I finally broke down and joined Netflix a while back, and am taking the opportunity to catch up on some Viking (and Viking-related) films I haven’t seen before. This weekend I watched the European made-for-TV movie, Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King. As I understand it, it was originally broadcast in longer form, as a two-parter, so this American version is missing some material.

I found it a somewhat enjoyable, correspondingly frustrating film. In a nutshell, the production values were excellent, and some of the acting was good. Unfortunately, in a strange dramatic inverted pyramid, the better the actor, the smaller (in general) was their part.

This is a re-telling of the legend of Siegfried and Brunhilde, based on the Volsunga Saga, the Nibelungenlied, and other sources. It’s relatively faithful to the source material, though of course certain elements are softened in order to appeal to an audience that cares more for sensitivity than the heroic ethic.

The photography was outstanding. Some of the visuals were world-class. It’s a beautiful film. And the special effects, especially considering the budget limitations involved in a television production, were very good (though I think that if I were going to do a dragon in pure CGI, as they did here, I’d have tried harder not to make him look like one of those iguanas with fins glued on that you used to see in old horror films). The style of the film is heavily influenced by the Lord of the Rings. Although the story is explicitly set in the 5th Century, the armor and castles are medieval. The swords are generally Viking period, although (for some reason) Siegfried’s magic sword is improperly designed, without a fuller.

The script wasn’t bad, but it was written in the sort of antique, heroic diction that can work well in the hands of fine actors, but sits like cold lard in the mouths of lesser performers. Sadly, the two leads here are definitely lesser performers. A young, heavily muscled Teutonic actor named Benno Fürmann plays Siegfried. He has an accent and delivery reminiscent of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s, but lacks Arnold’s finesse and nuance (I know that makes no sense, but if you see Fürmann act, you’ll know what I mean). Norwegian-American actress Kristana Loken plays Brunhilde. She’s very pretty and handles her weapons well, but otherwise gives her co-star no competition for acting honors.

The best performance in the film, it goes without saying, belongs to the venerable Swedish actor Max Von Sydow, who plays Siegfried’s kindly foster father (one of the liberties taken with the story is making the dwarf Alberich Hagen’s natural father, rather than Siegfried’s foster father. This relieves Siegfried of the questionable duty of killing him). Alicia Witt is lovely, and very good, as Kremhild, and Julian Sands and Samuel West are also good as her brothers. But they aren’t allowed to do the dramatic heavy lifting, alas.

There’s some reference to the conflict of heathen vs. Christian (Siegfried and his foster-father are heathens, while Kremhild and her family are Christians), but I wasn’t sure what to make of it all.

If you’re interested in the old Germanic legends, and willing to tolerate some clumsy delivery, this film has many rewards. But I’d say rent it. Don’t buy it.