Myriam Nys Sadly, the movie does not wholly succeed : it would like to be a window on a far distant, far different time (mostly pre-Christian or not- Christian), but both its knowledge and its imagination fall short. When and where it tries to fill the gaps, it veers too much in the direction of, say, renaissance fairs, cosplay or sword and sorcery. On the plus side, this is a pleasantly clear and understandable introduction to the Nibelungen saga. It whets the appetite and invites the viewers to go on their own voyage of discovery into a world of poetry, myth and history. It also works on its own merits, as a reflection on the difference between real accomplishment and genuine merit on the one hand and pretend heroics on the other hand. It's also a pretty watchable tale of love, treachery and calculation. (By the way, you're not human if you don't want to kick Kriemhilde in the behind.)The music, I suppose, isn't too bad, but it is used too liberally. There are things in our world which have a deeply evocative sound of their own - such as, for instance, a sailing ship moving at considerable speed or a wood filled with eager hunters and hounds - and it's both annoying and redundant to cover such sounds with layers of music.

Catharina_Sweden At first, I thought I was not going to like this movie. I am an old fan of the Siegfried Saga, as it is found in the Icelandic Edda, the German Hero Tales, and last but not least in Richard Wagner's wonderful opera. Being Scandinavian, I have lived with this story in some way all my life! Therefore, I do not like too many deviations from the basic story (although of course the before-mentioned original versions of it are not entirely similar either).And the makers of this movie "Curse of the Ring", have made a lot of changes. As everybody knows, Siegfried was brought up by a dwarf called Mimer, a quite unpleasant creature driven by his own egoistic motives. While "Eric" (a cover name not known in any of the original sources either) is brought up by a very good and kind human. The "twin kings" have never been heard of anywhere else, and not the meteorite either. And so on.When I began watching this movie, I did not like the main actors either. Benno Fürmann has too dark hair, and he does not have the perfect Nordic looks one associates with Siegfried. In fact, at first (I had never seen him in any production before this) I even thought he looked a little "pixie-like". A little funny - not at all godlike and superhuman. Not at all like Uwe Beyer in the 1966 movie, who could have been the real Siegfried come to life... And Kristanna Loken is really not right at all, for the ancient and wise Valkyrie in an (up till then) forever young body. She is too ordinary - there is no soul or wisdom there at all. She should instead be playing the role of a pretty girl in some high school-movie, set in present times.But as I was watching, the movie grew on me. The movie is full of splendour and magic, beautiful photo, poetic dialogue and good special effects. As a fantasy movie, and as a costume drama, if one does not care about comparing it with the original Siegfried stories, it is wonderful! And as for the Siegfried story, in the end they somehow got the "Geist" of it right after all! I even grew to like Siegfried/Fürmann, because even if he was not like the Siegfried of the dreams and myths, he was very likable and lovable and admirable in his own right, somehow... And when the movie ended, I would not have wanted any other actor, however blond or handsome or muscular, in it! :-)

Clays13 Some rare stories don't lose their appeal no matter how old they get. One of these is the Nibelungelied, which is also called the national epic of the Germans. It was written in the 13th century, but it is much older. This movie states to portray it, but it doesn't. First of the Nibelungenlied has two parts and this movie is only about the more popular first part. Other than that there are some really major differences between the original story and the movie, for example considering the ending. But still you could put that to the freedom of arts. The Nibelungenlied is probably just one version of the story. It exists in a different form in the Scandinavian mythology, so there is not just one way to tell the story. But what really angers me is that the movie tells a very one dimensional story. Siegfried is all around good and Hagen is all around bad. These two characters are one if not the main attraction of the story, and it is just not like that. Hagen is not just this evil selfish person. He is extremely loyal and a great warrior, what the movie doesn't get at all. And Siegfried is not entirely good in the original story. For example he wants to gain the crown of Burgund when he first comes there. A story like this wouldn't have survived the ages if it was as one dimensional as this movie. Other than that the movie doesn't give you the feeling of watching an epic story, as it should. The music and the language are unappropriate in my opinion.The material for this movie is great, because its based on one of the greatest stories ever told. But the movie doesn't leave any room for interpretation and tells the whole story very one sided. Some actors don't really fit their roles. Siegfried who is supposedly a tall blond hero, is portrayed by a dark haired Benno Führmann who isn't even 6 feet tall. The movie just never gets as epic as the story. 3 stars for good material badly formed. I hope the movie will be redone without Hollywood involved.

fearfulofspiders This two-part made-for-TV film claims to be the inspiration for Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, when in fact, Tolkien has proclaimed many times that the only similarity between the two is that both have a ring. Just to get to that before heading further on. Tolkien's inspirations came from all over the place, and for this trash to claim it is the main source (though not declaring itself the main, only implying) is entirely dribble.Now, Dark Kingdom is a very lackluster production, though it's easy to watch, and it makes for something good to watch when nothing else is on. I recommend watching it on TV, but if it gets to you that much that you HAVE to have it, then buy the DVD -- but be warned, the cut for the DVD is shorter than the one televised; much of the scenes that actually made this film deeper is now edited to seem more rushed, a h-u-g-e mistake on whomever the choice came from.As for the acting, Dark Kingdom is full of bad accents and monotone deliveries. From the poor job by Benno Furmann as the main hero to the ever-crying performance of Alicia Witt. Everyone else tries and tries, but all it eventually adds up to is... dull and lack of enthusiasm. Kristana Loken is okay, but she has too deep a voice to play some parts -- though she may be a barbaric queen in this film, she needs to work on her tone.The music is really overbearing at points. It takes our focus off of events so many times, that it doesn't add to the mood, but just distracts. The themes work here and there, even if it gets redundant and with little, if any, evolution in sound or composition.The ending is pathetic in terms of faithful to the source material. The story has actually been cut in half... all the deaths of everyone is fit into about 6-minutes of yelling and sword fighting. The further mishaps that occur in the writings is basically thrown out the window, so that the budget could fit in with a four-hour slot. Then why bother making it? Also, Benno Furmann's portrayal of Siegfried as he is killed by Hagan is so laughable, my sides were splitting -- which I'm hoping is the opposite affect they were going for with their audience.Overall, there's a lot that works and doesn't work in Dark Kingdom. While the film has some nice visual effects, the story as a whole is too rushed and trimmed to provide any satisfaction as to what this truly could've achieved in terms of being better. This is really a film worth watching when nothing else is on or as background noise, so I'd only recommend it to you under those conditions.