Erik the Viking—The Director’s Son’s Cut

The low-budget 1989 Terry Jones comedy Erik the Viking was originally conceived as a Monty Python project, and one can see the Python-esque possibilities peeking behind the general unfunniness; Tim Robbins, as a sensitive Nordic who wants more from life than just raping and pillaging, never quite embraced the lunacy the way Graham Chapman would have. This Director’s Son’s Cut is the rare special edition that offers less, as Jones and his son Bill have pared Erik the Viking from 104 minutes to a lean 77. The film is faster and more thematically unified than the original cut, but continuity has been thoroughly sacrificed. There are a few semi-inspired bits, but in the end, it’s the same rickety ship, uncomfortably swaying between anarchic comedy and dull fantasy adventure.