Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Hammer of the Gods Blu-ray Movie Review

Doesn't Nail It

Reviewed by Michael Reuben January 1, 2014

According to its director, Hammer of the Gods is supposed to be an action movie, which is true as far as it goes. But the typical action movie occurs in a setting that's sufficiently familiar, or can be explained quickly enough, that the audience settles in comfortably to enjoy the thrill ride. A 9th Century war between the Vikings and the Saxons is not such a setting, and despite the ballet of gore choreographed by Farren Blackburn, making his feature debut after a distinguished career in British TV, Hammer of the Gods has far more spectacle than story.

If you happen to be a fan of The History Channel's series Vikings, then Hammer may be a more satisfying experience. Vikings was filmed after Hammer, and it even shares an actor, Clive Standen, playing a similar but more complex character. Vikings undertook the challenge, and had the additional running time, to explore the distinctive Norse culture and social structure that Hammer of the Gods has to telegraph with a few catchphrases (and, at key points, simply ignore). Fans of Vikings can watch Hammer as a kind of companion piece, supplying context where necessary to Hammer's basic tale of bloodshed and a quest. The latter element has prompted Blackburn to liken his film to Apocalypse Now, because Hammer, too, involves the search for a mysterious man who disappeared into the wilderness many years ago. But while Blackburn obviously drew visual inspiration from Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam masterpiece, his own work has more in common thematically with Greek tragedy than with Capt. Willard's search for Col. Kurtz. All the synth-enhanced music, slo-mo editing and contemporary cursing can't remove Hammer from its medieval context, where no one keeps files, sends orders from afar or observes the chain of command. In Hammer, a man confronting a stranger would never ask, "Are you an assassin?", because everyone is a potential killer.

In 871 A.D., the Vikings and the Saxons are at war in England. Steinar (Charlie Bewley), the second son of the Viking King Bagsecg (James Cosmo), arrives on the English shore bearing news of Viking reinforcements sailing a day behind him. Steinar is accompanied by his friends Hagen (Standen), whom Steinar treats like a brother, Grim (Michael Jibson), a grinning brute who lives only to fight, and Jokul (Guy Flanagan), a spiritual warrior whose faith in omens and portents often tries Steinar's patience.

Steinar finds his father mortally wounded from battle and given a week to live at best. Surrounded by Steinar, his older brother Harald (Finlay Robertson) and their young half-brother, Vali (Theo Barklem-Biggs), the dying but still forceful King declares all of them unfit to succeed him at this time of crisis. He commands Steinar to find "my first-born", Hakan, the son he banished when Steinar was ten years old, decreeing that his name never again be spoken. That, says King Bagsecg, is the only chance for a leader of sufficient strength to lead the Vikings to victory.

The search for Hakan leads Steinar and his three compatriots (plus young Vali, who insists on joining them) on a perilous journey through Saxon territory. No matter how stealthy their travel, Saxon troops always seem to find them, as if they knew where to look, and these particular Saxons are unusually well-armed and battle-hardened. Their leader, when they meet him, is a true Christian soldier. As is so often the case in the classic lore of quests, their first step is to seek out an intermediary, someone who knows Hakan's whereabouts. His name is Ivar (Ivan Kaye), and he's a theatrical character who lives in the wilderness, a great warrior whose exotic sexual tastes have made him a pariah. When Ivar is persuaded to join them, the group also acquires his female Saxon slave, Agnes (newcomer Alexandra Dowling). Initially timid, she learns courage from the Viking warriors who have effectively rescued her from a life of servitude and gradually becomes the equivalent of a shieldmaiden (although that's not a term you'll hear in Hammer of the Gods).

Steinar's quest does eventually bring him to Hakan (Elliot Cowan), but what he finds is not at all what he expected. Only then does he learn why his much older brother was exiled by their father, and only then does he begin to grasp the part he has been playing in a much larger struggle over succession to the throne.

Vikings fans will recognize that the succession issue driving the plot in Hammer of the Gods is something of a cheat, because the question of leadership in Viking society depended less on bloodlines than on strength and force of will. At least in his initial portrayal, King Bagsecg behaves more like an English monarch than a Viking leader, but by the film's conclusion, various elements have nudged the story back toward traditional Viking lore. The film builds toward a call to glorious battle, which, in Viking terms, is the equivalent of a happy ending.

Hammer of the Gods Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Director Blackburn assembled a crew from his experience directing high-end British TV, including cinematographer Stephan Pehrsson. According to the best information available, Hammer of the Gods was shot with the Arri Alexa, which has become the preferred camera for BBC productions and would be the likely choice for a production that needed to work within a tight budget. The Alexa's clarity and film-like texture provided excellent reproduction of the gorgeous locations in Wales which the cast and crew could sometimes reach only by walking for several miles, just to get the production value of the magnificent scenery (later enhanced by judiciously applied CG).

Whatever the film's limitations, Magnolia Home Entertainment's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray is a feast for the eye. The color and detail of the Welsh landscapes is exceptional, and the detail of closeups is equally impressive, though far less colorful. Gore in battle is just as likely to show up black instead of red, perhaps to preempt any ratings objections. Scenes at night or in deep forest shade feature deep blacks and finely delineated shades of black, while daylight scenes never feel like the contrast has been overstated. The muck, grime and battle wounds on the warriors always feel real and detailed, and in that sense the quality of the image helps reinforce the sense of period.

Magnolia continues to do what so many other studios do not, which is to resist the temptation to save a few pennies per disc by compressing the material as tightly as possible. The average bitrate of 36.00 Mbps is more than sufficient for Hammer of the Gods, even with all the kinetic battle scenes, and no compression issues were evident.

Hammer of the Gods Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The style of Hammer of the Gods' 5.1 track, presented here in lossless DTS-HD Master Audio, is established in its opening moments when a Saxon boy stands on the beach playing a pipe, only to be startled by a Viking ship that appears out of the fog. The sound of breaking waves surrounds the viewer, and it is the first of many ambient noises in which the viewer will be forcefully immersed. Raging battles, windy plains, galloping horses and Steinar's disoriented faculties after drinking a home-brewed potion of "magic mushrooms" are just some of the many enveloping effects that invoke the surround array and plunge the viewer into the subjective experience of the characters' actions and observations. Weaving in and out of these effects, and often indistinguishable from them, is the very contemporary score by Benjamin Wallfisch, an orchestrator and composer of additional music for such films as 12 Years a Slave, Moon and Atonement. Wallfisch's score is entirely at odds with the period, but consistent with the notion of Hammer as an action film. It fills the viewing room and keeps the pace lively.

Hammer of the Gods Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making of Hammer of the Gods (1080p; 1.78:1; 21:54): With substantial contributions from Blackburn and the principal cast, this EPK traces the history of the project, including casting, location shooting and stunt work. It's an informative documentary but should be watched only after seeing the film, because it contains major spoilers.



• Behind the Visual Effects (1080p; 1.78:1; 6:16): Blackburn and effects supervisor Seb Barker describe the careful use of CG work to expand the canvas for Hammer of the Gods on a limited budget. Though brief, the featurette offers numerous illustrations of sky replacement, scene extension and, most comically, sheep removal.



• Interviews (1080p; 1.78:1): Portions of these interviews are used in the other extras.
• Charlie Bewley (Steinar) (10:53)
• Clive Standen (Hagen) (8:49)
• Guy Flanagan (Jokul) (6:41)
• Michael Jibson (Grim) (11:56)



• AXS TV: A Look at Hammer of the Gods (1080i; 2.40:1; 3:03): A typical AXS TV promotional spot, using clips from the film and excerpts from the various interviews featured elsewhere in the extras.



• Trailers (1080p; 2.40:1; 6:12). There are three trailers: a "greenband", a "redband", and a "no band" that was clearly made for the international market (and, bizarrely, changes the date of the film's events to 793 A.D.).



• Also from Magnolia Home Entertainment: The disc includes trailers for V/H/S/2, Syrup and Europa Report, as well as a promo for AXS TV. These also play at startup, where they can be skipped with the chapter forward button.



• BD-Live: As of this writing, the BD-Live feature provided access to trailers for additional Magnolia films.

Hammer of the Gods Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Hammer of the Gods is a pretty Blu-ray, and it's diverting enough as a film, if all you want from a movie is scenery, violence and testosterone. If you're looking for more, then I suspect Hammer will disappoint. It has a story that hangs together, but there's nothing about it that provides any insight into Viking culture (as Vikings  does) or creates an epic sense of history (as Braveheart did). The disc is well-produced and the extras are informative. Buyer's choice.