Mare of Steel

[heydude61]

Scence from "The Long Ships" Viking movie.

[CHASE]

I found this movie ultimately disappointing.

[TakeNoPrizners]

The movie itself is pretty stupid, but I love the Mare of Steel scene. Imagine some poor bastard waking up with his mates in the barracks one morning, same as always. He works off his morning wood and puts on his armor and helmet. He grabs his spear and reports for duty, only for the king's bitch to randomly pick him out of the line as muscle fodder in a demonstration of His Highness's execution device. Total fucking bummer. After he reaches the platform and is stripped of his gear, it's hot how he goes to his knees barechested and gets launched onto the blade. When I first saw the scene I thought the condemned guy was being dropped onto his crotch, making his balls the first thing to go. A slow-mo view shows that he actually first takes the blade on the sternum before it gets his cock and, we assume, ultimately cuts him in half as he slides down. Imagine being the next guy to climb the ladder and ride the Mare of Steel - seeing the blade coated with guts and blood, and the previous stud's separated shanks lying in the dirt on either side of the slide. That night, back in the barracks, his former mates divide his stuff among them, and a new recruit gets the demo guy's old bunk.

There's a continuity problem with the scene. When he's standing on the platform it looks like his hands are tied behind him, which would make sense. But when he springs out onto the death blade, his arms are free.

The battle scene on the beach before the Vikings surrender has its moments and some good kills, but for me the execution up to about 4:30 is really the only good outtake.

Thanks for posting this scene.

[CHASE]

I"m sorry I don't even get what happened here.

[gladlover]

The movie itself is pretty stupid, but I love the Mare of Steel scene ...

This was a mainstream movie when it came out. That's Sidney Poitier and Richard Widmark acting there. Love that scene though, and lots of sword fighting and killing. Thanks for sharing.