“What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger”

Friedrich Nietzsche

This movie is a fragmented broken movie that is as terrible as it is amazing. There are some great setups for scenes, but also a plot so disconnected that it will often leave most viewers wondering what in the world is going on.

For the main character, he goes through a lot of things that almost kills him but that just makes him crazy-muscular and badass because that’s what happens to everyone who experiences hardships on that level..right?

At one point, his father says that the only thing he could trust was steel…as if he couldn’t even trust his own parents. And, honestly, I think that pretty much sums up this film overall. The only thing driving this story is scenes where the directors and writers thought “wouldn’t it be cool if…?” with no real attempts at connecting their various ideas.  Oh, there are half-hearted attempts, and it is enough to make the film somewhat coherent. Not a lot was explained…like why was he freed?

Don’t go into this film expecting a story matching any modern story telling methods. There’s a lot absent here, but there is enough that it leaves me wondering what this film could have been if there had been a bigger budget or a more capable director. One area where this movie does well is in its world building. There are a lot of intriguing details that strangely leaves me wanting more in spite of the struggles getting through this film. It’s perhaps because of this that I can’t entirely dismiss this film, and it’s no surprise that there has become a wide following of the film since and its many reimaginings (including various table top RPG implementations and board games). Having finally watched the film, I can honestly say I get it…though I think my barbarian journey is done for now.