Ring of the Nibelungs (2004 TV Movie) User Reviews

Good effort!

[BBBrown · 8/10 · 28 March 2006]

Short of producing 2+ hour versions of each of the 4 operas in the Ring Cycle, this is simply excellent storytelling. Truly entertaining and worthy of viewing.

Given the obvious production and time constraints common to almost all television productions, the writers, director and cast have made a quite enjoyable film based on the Norse legends. They know they can't hope to surpass more traditional Wagner opera productions or the cinematic spectaculars like Lord of the Rings or Chronicles of Narnia and they don't try. They simply succeed brilliantly at presenting a quite entertaining and enjoyable film variation of the well known tale.

Kudos!!

I wish they kept the original TITLE!

[paristeri · 8/10 · 31 March 2006]

It was by accident that I happened upon this movie on the sci/fi channel and realized what the story was really about- I enjoyed it very much and purchased the DVD after seeing it. I do wish the DVD was the original, however instead of the edited version. I am a major supporter of the new Beowulf and Grendel film by Sturla Gunnarson and think it's of interest that Nordic tales are making a comeback. We are definitely in need of some heroic myths that demonstrate the dichotomy/conflict inherent in these stories- That the human experience is not black versus white extremes- but all the colors in between..Finally I actually get the basic story of Siegfried and the ring of the Nieblungs..and I want to find out the rest of the story!

Not a bad effort....

[DOREENCROMPTON · 6/10 · 20 November 2004]

I went to this movie with zero expectations. Every review had lambasted it as an awful effort. Well, the critics are just plain wrong. Alright, it's not exactly the towering greatness that the LOTR films have achieved, and some of its shots may be derivative of LOTR, but this is no turkey. The story of course, is based on the ancient Germanic 'Ring Cycle' legend, which J.R.R. Tolkien ( along with other ancient sagas like the 'Edda', the 'Kalevala' and 'Beowulf' ) derived inspiration. The film may not live up to its source material, but its certainly a more interesting effort than the woeful 'King Arthur' recently released.

Some Slight SPOILERS ( If you don't know the legend )

Our hero Siegfried ( Benno Furmann ), is a prince lost as a boy, living with a blacksmith who found him after a great battle. Raising him as his son, the blacksmith ( an interesting turn from Max von Sydow ) teaches him the crafts of smithy. And when he meets the Queen of Iceland ( Kristianna Loken ) at the site of a meteor crater, the pair fall in love and vow to meet again. On the tale goes, with Siegfried slaying a dragon, capturing his horde of gold, and meeting the king, Gunther ( Samuel West ), and his beautiful sister Kriemhild ( Alicia Witt ). West is excellent as always here. He knows this kind of stuff in his sleep, being a veteran of Fantasy as a genre: playing Prince Caspian in the Chronicles of Narnia BBC TV series ( 1989 ) all those years ago.

Worth a mention are the many and varied visual effects in the picture. The Dragon especially is an amazing creation. Perhaps not of the standard of the more celebrated effects houses, like ILM, Weta Digital, Digital Domain, Sony Imageworks, et all. But certainly an interesting concept and design. Though obviously not on the scale or scope of the films its attempting to copy, this is no 'Hallmark' production, having the look and feel at times of a film three times its low, 30 million dollar budget. Perhaps the only real problem is the disappointing performances of the two leads, Furmann and Loken. Lokens' accent can be questionable, and Furmann struggles to rise to the levels of Von Sydow and West. And despite the lengthy-ness ( some would say over-length ) of the film, characters like Icelandic Queens' rune-seer, and the Ghosts of the Nibelung feel like token additions, with no character work done here.

All in all, this film is far from perfect, and has aspects that disappoint, but, it IS a worthwhile attempt to visualize one of the most important works to the whole fairytale/fantasy genre. It isn't flippant, or played for laughs ( like the woeful 'Dungeons and Dragons', 1999 ); it attempts to present a legend come to life. And in comparison to some other recent stabs at this, it ain't half bad.

Good TV Production

[SonOfTheDark · 6/10 · 1 December 2004]

I've watched both parts and they entertained me very well. The second part was better, because the role of Kristanna Loken ("T3") was bigger and the fightscenes looked much better! This is a very good TV movie and Benno Fürmann ("The Order"), Max von Sydow ("Minority Report") and Alicia Witt ("Vanilla Sky") did a great job. Julian Sands ("Warlock") was very cool as the bad guy ;)

The story was different to the original German saga, but it was enjoyable. The effects were also very exciting for this budget! (23 Mio.)

First part: 6/10 Second part: 8/10

A poor man's lord of the rings but enjoyable nonetheless

[retrogangster · 6/10 · 21 January 2005]

Based on the myth that influenced Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, The Ring of the Nibelungs shares many similarities with the great man's work.

Although limited I thought the special effects were excellent particularly the dragon. Siegfrid's accent was off putting but no less so than the posh English accents that many of the cast had considering this is meant to be set in Scandinava.

If you like fantasy and Lord of the Rings you will enjoy this. The soundtrack is very haunting and compliments the film very well. Kristanna Loken is gorgeous and although her acting isn't up to scratch, she does look great on screen ;)

The graceful ballad

[vichtor · 10/10 · 9 December 2004]

Uli Edel did a damn fine job on resurrecting the Volsung Saga. I think that "Das Nibelungenlied" is not as much of a fairy tail as LOTR what gives this ballad a bit more of the realistic drama-feeling. No offence, but this is not the usual happy-ending US-Style flick that most of the audience is used to. Maybe that is the reason for this quite low avg. rating.

I really couldn't imagine anyone better suited for the role of cold queen of the cold Island. Kristan(n)a Loken prove to be as cold as beautiful, also a great actress in a role with much more script than she had in T3. Arnold knew back than that "she'll be back!" and she indeed is in this truly wonderful movie.

Disappointing Ending

[Arne-Mueller · 5 December 2004]

Actually it started out OK but the ending was really crappy. Imagine "LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring" end with Frodo destroying the Ring just because the director wanted the story to fit into a 3h time frame.

The left out Act 2 and 3 of the Nibelung Saga where Kriemhild kills here Brothers, Sacrifies here Family, her Children and here country just in the name of revenging here husband. Where Hagen hides the gold of the Nibelungs in the Rhein never to be found again.

This really is what the Nibelung Saga makes it that great and tragic and they killed it off.

So I was pretty disappointed in the entire movie after seeing the end. In summary I cannot recommend this Movie what SAT1 called "The Movie event of the year" they better should have made it into a 2-3 parter which the actual story being told. So if you want to see the Nibelungs their was an film made in the 70's which the whole story in it.

Television adaptation upon known Germany legend with impressive and spectaculars scenes

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 20 November 2005]

The picture is based on Germanic mythology ,¨Der Niebelungen¨, a Nordic legend that inspired J.R.R. Tolkien to write the Lord of the Ring trilogy . It narrates the legend of a hero named Siegfred (Benno Furmann) who, not knowing that he is heir to a conquered kingdom, becomes popular with the Burgunds . As the young blacksmith meets the location where is stashed the Niebelungen treasure that's protected by a dwarf and a giant dragon . Siegfred slain and kills the dragon and he bathes in its blood (exception a body part where falls a leaf) . He'll become invulnerable vanquishing every enemies after numerous battles and confronting many dangers , misfortunes and risks. He marries a princess of Burgundios named Kriemhild (Alicia Witt) by means of a potion and then the Queen of Island Brunnhild (Kristinna Loken) will execute her vengeance , fulfillment a prophecy of rampage , ravage and destruction . In addition , Hagen (Julian Sands ) will try to take the Niebelungen gold .

This mythological , dark , epic, brooding film is plenty of archetypal personages and were jingoist tributes , in fact the Niebelungen heroes were even loved by the same Hitler. The movie is adapted from Germanic legends , even Richard Wagner made Operas about these deeds as ¨ Gold of Rhin¨ , ¨Cavalcade of Walkirias and ¨Ring of Niebelungen¨ . Besides , it inspired to J.R.R. Tolkien and his ¨Lord Of the Rings¨ . It has recently discovered a treasure next to Haelsinburg (Sweden) that's called ¨the Atila gold¨ and can be the legendary Niebelungen treasure . There are other versions about these epic facts , such as the 1967 movie featured by Terence Hill , Karin Door , Herbert Lom and directed by Harald Reilm which is considered average and of course the classic silent adaptation directed by Fritz Lang that is the best deemed . This modern rendition for television is spectacular and colorful and its narration is quite well . The flick will appeal to historical epic buffs and legendary heroes fans. Rating : good and well worth seeing.

Sword Of Xanten

[sjstobo22 · 9/10 · 15 April 2006]

When i first heard of this film i wanted to see it, so i sat and watched it. Unlike other people i actually enjoyed it. I liked it that much a year and a half later i bought it. Personally i liked the actors in this especially Kristanna Loken. She was terrific in this film. She portrayed her character the Queen of Iceland very well and she is quite terrifying. I had no problem with Benno Furmann either. I think Benno and Kristanna were a good match on screen, made a good couple. The story is very good, its a bit Romeo and Juliet-sh which i like especially when it is a fantasy film as well. Good effects, the dragon Fanfir was believable. Julian Sands as ever makes a good bad guy, just brilliant! I never listen to other peoples comments as i like to see things for myself. I give this film 9 out of 10, because its no Lord Of The Rings i agree but this is in my eyes a love story. Lord Of The Rings was more about war.

Worthwhile sword & sorcery flick

[Wuchakk · 7/10 · 27 January 2015]

Released to TV in 2004 at 184 minutes and originally titled "Curse of the Ring" or "Ring of the Nibelungs," "Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King" runs 132 minutes on the shortened DVD, meaning its cut by 48 minutes. This is an ancient European tale going back 700-1500 years about a Scandinavian child of noble birth who is reared anonymously by a noble blacksmith (Max Von Sydow) and names him Eric (Benno Fürmann). Eric miraculously meets and falls in love with the Queen of Iceland (Kristanna Loken) before slaying a dragon and becoming a king. Unfortunately, he can't marry his first love because a rival king and blood brother (Samuel West) manipulates him into marrying his beautiful sister (Alicia Witt). O what a tangled web we weave when at first we practice to deceive!

For a movie that originally aired on Sci-Fi (now SyFy), this is an impressive film. The casting, locations (South Africa), CGI, score and numerous sword-fighting scenes are all top-notch, especially for a TV movie, which explains that it was released theatrically in some areas. Although this is a fantasy sword & sorcery flick the tone is serious and realistic beyond the magical elements. Witt is likable and winsome while Loken is stunning and tough in a warrioress sense. Fürmann is solid as the main protagonist, Eric/Siegfried, having the requisite noble looks. His fight with the dragon is outstanding and the creature looks formidable and frightening, to say the least.

The story struck me as very unique, but only moderately interesting. It could've been more compelling IMHO but, then again, I've only seen the shortened version. The cut scenes include: (1.) the Saxons at the smithy, (2.) Siegfried bringing the Dragon carcass back to Burgund, (3.) the lady saying she would be a pagan again just for tonight, and (4.) Kriemhild confessing her love for Siegfried (Eric) to Hagen, the house villain, played by Julian Sands. It's hard to believe that peripheral scenes like these could turn the movie into a captivating powerhouse, but I could be wrong. Nevertheless, the positives outweigh the negatives and this is a worth seeing if you have a taste for sword & sorcery.

GRADE: B

How to destroy THE most famous German epic in three hours

[shadowmaiden122 · 1/10 · 7 March 2005]

Of course you can make a movie out of The Nibelung Saga, no problem. It is an exciting story, which has all the elements of a proper movie: love, war, jealousy, action, heroes and villains, mystery like dragons, dwarfs, a magic ring... (sounds a wee bit like Lord of the Rings, doesn't it?) Anyway, and then you have all the capacity to start with: a great landscape, fairly decent actors, average budget, CGI that sucks only to a point where it's still bearable, but then... *drum roll* ULI EDEL rears his ugly head, to top it all! And the horror begins with THE MAN who has so far managed to ruin! every! single! movie! he has been involved in! I mean, seriously, WHAT THE HECK!!!!!!!

!!!!!!! SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!! SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!

Brunhild, the queen of Iceland, played by former terminator chick Kristanna Loken, who said herself that she knew jack-squat about her character -and you can tell in the movie-, I repeat, she surely DID NOT DID NOT DID NOT simply sail past Siegfried's smithy. Oh, and Siegfried DID NOT grow up as a schizophrenic retard who calls himself Erik, the "Master over the fire AND (!!!) the elements" (like Brom, Aluminum, Copper, Magnesium... you name it)His name was Siegfried, Mime, the smith, gave him that name and he found out about his parents in a different way. King Siegmund actually outlived his son and Queen Sieglind did not die in a Xena-amazone-warrior-princess kind of way. Hagen was not such a bad guy, but he CERTAINLY WASN'T THE ILLEGAL BASTARD SON OF ALBERICH WHO!!!!!!!!!!! WASN'T !!!!!!!!!!!!! A!!!!!!!!! NIBELUNG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I mean, his name is ALBERICH, as in King of the ALBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARGH!!!!!!! Oh, this is getting painful! And of course, there had to be a strange foreign language-thingy to get it just this much closer to Lord of the Rings... again! Then, Gunter of Burgund had two brothers, both of whom were quite intelligent young men who ruled Burgund together, not just one lad barely out of puberty, who just happens to *sneak* onto the ship they sail to Iceland with, just so he can get some more screen time, because he had to be introduced to the public for the next Harry Potter movie, in which he will be starring as Cedric Diggory. Siegfried actually loved Kriemhild, no need for sneaky Hagen, the half-Nibelung with Daddy-issues *bangs head against keyboard* to pull the secret "lurve"-potion out of the bag! What else... Brunhild was not karate-Barbie on crack FROM HELL, she did not beat Siegfried in ice skating with axes, but in a fairly structured combat which involved spear-hurling, archery and a sword fight. The Nibelungs were not spooky ghouls out of a cave, they were a proud people who were not extinct, but later ruled by Siegfried as their king, as indicated by his title: Siegfried, KING of the NIBELUNGS!!! One final piece of advice: If you ever come across anything that has the words Uli and Edel in combination: RUN!!! RUN FOR YOUR SANITY!!! RUN AS IF A BIG UGLY CGI-DRAGON WAS CHEWING ON YOUR BOTTOM!! This is all for now. Writing this review made me reach a decision: Excuse me while I go drown myself in a bucket! Toodles!

Another Wonderful Version of the Saga of Siegfried

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 17 May 2008]

The blacksmith Siegfried (Benno Fürmann) meets the Queen of Island Brunhild (Kristanna Loken) in the crater of a fallen meteoroid and defeats her in an ax battle. They fall in love for each other and Kriemhild promises to wait for him in her kingdom. Siefried forges a sword using the strange ore; he slays a dragon and baths in its blood to become invincible and wealthy with the Treasure of the Nibelungen. Then he fights and defeats the dwarf Alberich (Sean Riggs) from the Realm of the Nibelungen and gets his magic helmet that makes the user take whatever form he wishes. When Siegfried meets Kriemhild (Alicia Witt), she drops a magic love potion in his wine and he immediately falls in love for her and forgets Brunhild. When Siegfried asks the hand of Kriemhild to her brother King of Burgundy Gunther (Samuel West), he advises that he would accept if Siegfried helps him to win the strong Queen of Iceland Brunhild. Siegfried uses his helmet to defeat Brunhild pretending that he is Gunther and Brunhild accepts to marry him. When the jealous Kriemhild discloses the truth to Brunhild, she leads Siegfried and her kingdom to a tragedy.

The saga of Siegfried is certainly one of the most beautiful tales of the old times of pagan gods. In 1924, Fritz Lang released the masterpiece "Die Nibelungen: Siegfried", an impressive movie ahead of time and one of the most beautiful fantasies ever. The made for TV "Ring of the Nibelungs" was a great surprise for me, since it is another wonderful version of the saga of Sirgfried. The story is engaging, developed in a perfect pace and using decent special effects. The cast has great performances, and includes the gorgeous Alicia Witt and Kristanna Loken in the role of the sweet Kriemhild and the strong Brunhild. In the end, this delightful movie is not so powerful as Fritz Lang's masterpiece, but it is a great family entertainment. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "A Maldição do Anel" ("The Curse of the Ring")

nice introduction to the Nibelungen saga

[myriamlenys · 7/10 · 25 November 2017]

Sadly, the movie does not wholly succeed : it would like to be a window on a far distant, far different time (mostly pre-Christian or not- Christian), but both its knowledge and its imagination fall short. When and where it tries to fill the gaps, it veers too much in the direction of, say, renaissance fairs, cosplay or sword and sorcery.

On the plus side, this is a pleasantly clear and understandable introduction to the Nibelungen saga. It whets the appetite and invites the viewers to go on their own voyage of discovery into a world of poetry, myth and history. It also works on its own merits, as a reflection on the difference between real accomplishment and genuine merit on the one hand and pretend heroics on the other hand. It's also a pretty watchable tale of love, treachery and calculation. (By the way, you're not human if you don't want to kick Kriemhilde in the behind.)

The music, I suppose, isn't too bad, but it is used too liberally. There are things in our world which have a deeply evocative sound of their own - such as, for instance, a sailing ship moving at considerable speed or a wood filled with eager hunters and hounds - and it's both annoying and redundant to cover such sounds with layers of music.

This film was disappointing.

[[e-mail] · 4/10 · 27 August 2006]

I love this type of movie. I find anything period interesting. But this movie did not live up to its promise.

The story was great. How could the movie makers go wrong with a tried and true legend? But the acting was horrendous. Max von Sydow was wonderful. Kristanna Loken played her part well and with the deep feeling one would expect from Brunhilde. The rest of the cast never rose above mediocre and Benno Furmann was awful. Hard for a movie to impress when the lead is so unimpressive.

The costumes were often gaudy. Perhaps this was an operatic effect??? But overall, they left much to be desired.

An additional flaw was the directing. Too often the extras in the film ignored the main action, which was often in the town square. I would have thought the sets could have been better unless, of course, most of the money was spent on the aforementioned gaudy costumes.

All in all, much as I like this genre, I could not recommend this movie to anyone.

A very mixed bag.

[Blueghost · 11 November 2011]

After shelling out lots of dollars to sit and watch some of the latest romantic comedies, I decided it was time for a little indulgence. Surfing the net I casually caught a still from a film about a ring and dwarfs. The charter's name in the caption was Brunhilde. I thought to myself, that sounds familiar.

Well, it looks like someone finally took a crack at bringing Wagner's ring cycle to film format, only this time shot as a Movie of the Week for TV audiences instead of as a feature film for theatrical release. With that in mind, I have some observations to make: For a TV film it gets a passing grade, but only just. I remember ABC's "Movie of the Week", and seeing all kinds of popular TV and film stars being dragged into projects that would be shown once on the network to garnish ratings, and then vanish into the ether to be only shown on Sunday afternoons or late night shows before the national anthem and test pattern. Well, that's kind of what we got here.

Only "Curse of the Ring" gives the audience some very high production values in terms of art direction, but not much else. We see the Nordic and Germanic setting of the tale, and are given some decent support cast members, but the two leads nearly slay themselves as they deliver lines with as much enthusiasm as a local weatherman telling us about the latest cold front. The acting from Benno Furman was that difficult to watch. Kristanna Loken wasn't much better, but at least her character had some fire in her. Benno walks through the project like a star eyed school boy who's concentrating on remembering his lines, all the while Kristanna is doing her best to tell future directors that she actually can act in spite of the collagen in her lips and a blonde dye job that would have put a 1950's pinup to shame.

Seriously, there's lots of visuals to be proud of here for what the project is. The SFX are quite impressive for a low scale TV production, and the amount of energy and care that went into the art direction is also something of note, but the two leads are as flat as a local theatre troop being recruited as extras for that Hollwood production that rolled into town. Their acting is that bad... or worse.

Had the producers pumped a few more dollars into this thing, and cast not necessarily well known talent, but competent talent into the roles, and then re-aired the project several times, then guaranteed this thing would have made its sponsors proud, and then some by boost DVD sales. As it stands now this thing is only five bucks to buy on the open market, and believe you me there's a couple of reasons for that; they are Furman and Loken.

Technically, other than the art direction, the shots are simply okay. Better lensing as well as overall direction could have saved this thing, and pushed into beyond its niche, and into the realm of general audiences appreciating a well crafted and acted film. As it stands now it simply appeals to the Tolkien and D&D crowd. And again, this didn't need to be so, but the film is what it is.

Dramatically the film tries to go into the realms of love and betrayal, and we get a taste of that by virtue of the story. Even Loken starts to shine a little as an actress when she does her scenes that address this concept, but we're weighed down by the fact that nobody seems to really care about the lines they're reciting. Well, perhaps that's unfair, because most of the supporting cast do an okay job.

Overall I'm glad I saw it finally, but it's not something I'd readily recommend.

Definitely watch at your own risk.

Neither Wagner's Ring or the Norse Saga...It's Strictly Sci-Fi Channel Material

[FloatingOpera7 · 6/10 · 30 March 2006]

Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King is neither drawn from Wagner's opera Ring Des Nibelungen nor the ancient Nordic sagas that inspired Lord of the Rings. It is quite inaccurate and doesn't follow the original legends to the letter. Instead of a sprawling epic of heroes, gods, goddessses, nasty dwarfs, stolen Rhine gold, a powerful and covete ring and the "Twilight of the Gods" to wrap things up we get a Sci-Fi channel movie with all the typical elements including computer graphics, a highly stilted dialogue, gorgeous actors and dramatic music. Now, the thing is I liked this, even if it was not really true to the mythology. It was more like an adaptation from a historic novel with a less mythic and more realistic approach. No gods or goddessses, only zealous worshippers trying to maintain the old ways at a time when Christianity had become dominant. Brunhilde is not a fearsome Valkyrie warrior. She's a mortal woman who loves Siegfried and not as powerful a personality as the warrior-like Krimhild, Queen of Iceland. The Dragon is still in here and the thing about Siegfried slaying it and bathing in its magic blood and leaving one part of his body vulnerable. Hagen kills him all that was in the original myth. But Krimhilde is odd in that she is pasionately in love with him and then is humiliated and wants him dead and then commits suicide on his funeral pyre!! Siegfried is portrayed as flawed, which is a rather good thing. Other than being the strongest of the strongest, he is two-faced and scheming. There is nothing really wrong with this film. It's only unfair to advertise this film as true to the Nibelung Saga when it is clearly Sci Fi movie material

Better than some, worse than others.

[admiralsir · 7/10 · 11 April 2013]

I saw the 2 disc DVD at the store and bought it and I was not disappointed. Sure it's no LOTR (but what is? LOTR is in a class of its own) but it is superior to some other films of the genre. Like many film adaptations of literature it's easier to enjoy if you aren't familiar with the subject matter. When I first watched it I admit to only a passing knowledge of the legends of Siegfried, afterwards I read up on it so if nothing else it made me broaden my horizons.

Yes, the screenplay bore precious resemblance to the original legends but there were some gems. Siegfried's challenge to the two Saxon kings is classic: "It takes more than a treasure to make a man worthy to fight a King" - "It takes more than crown to make a man BE a King".

The acting was average for the most part although it was refreshing to see Max Von Sydow in a somewhat different role than normal.

The Special Effects were okay for the most part and didn't look cheesy. Being a history buff it is always nice to see a reasonable effort to get some of the weapons and costumes period-correct to the point where it didn't jar sensibilities too much (it almost makes me cry to see things like late medieval dress and weapons in a 6th Century setting).

Not without it's faults it is still an entertaining watch although it would really be something to see the story put in the hands of someone of Peter Jackson's caliber.

A nice movie.

[marcov · 8/10 · 4 August 2005]

I really enjoyed the movie (having read the Wagner play for my German classes a decade ago, and then already liking the story). Of course there are not many surprises, given that the story is one and an half centuries old (more if you trace back to the original legends)

Most acting was decent, I didn't like the performance of Alicia Witt though, though I can't really pinpoint what irritated me about her performance. Of course she is not a likable character, but it just seemed that the timing was a bit off, and the acting was a bit forced.

I also liked some of the historic points like the reference to the Roman Emperor, and little details like Roman legionairs (or at least people using their weaponry and armour) walking in the cities. Xanten, one of the central cities was one of the most important, if not the most important Roman city in the Germania Superior province.

Fairly good

[sarastro7 · 7/10 · 19 March 2005]

I always seize every chance I get to see a production of a true classic. Ring of the Nibelungs was a diluted, Hallmark-style commercial TV version of the Wagnerian opera epic - but nevertheless it managed to be quite exciting and exhibit good entertainment value.

The first hour or so was slightly boring, but it got much better in the last two thirds. I was quite caught up in the story, and quite interested in the characters. And though it was a vastly simplified version of the original story, it did keep all the most essential structural elements. I thought it worked quite well.

The actors were mostly good. I liked Alicia Witt, especially at the end when she realized and regretted what she had done. That was a powerful moment. But the most honorable mention must go to Kristanna Loken, who was anonymous and inexpressive in T3, but here managed to show that she is actually a highly capable young actress. She was fetching, to say the least! I loved her performance in the public duel at the wedding banquet!

I rate this TV movie a solid 7 out of 10.

Beautiful film

[stilsp · 10/10 · 22 April 2006]

This film is a beautiful legend about the true love, hate, betrayal and friendship. I think not the effects are the most important thing in this movie but the message it gives to us. I will remember this film because there are very few films with such strong message. Everyone who believes in good and in morals should see this movie! The actors play is not at a high level with the exception of Max Von Sudof and Kristanna Loken but this is not so important because the background of the film - the history on the basis of which it was made is fascinating. I really enjoyed the play of Kristanna Loken. She proved that she is one of the most prospering actresses at the moment. Especially in such epic kind of movies. Enjoy the film.

Good Movie but more after Wagner than after the Myth

[music_ed_29 · 7/10 · 25 July 2005]

This Movie is only loosely modeled after the original saga, it does however follow more or less the plot of Richard Wagners (1813-1883) operas Siegfried and Götterdammerung. There Alberich is the brother of Mime and the (one of the)biggest villain of the story. He takes the gold from the Rhine ladies but curses it if he has to give it to Wotan. Wotan wants to pay Fasolt and Fafner for the building of the Wallhalla with it. They however fight for it and Fafner kills Fasolt and turns into a Dragon to guard the Gold. Wagner changes the story mainly because he was influenced by Schopenhauers Philosophy and his, then new, Socialistic thoughts. Sieglinde and Siegmund are twins and both children from Wotan. Siegfried is Wotans grandson and he is only born because of Wotans greed. He is in need of a hero who can bring the Nibelung treasure (In fact he is only interested in the Ring) back to him. Hagen is indeed Alberichs son in Wagners opera. Wih Wagner, Mime is a bad person who tries to kill Siegfries who then kills him. at the end Brünhilde jumps into the flames, thus ending her life and burning the Wallhalla and the Gods in it. (Götterdämmerung) So there are several parallels between the movie and Wagners operas. Tolkien didn't like Wagner, because of the way he changed the old stories of both the Edda and the Nibelungenlied. But in fact they share the same inspiration. Now, for a movie who most concurrent with Wagner, Tolkien and Peter Jackson, I think it isn't bad at all. The only trouble to me is that, by changing the story in Richard Wagners way it promises a moral dimension which it doesn't bring.

whew, what a stinker!

[academicpc · 2/10 · 11 February 2005]

This movie was seemingly made by an amateur (in the worst sense of the word) with a big budget. The guy who plays Siefried is thisclose to doing male porn. And whoever plays "Buffy the Brunhilde" should go back to working at the Dairy Queen in Rolla, Missouri. Max von Sydow looks nauseated to be involved. He's got an expression like "wait'll I get my hands on my agent..." If you have any interest in this story, get yourself the George Solti recording of the REAL "Die Nibelungen" and a translation (unless you're German) of the libretto. Better yet, mortgage the condo and go see the actual staged opera. I guarantee the experience will blow away even the Lord of the Rings movies. Short of that, maybe try to find a copy of the Fritz Lang silent version of Die Nibelungen. It kicks dirt all over this one.

A fantasy movie full of beauty and magic that grows on you

[Catharina_Sweden · 8/10 · 18 April 2013]

At first, I thought I was not going to like this movie. I am an old fan of the Siegfried Saga, as it is found in the Icelandic Edda, the German Hero Tales, and last but not least in Richard Wagner's wonderful opera. Being Scandinavian, I have lived with this story in some way all my life! Therefore, I do not like too many deviations from the basic story (although of course the before-mentioned original versions of it are not entirely similar either).

And the makers of this movie "Curse of the Ring", have made a lot of changes. As everybody knows, Siegfried was brought up by a dwarf called Mimer, a quite unpleasant creature driven by his own egoistic motives. While "Eric" (a cover name not known in any of the original sources either) is brought up by a very good and kind human. The "twin kings" have never been heard of anywhere else, and not the meteorite either. And so on.

When I began watching this movie, I did not like the main actors either. Benno Fürmann has too dark hair, and he does not have the perfect Nordic looks one associates with Siegfried. In fact, at first (I had never seen him in any production before this) I even thought he looked a little "pixie-like". A little funny - not at all godlike and superhuman. Not at all like Uwe Beyer in the 1966 movie, who could have been the real Siegfried come to life... And Kristanna Loken is really not right at all, for the ancient and wise Valkyrie in an (up till then) forever young body. She is too ordinary - there is no soul or wisdom there at all. She should instead be playing the role of a pretty girl in some high school-movie, set in present times.

But as I was watching, the movie grew on me. The movie is full of splendour and magic, beautiful photo, poetic dialogue and good special effects. As a fantasy movie, and as a costume drama, if one does not care about comparing it with the original Siegfried stories, it is wonderful! And as for the Siegfried story, in the end they somehow got the "Geist" of it right after all! I even grew to like Siegfried/Fürmann, because even if he was not like the Siegfried of the dreams and myths, he was very likable and lovable and admirable in his own right, somehow... And when the movie ended, I would not have wanted any other actor, however blond or handsome or muscular, in it! :-)

Three hours of sheer joy!

[knight110tim · 7/10 · 29 December 2005]

Part Dungeons and Dragons romp, part Xena: Warrior Princess and a smidge of Lord of The Rings, Sword of Xanten is based on the Germanic myth Das Nibelungenlied and the Nordic Volsunga Saga, which also inspired the four-opera cycle by Richard Wagner and Tolkien's world famous ring-centric work.

The Sword of Xanten is swords and sorcery viewed through a soap lens. Weaving a complicated plot, with inevitable unhappy ending, it's easy to see why Wagner would want to adopt this story.

The acting is fine for what it is and you can't help but be distracted by the gorgeous Kristinna Loken, perfectly cast as Icelandic warrior-queen Brunnhild - no longer playing second-fiddle to Arnie as a female Terminator - and the lovely Alica Witt as naive Kriemhild.

Great scenery, slow-motion bundles (it's a bit of an exaggeration to call most of them 'fights'), arch acting and above-average CGI make for a great little pot boiler.

It's quite long (around three hours) but The Sword of Xanten is non-stop fun and frolics all the way - with a bit of sauciness and a bit of blood - that can hold the attention of a willing viewer.

Good movie

[bigsofty0 · 1/10 · 20 March 2006]

** May contain spoilers **

Excellent movie, surprisingly good actors and special FX for the budget. Overall, not a bad way to spend an evening with the kids.

Nice depth to most of the characters. Max Von Sydow in particular is one of my favourite character actors, and in this he shines amongst the younger players.

The plot has quite a few twists but don't expect a fairy tale happy ending.

Oh although the stories have similarities, there is no proved link between the two and Tolkien denied any influence of "Ring of the Nibelungs" with his epic Lord of the Rings. I think this films marketing dept. should get its facts right.