Blu-Ray Review: Ragnarok

By Brad Henderson

Norwegian cinema has yet to disappointment me. They’ve caught my attention with horror films such as Manhunt, the Cold Prey series, Dead Snow, Trollhunter, Bitter Flowers, Dark Souls, and a few others. Last year at Fantastic Fest a little film called Ragnarok was announced and all I knew about it going in was that it was from Norway. Nothing else mattered.

First, Ragnarok is a fun, family, action/adventure film with a monster. How cool is that? I actually got this in the mail and watched it with my 9-year-old daughter who loved it. It was also her first subtitled film and she didn’t mind that. Yes, the Blu has an English track but I’m raising my kid right and letting her watch the film as it was intended. Dubbing pretty much sucks these days and if the original audio is readily available, I’ll watch that instead.

Ragnarok feels like it’s from the 1980s, not because it is corny or clichéd, but because it reminds me of the slew of action/adventure films from the decade that were badass and made you want to be right in there with the characters. Sure, you look back at films like Krull and A Never Ending Story now and they seem cheesy, but when you were a kid, they were epic. This is kind of what Ragnarok feels like and it is amazing to feel that sensation again.

This film isn’t intricate at all; it has a simple story but it’s very character driven. The whole film relies on family and love, which is a relief. There is a vicious creature hunting the family down but that is half the fun. Everyone in the film does a fantastic job and the kids’ acting is flawless.

Ragnarok has some amazing special effects and sound design. These days I’m a little leery of creature features because I’m always afraid there will be crappy CGI, but this creature looks very real at times.

Ragnarok is a great film to watch by yourself or with your family because it will please all audiences. This truly feels like the kind of action/adventure films I grew up with so it was totally refreshing. Bravo again, Norway, bravo.

Ragnarok was released by Magnolia Home Entertainment on November 18.