The 13th Warrior (1999)

Screen It! is not attempting to rate the movie as good or bad but to give parents the tools to decide whether it's appropriate for their kids.

This movie has been screened for objectional content in 15 areas. Click for a detailed look.

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
Here's a brief look at the content found in this R-rated action/adventure film. Violence and resultant blood and gore are both extreme. Numerous battle and fight sequences occur with many combatants being killed in various ways (via swords, arrows, spears, beheading, etc...) with very bloody and gory results. Not surprisingly, but obviously dependent on the viewer's age and tolerance for such material, those scenes and some others with presumed supernatural material may be unsettling or quite suspenseful to some viewers. Some drinking of ale occurs, as does very brief and minor profanity (2 damns), while a possible sexual encounter is hinted at, but nothing is ever seen. Beyond all of that and the fact that the attacking hordes obviously have bad attitudes, the rest of the film's categories have little or nothing in the way of major objectionable content. Nonetheless, and considering the amount of bloody and gory carnage, we suggest that you take a closer look at the listed content should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home.

Of special note for those concerned with repetitive flashes of bright light, several scenes of that occur during the film (as campfire light brightly pulsates on the screen).

QUICK TAKE:: Action/Adventure: A reluctant emissary joins a band of Norse warriors who've been summoned to defend a small village from mysterious creatures known for consuming those they kill.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they're fans of Banderas or of medieval-based swashbuckler type movies, they just might, but it doesn't seem that this film will be much of a draw to most kids.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For bloody battles and carnage.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: ANTONIO BANDERAS plays an emissary-turned reluctant warrior who joins the others in defending and thus killing many members of the attacking enemy.
DENNIS STORHOI plays one of his warrior cohorts who initially gives Ibn some grief about his size, horse and lack of fighting skills, but also proves to be a good friend and worthy ally.
VLADIMIR KULICH plays the leader of the warriors, a stoic but smart and seasoned fighter.; DENNIS STORHOI plays one of his warrior cohorts who initially gives Ibn some grief about his size, horse and lack of fighting skills, but also proves to be a good friend and worthy ally.
VLADIMIR KULICH plays the leader of the warriors, a stoic but smart and seasoned fighter.; VLADIMIR KULICH plays the leader of the warriors, a stoic but smart and seasoned fighter.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: MILD: Some Norse warriors drink what's presumably ale in several scenes, but don't consume any in another when others do before the night of an expected attack.
Later, Ibn refuses an offered drink of what he presumes is ale, but turns out to be made from honey.

BLOOD/GORE: EXTREME: We see a bloody and large cut across a man's chest.
Several Norse warriors rinse out their mouths with water from a bowl that is then spat back into it. One of the men then blows his nose in it before passing it around to the next person.
The warriors find a little boy who appears to be somewhat bloody. Later, they go to a home where they find lots of blood on the floor, a headless person hanging from the ceiling (we see the open wound) and another person who's been disemboweled to some extent (we see parts of their intestines and other open wounds). Ibn then uncovers a severed and bloody arm that falls to the floor.
We hear Ibn vomiting after seeing the above.
We see bloodletting during a fight scene between the creatures and the warriors. During it, Ibn's face is rather bloody and we also see a warrior cut off part of a creature's hand, as well as a creature beheading a warrior (with blood squirting out of the wound and the sight of the creature running off with the severed head).
A woman tends to Ibn's facial wounds (putting boiled down cow urine on them) and we see dried blood on the front of his shirt.
A man beheads another man (we briefly see the neck and severed head) and some blood squirts onto bystanders.
The warriors find a cave room full of human bones and skulls. Later, they see many severed heads, some fresh, some not, hanging in some vines.

We briefly see another beheading.
In another battle/fight sequence, more people who've been killed or wounded are bloody and Ibn's face is bloody once again.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: EXTREME: Obviously the homicidal villains have both.
Herger and others make some slight fun of Ibn and his horse (but mostly in jest).
The king's son has both toward the warriors.
When Ibn verbally reacts to a woman tending to his facial wounds, she chastises him by saying that those are the sounds that a woman makes.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: HEAVY: The often bloody/gory battle or fight scenes listed under "Violence" (as well as listings under "Blood/Gore") may also be tense or unsettling to some viewers.
Ibn, and the others he's traveling with, hear that some murderous group is approaching and thus he and others on horseback (and some on foot) try to flee (but nothing else happens).
The warriors slowly make their way through a forest toward a home, expecting and prepared for the worse. Later, we see a shadowy figure in the woods around them.
The verbal description of these half men/half bear creatures (that only appear in the fog and whose dead bodies disappear without a trace) and of a fire serpent could be scary to younger kids.

The warriors spot the fire serpent coming down through the hills toward the fort at night (it turns out, however, to be men on horseback carrying lit torches).
The warriors sneak into a cave to find, quietly move around, and then attack their opponents and then find themselves cornered in a several minute sequence.

GUNS/WEAPONS: EXTREME: Swords/Spears/Knives/Arrows: Used to threaten, wound or kill many people. See "Violence" for details.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: MILD: Phrase: "You pig eating, son of a whore."
All of the fighting and sword play may cause some kids to want to imitate that.

JUMP SCENES: MINOR: A severed arm suddenly falls to the floor.
Someone suddenly grabs Ibn.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): HEAVY: A heavy amount of suspenseful music (some of it action/adventure oriented) occurs during the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): NONE: None.

PROFANITY: MINOR: At least 2 damns are used as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: MINOR: The warriors find a stone amulet of the attackers that shows a headless, potbellied woman with large breasts. Later, they see an identically shaped, but much larger stone statue.
Herger asks Ibn about a woman he apparently spent the night with, "Did she finish you, or bring you back to life?" Ibn then responds that gentlemen don't discuss such matters (all of this after we see Ibn and his woman snuggled up and sleeping, but fully clothed).

SMOKING: NONE: None.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: NONE: None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: MILD: Whether or not the film is an accurate portrayal of life in the Middle Ages.
The creatures -- actually people -- and the possible reasons for them killing and eating their dead.
The fact that Ibn believes in Allah and Mohammed while his Nordic warriors are polytheistic (a point that's touched on several times in the film).

VIOLENCE: EXTREME: Buliwyf slices a man with a sword who suddenly attacks him.
A Norse ship is burned as a funeral pyre.

The warriors visit a house where they find two people who've been killed (with one of them being beheaded).
The creatures attack the warriors and a great deal of fighting ensues in a mostly dark scene. We do see a creature impaled by a spear, another throws Ibn across a room, a warrior cuts off part of a creature's hand, a creature beheads a warrior, and other bloodletting occurs.
Herger and another, larger man have a sword and shield duel where the larger man breaks many of Herger's shields and generally gets the better of him.
A man beheads another man.
The villains attack again, throwing lit torches into the fort at night. The warriors hold their ground, however, shooting the attackers with arrows, while a person is killed after being impaled by a spear. More opponents are then shot with arrows and creatures are killed with swords. Once Ibn discovers the truth about the attackers, he kills many of them with his sword while others break into the fort and kill many people in this sequence that goes on for several minutes (and includes attackers and their horses apparently being impaled on long, sharpened poles). By the end we see that many people/attackers have been killed and that part of the fort is fully engulfed in flames).
The warriors hit and apparently knock out one of the attackers' guards, and then kill two more guards (one with an arrow through the head). Once inside a cave, they attack and kill many of their opponents (stabbing, slicing, impaling).
Buliwyf kills another bad guy and then goes after another, who manages to scratch Buliwyf with a poisoned fingertip before he's beheaded.
In another nighttime battle sequence, the warriors and the attackers fight, with many people being killed and more bloodletting occurring.