By John Corrado

Please note that this is primarily a review of the Blu-ray release. For my full thoughts on the film itself, you can read my original theatrical review of The Northman right here.

Robert Eggers’ Viking epic The Northman, one of the best movies of the year so far, is being released on Blu-ray this week from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

Based on the legend of Amleth (the story that inspired Shakespeare’s Hamlet), the film follows Prince Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård) as he returns to avenge the death of his father (Ethan Hawke) at the hands of his uncle (Claes Bang), spurred on by his hypnotic mantra of “I will avenge you, father. I will save you, mother. I will kill you, Fjölnir.”

As I wrote in my review, The Northman is “a muscular piece of filmmaking.” In terms of Eggers’ filmography, this is both his biggest creative swing and possibly his best film yet, following up the one-two punch of The Witch and The Lighthouse with a full-on Viking epic.

Jarin Blaschke’s cinematography is often staggering, the action sequences are exciting, and the attention to period detail is impressive. Skarsgård leads the cast, which is is rounded out by memorable turns from Anya Taylor-Joy as a Slavic slave, Willem Dafoe as the fool, and Nicole Kidman as Amleth’s mother, who delivers a killer monologue partway through. Brutal, visceral, and at times dream-like, The Northman is an all-around excellent piece of work that deserves an audience at home if you missed it in theatres. As a final note, I was sent the Blu-ray for review, though have heard exceptional things about the 4K release as well.

Film Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)

Bonus Features (Blu-ray):

The “Collector’s Edition” Blu-ray comes with a solid selection of bonus features. A regular DVD and code for a digital copy are also included in the package, which ships with a slipcover.

• Deleted and Extended Scenes (Play All – 12 minutes, 28 seconds)

• Fjölnir and Hallgrímr at the Slave Shed (48 seconds)

• Yule Mummer Dance and Aurvandil’s Speech (1 minute, 46 seconds)

• Vikings Hide Langskips (33 seconds)

• Fjölnir’s Dream (2 minutes, 44 seconds)

• Bosa Saga Extended (1 minute, 30 seconds)

• Aurvandil’s Ghost (1 minute, 6 seconds)

• Fjölnir and Gudrún (1 minute, 55 seconds)

• Gudrún Tucks Gunnar In (44 seconds)

• Hel’s Gate Open (1 minute, 22 seconds)

• An Ageless Epic (11 minutes, 17 seconds): This featurette provides a good overview of the story that the film draws from, Eggers’ attention to detail in bringing it to the screen, and his heavy focus on period authenticity.

• Amleth’s Journey to Manhood (10 minutes, 27 seconds): Eggers and the different cast members talk about their characters.

• Shooting the Raid (4 minutes, 10 seconds): A closer look at the raid sequence, and how Blaschke conceived it as a single take.

• Knattleikr Game (2 minutes, 42 seconds): A brief look at the ball game played in the film, shooting the sequence, and the role it plays in the story.

• A Norse Landscape (4 minutes, 43 seconds): A look at the challenges the cast and crew faced as they battled the elements shooting in Northern Ireland, standing in for Iceland.

• Feature Commentary with Co-Writer/Director Robert Eggers

The Northman is a Universal Pictures Home Entertainment release. It’s 137 minutes and rated 14A.

Street Date: July 19th, 2022