On this day in movie history - The 13th Warrior (1999)

The 13th Warrior

directed by John McTiernan,

written by William Wisher, Jr. and Warren Lewis,

based on the novel Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton,

was released in the United States on August 27, 1999.

Music by Jerry Goldsmith.

Cast:

Antonio Banderas, Diane Venora, Vladimir Kulich, Dennis Storhøi, Omar Sharif, Anders T. Andersen, Richard Bremmer, Tony Curran, Mischa Hausserman, Neil Maffin, Asbjorn Riis, Clive Russell, Daniel Southern, Oliver Sveinall, Sven Wollter, Albie Woodington, John DeSantis, Eric Avari, Maria Bonnevie, Susan Willis, Yolande Bavan.

Recommended reading: Eaters of the Dead, by Michael Crichton (1976):

Eaters of the Dead

by Michael Crichton (1976):

Full title:

Eaters of the Dead: The Manuscript of Ibn Fadlan Relating His Experiences with the Northmen in AD 922,

a.k.a. The 13th Warrior.

 

Description:

The year is A.D. 922.  A refined Arab courtier, representative of the powerful Caliph of Baghdad, encounters a party of Viking warriors who are journeying to the barbaric North. He is appalled by their Viking customs — the wanton sexuality of their pale, angular women, their disregard for cleanliness . . . their cold-blooded human sacrifices. But it is not until they reach the depths of the Northland that the courtier learns the horrifying and inescapable truth: He has been enlisted by these savage, inscrutable warriors to help combat a terror that plagues them — a monstrosity that emerges under cover of night to slaughter the Vikings and devour their flesh . . .