then you'll also be spoiled with some nice extras. And for such viewers then also a worth seeing - with small deductions!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp