History Trivia / TheThirteenthWarrior

* StarDerailingRole:
** A temporary example. Omar Sharif had such a bad experience on the set of the film and was so disappointed by the final cut that he briefly retired from acting.
** Not so temporary for John [=McTiernan=]. It was the very moment when his career got permanently derailed and kept as such with his [[Film/TheThomasCrownAffair1999 next]] [[Film/{{Rollerball}} three]] [[Film/{{Basic}} movies]], completely [[CreatorKiller killing him as a creator]]. What makes it worse is the fact that he was ''removed from production'' in the final year of filming (the film was [[TroubledProduction in production for three years]]) and all the decisions that eventually turned the movie into a financial and critical disaster were made without him around, but he ''still took the beating for them''.

** Not so temporary with John [=McTiernan=]. It was the very moment when his career got permanently derailed and kept as such with his [[Film/TheThomasCrownAffair1999 next]] [[Film/{{Rollerball}} three]] [[Film/{{Basic}} movies]], completely [[CreatorKiller killing him as a creator]]. What makes it worst is the fact he was ''removed from production'' in the final year of filming (the film was [[TroubledProduction in production for three years]]) and all the decisions that eventually turned the movie into a financial and critical disaster were made without him around, but he ''still took the beating for them''.

* TroubledProduction: From all what's known, the film was reshot at least twice before test screenings. Two scores were written. Countless {{Executive Meddling}}s halted production a few times, forcing the crew and actors to start from scratch. Then there was ''another'' reshooting after unsatisfying results from test screenings, one year after the production was already wrapped. There was apparently poor teamwork between crew and actors (Omar Sharif said a lot of harsh words about [=McTiernan=]'s skills as director) and open conflict between execs, [=McTiernan=] and Crichton about screenplay. Dennis Storhøi almost drown. A horse was killed during the production, slowing it even further. It's a wonder the film didn't end up in DevelopmentHell.

** The score written by Graeme Revell was replaced with the one written by Music/JerryGoldsmith. There are at least few fan-made montages using Revell's soundtrack, but since each track got only number, it's a wild guess where to fit which.
** The earlier versions were apparently much closer to the book. Ironically, it was ''Crichton'' out of all people who was responsible for final changes in the movie, distancing it singificantly from the novel.
** Rather than making an epic adventure movie, [=McTiernan=] was trying to make a tense thriller, a la his debut, Film/{{Predator}}. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhi6zor1wSk first trailer]], made when the movie was still under "Eaters of the Dead" working title and before heavy recutting, pretty much ''screams'' (quite literally) about being a horror-thriller cross, further helped by (later dropped) score by Graeme Revell, with characteristic beat taken from his famous ''Film/DeadCalm'' OST. Just compare it with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nkTZKiOLzI the final trailer]]. No, this is not a mock trailer - that's how bad the marketing for the movie was.

** The entire character of Wendol leader and his sudden importance was thrown in on studio demand, because execs wanted to have a duel involving Buliwyf in the end of the movie. [[FlatCharacter It shows]].
** As far as actors are to believed, the version by [=McTiernan=] was rife with ShowDontTell moments, but in the process it extended numerous scenes, ending with final runtime of well over two hours. The studio panicked and trimed almost all of it out, making numerous scenes much more literal or replaced with brief expositions (like the visit to the mad seer). Entire sequences were removed fully, leading to few minor plot holes.

* FatalMethodActing: Barely averted. When shooting the underwater escape scene, Dennis Storhøi, who played Herger the Joyous, get stuck underwater, but was saved just in time. [[TroubledProduction This lead to three day long break in shooting]].
* ScrewedByTheNetwork: After three years of work, constant in-fights, forcing countless changes and gutting third part of the movie, the studio decided to just drop it into cinemas, without premiere, marketing and just get rid of it, before it would cost another million or two to maintain the production. It singlehandly shot any chances the film ever had dead in the water and everyone involved in the production points out execs' indifference toward the movie as the main reason it underperformed horribly.

** Studio execs were sending ''really'' confusing messages for the entire production. On one hand, nobody from the studio liked the idea of making a horror movie (even if the book is a hostorical fiction mixed with horror), while in the end, when the movie was ready, they wanted to make it DarkerAndEdgier, so what was shot as a [=PG-13=] movie had suddenly a bunch of {{gorn}} scenes added to it to get it R-rated. [=McTiernan=] absolutely hated the whole mess, as if the movie was R-rated from the start, he would have shot it in completely different way.

* BoxOfficeBomb: Unfortunately didn't make back its costs. [[MedalOfDishonor When adjusted for inflation, it is currently the biggest flop in film history.]]

** The execs finally decided to shot two endings, one by [=McTiernan=], other under Crichton. Thing is - it was already decided before even the shooting restarted that Crichton's version will be used as the final cut, keeping crew and actors in the blind about it, but giving them double work to do. This obviously bloated the budget further, encouraging the studio to dump the movie as fast as possible.

** Studio execs were sending ''really'' confusing messages for the entire production. On one hand, nobody from the studio liked the idea of making a horror movie (even if the book is a hostorical fiction mixed with horror), while in the end, when the movie was ready, they wanted to make it DarkerAndEdgier, so what was shot as a [=PG-13=] movie had suddenly a bunch of {{gore}} scenes added to it to get it R-rated. [=McTiernan=] absolutely hated the whole mess, as if the movie was R-rated from the start, he would have shot it in completely different way.

** As far as actors are to believed, the version by [=McTiernan=] was rife with ShowDontTell moment, but in the process it extended numerous scenes, ending with final runtime of well over two hours. The studio panicked and trimed almost all of it out, making numerous scenes much more literal or replaced with brief expositions (like the visit to the mad seer). Entire sequences were removed fully, leading to few minor plot holes.

* TroubledProduction: From all what's known, the film was reshot at least twice before test screenings. Two scores were written. Countless {{Executive Meddling}}s halted production a few times, forcing the crew and actors to start from scratch. Then there was ''another'' reshooting after unsatisfying results from test screenings. There was apparently poor teamwork between crew and actors (Omar Sharif said a lot of harsh words about [=McTiernan=]'s skills as director) and open conflict between execs, [=McTiernan=] and Crichton about screenplay. A horse was killed during the production, slowing it even further. It's a wonder the film didn't end up in DevelopmentHell.

** Rather than making an epic adventure movie, [=McTiernan=] was trying to make a tense thriller, a la his debut, Film/{{Predator}}. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhi6zor1wSk first trailer]], made when the movie was still under "Eaters of the Dead" working title and before heavy recutting, pretty much ''screams'' (quite literally) about being a horror-thriller cross, further helped by (later dropped) score by Graeme Revell, with characteristic beat taken from his famous "Dead Calm" OST. Just compare it with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nkTZKiOLzI the final trailer]]. No, this is not a mock trailer - that's how bad the marketing for the movie was.

** Not so much with John [=McTiernan=]. It was the very moment when his career got permanently derailed and kept as such with his [[Film/TheThomasCrownAffair1999 next]] [[Film/{{Rollerball}} three]] [[Film/{{Basic}} movies]], completely [[CreatorKiller killing him as a creator]]. What makes it worst is the fact he was ''removed from production'' in the final year of filming (the film was [[TroubledProduction in production for three years]]) and all the decisions that eventually turned the movie into a financial and critical disaster were made without him around, but he ''still took the beating for them''.

* StarDerailingRole: A temporary example. Omar Sharif had such a bad experience on the set of the film and was so disappointed by the final cut that he briefly retired from acting.
* StarMakingRole: One of the best things about this film is that it helped jumpstart Vladimir Kulich's career.

** Rather than making an epic adventure movie, [=McTiernan=] was trying to make a tense thriller, a la his debut, Film/{{Predator}}. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhi6zor1wSk first trailer]], from a times when the movie was still under "Eaters of the Dead" working title, pretty much ''screams'' (quite literally) about being a horror-thriller cross, further helped by (later dropped) score by Graeme Revell, with characteristic beat taken from his famous "Dead Calm" OST. Just compare it with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nkTZKiOLzI the final trailer]]. No, this is not a mock trailer - that's how bad the marketing for the movie was.

** The earlier versions were apparently much closer to the book.
** Rather than making an epic adventure movie, [=McTiernan=] was trying to make a tense thriller, a la his debut, Film/{{Predator}}. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhi6zor1wSk The first trailer]], from a times when the movie was still made under "Eaters of the Dead" title, pretty much ''screams'' (quite literally) about being a horror-thriller cross, further helped by (later dropped) score by Graeme Revell, with characteristic beat taken from his famous "Dead Calm" OST. Just compare it with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nkTZKiOLzI the final trailer]]. No, this is not a mock trailer - that's how bad the marketing for the movie was.

* SpiritualSuccessor: It's the second time John [=McTiernan=] has adapted a version of Beowulf, the first being [[Film/{{Predator}} Predator]] a decade earlier.

** The film was ''heavily'' cut after poor reactions to test screenings and this shows up ''badly'' in the theatrical version - it's very clear entire sections of the film have been left on the cutting room floor in an attempt to make the film more appealing to a popular audience. In a pre ''Film/HarryPotter'' and ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' era, which proved audiences were perfectly happy to sit through long fantasy themed films, it's obvious the studio panicked at the poor test screening results and butchered the film. Ironically the cut down version received poor reviews and performed badly at the box office whereas who's to say how the originally envisaged version might have been received?

* SpiritualSuccessor: It's the second time John McTiernan has adapted a version of Beowulf, the first being [[Film/Predator Predator]] a decade earlier.

* CreatorKiller: A temporary example. Omar Sharif had such a bad experience on the set of the film and was so disappointed by the final cut that he briefly retired from acting.

* HeyItsThatGuy Omar Sharif as Melchidisek. Sven Wollter as King Hrothgar. Kristen Cloke as the Wendol Queen.

** No, it's [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative second]] biggest bomb. Don't forget about Film/CutthroatIsland.

* BoxOfficeBomb: Unfortunately didn't make back its costs. [[MedalOfDishonor When adjusted for inflation, it is currently the biggest flop of film history.]]

* BoxOfficeBomb: Unfortunately didn't make back its costs.