''Berserker'', also known as ''Berserker: Hell's Warrior'', is a fantasy-action-horror film based on

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...

. It was written, directed and produced by Paul Matthews and had its main release in 2004.

Plot

The film begins with a voice-over by Barek who refers to a Norse

legend A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...

. According to the

saga is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square (video game company), Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, ...

Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...

was spurned by

Brunhild Brunhild, also known as Brunhilda or Brynhild ( non, Brynhildr , gmh, Brünhilt, german: Brünhild , label=Modern German or ), is a female character from Germanic heroic legend. She may have her origins in the Visigothic princess Brunhilda o ...

. The irate

Norse god In Germanic paganism, the indigenous religion of the ancient Germanic peoples who inhabited Germanic Europe, there were a number of different gods and goddesses. Germanic deities are attested from numerous sources, including works of literature, ...

chained her to an

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

Asgard In Nordic mythology, Asgard (Old Norse: ''Ásgarðr'' ; "enclosure of the Æsir") is a location associated with the gods. It appears in a multitude of Old Norse sagas and mythological texts. It is described as the fortified home of the Æsir ...

, surrounded by a ring of eternal fire. He decreed that only a pure-hearted man could overcome the supernatural flames and save the alluring

Valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:36) ...

. Her saviour's fate should then be connected to hers forever. As Barek explains, he and his only brother learned about this as little boys and craved more and more to rescue the legendary beauty as they grew older. As it is later on successively revealed by flashbacks, Boar eventually could not resist anymore and entered the ring of fire. Hereby he suffered severe

burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur mainl ...

s. Barek followed him into the fire and remained wondrously unharmed. He unchained the Valkyrie and persuaded her to save Boar's life. Unfortunately her bite turned Boar into a

cannibalistic Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species In biology, a species is the basic ...

Berserker In the Old Norse written corpus, berserker were those who were said to have fought in a trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the modern English word '' berserk'' (meaning "furiously violent or out of control"). Berserkers ...

. When their father,

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

leader Thorsson is in need of reinforcements because he is in war with the Army of the Nord, he joins an alliance with the Berserkers who are now led by Boar. Following their combined

campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

, they fight each other. Thorsson uses fire against the otherwise

immortal Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life. Immortal or Immortality may also refer to: Film * ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film * ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film '' The Wisdom of ...

Berserker Boar. Barek cannot bear see his brother burning and calls

for help. Odin complies with Barek's request but from now the fates of Barek, Boar, and Brunhilda are interlinked by a timeless curse.

Cast

Paul Johansson Paul Joseph Otto Johansson (born January 26, 1964) is an American-born Canadian actor and director in film and television, best known for playing Dan Scott on the WB/ CW series, ''One Tree Hill'', and for his role as Nick Wolfe on the short l ...

as Barek *

Craig Sheffer Craig Eric Sheffer (born April 23, 1960) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his leading roles as Norman Maclean in the film '' A River Runs Through It, ''Aaron Boone in the film ''Nightbreed'', Joe Kane in the film '' The ...

as Boar *

Kari Wuhrer Kari Samantha Wuhrer (born April 28, 1967) is an American actress, model, and singer. Wuhrer began her career as a teenager, and is best known for her time as a cast member on MTV's ''Remote Control'', as well as her roles as Maggie Beckett in t ...

as Brunhilda/Anya *

Patrick Bergin Patrick Connolly Bergin (born 4 February 1951) is an Irish actor and singer perhaps best known for his leading role opposite Julia Roberts in ''Sleeping with the Enemy'' (1991), the title character in Robin Hood (1991 film), terrorist Kevin O ...

as Thorsson

Reception

The film was called "over-ambitious" and even a "train wreck". The sounds of the valkyries reminded another critic of the "hissing" of his cat "when she sees another cat". In February 2018, the film was released with

Rifftrax RiffTrax is an American company that produces scripted humorous commentary tracks which are synced to mostly public domain feature films, education shorts, and television episodes. With the talents of former ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''M ...

commentary.

References

External links

* * 2004 films English-language South African films Films based on Norse mythology 2004 drama films 2004 fantasy films 2000s English-language films Films directed by Paul Matthews {{fantasy-film-stub