hyped garbage

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Admirable film.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

As of this time, this is on Prime, and since I was on a bit of a Vikings/Norse/Scandinavian kick, I gave it a go. I'm so glad that I did.I don't often find making-of-(movie-x) docs, because unless everything went insane, there's really not that much to see (or that you can't get in a director's commentary). This film shoot more than lived up to the 'insane' part. Every possible thing that could go wrong did go wrong. Literally, every. thing. In one scene, when they're almost, *almost*, done, a crew member says sarcastically "Well, at least we haven't had an earthquake or volcanic eruption." I thought to myself, oh god don't jinx yourself, but didn't _really_ believe it would. In the next scene (I can't recall, but it was a few days to a week later) the friggin volcano erupts. I sat there in compete disbelief. You couldn't write a script like this, everyone would scream about suspension of belief. The director, Stula, is almost child-like in his optimism. At the end, the person filming this asks him if he thought the shoot went well. Sturla replies "Oh yes! We had a car accident and no one got hurt (and some other examples like fire, hurricane, etc)." He's completely serious. He says something like "What fun would it be if you filmed in a studio and everything went exactly as planned?" I can only imagine the reaction of every other single person involved when they saw/heard that. He's very lucky that the last disaster wasn't "director found dead; appears to have been pushed off the cliff by angry mob." That actually wouldn't have surprised me at all.I guess the last bit of irony is that while the movie itself cost somewhere north of $16 million, the gross was under $100k. It sits at 5.1 on IMDB with 90% of the praise being "at least the scenery was incredible." Meanwhile this doc is at 7.9 and noted as having won 4 film festival awards. Ok, a list of some of the various disasters: *First they way under estimated the cost of everything in Iceland. Having been there, it's insane (understandably; it's an island so the majority of goods are imported.*The pre-production money was a month late. By which time the exchange rate of the kroner had increased 20%*Because of the delay, they were shooting in the fall, not summer. Iceland is one of those countries which has a very dramatic seasonal shift, the least of which being they had 6 minutes less light daily*They built a Viking long ship that turned out to be too wide to get across the bridge to the lagoon. When they *did* get across (with, according to some, about an inch to spare on either side) it leaked. To keep it afloat the crew rigged pumps, but those had to be hidden for filming. The cast was in a (quickly) sinking ship, with no life vests (they were sitting out of camera) in water so cold you can only survive in it about 5 minutes. While wearing full chain mail.*Much of the filming was outside, on cliffs. That year Iceland had the worst windstorms in 60 years. It was hurricane force, to the point of upturn cars and blowing the roof off a nearby hotel. On the one night they were shooting 'with fog', there was absolutely no wind and they had to use fans with the smoke machine.*They wanted to shoot a scene in the mead hall, because it was so windy it was blowing the beards off the actor's faces. The roads were icy so only the transport (I'm assuming heavier) vehicles could get up there. The first driver to try slid/was blown off the road and almost went off a cliff (not that it means more, but with 5 other people onboard)*The second time they tried to film a scene I the hall due to weather, it caught on fire. It didn't completely burn down, but was seriously damaged (in addition to all the wind damage)*Did I mention a freakin volcano erupted?! There are actually MORE things I'm forgetting. It's mind-boggling that 1) no one died .. 2) most cast and crew didn't leave .. 3) that it exists at all. Blood sweat and tears doesn't come close. Bravo to all.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable story about the making of a film whose main character, the landscape of Iceland, is splendid as well as difficult. The crew is tough and persistent however and in the end the movie gets made. Don't miss the interviews and the bonus scenes. The interview with Sturla Gunnarson is particularly interesting. He mentions that he once worked in Iceland under even more challenging conditions than those posed during the course of the film. I wonder whether he would have gone forward with the film if he hadn't had the earlier experience. Perception is all relative. The movie is a good lesson for us all in persistence and dedication under great pressure from elements outside our control. I'm so glad Jon Gustafsson had that video camera with him. Thanks to everyone involved for seeing both the film and the documentary completed.

Well, today was the day!! I finally got my Wrath film. I was absolutely blown away . I sat frozen ( pardon the pun) to my chair for the whole movie and all the clips and interviews and didn't budge till there wasn't anything else to see.Number 1--bravo JON. what a great job you did and how well you managed to get everyone involved with your film. Number 2- making a film always seemed to be so glamorous and easy but after watching this, I think the cast and all involved should not only gotten paid but medals for going above the call of duty. Learning what goes in behind the scenes was so interesting. I'm so glad I decided last year to buy this film. it was worth every penny in the education it provided on how a movie was made.Again I say, bravo Jon.Well done.Lyn

Great doc!!!! about the making of a GREAT MOVIE!!! Wrath of Gods is about the agonies the cast and crew had to endure during the making of Sturla Gunnarsson's wondrously magical film, 'Beowulf and Grendel, (and it does in no way compare to Lost in LaMancha Terry Gilliam's lost tale of Don Quixote).Watching the movie, I could feel the icy rain and the northern wind during the movie and they are even more evident in Wrath.As an actor and sometimes director myself, I could immediately relate to everything they were going through but can't image how they were able to endure and still produce such a wonderful, beautiful and thoroughly entertaining movie.It's breathtakingly beautiful and Beowulf (Gerry Butler) and Selma (Sarah Polley) give wonderfully truthful and memorable performances.If you haven't seen Sturla Gunnarrson's 'Beowulf and Grendel' don't walk but run to your local video store and buy a copy, otherwise you'll be kicking yourself as you'll need to see it again and again.