We Americans have seen plenty of action adventure films wherein a hero (often a scientist) uncovers something involving an ancient civilization and has to contend with a sort of sealed away evil and/or greedy, corrupt people who want ancient stuff for their own nefarious reasons. Such films include classics like the Indiana Jones franchise, or the more recent Mummy franchise. But did you know the U.S. isn’t the only country making these archeological adventure films? In fact, Norway has one that’s about to come out stateside.
Ragnarok (or, Gåten Ragnarok in Norwegian) looks like it fits the archeological mode perfectly. It’s got the modern researcher, some old timey civilization, and mystery to solve. It’s even got the ancient evil in the for of a giant snake monster (perhaps Jormungand a similar creature from Norse mythology).
Archeologist Sigurd Svendsen (Pål Sverre Hagen) has for years been obsessed with the Oseberg Viking ship. The only inscription found on the ship is the enigmatic ´man knows little` written in runes. Sigurd is sure that the Oseberg ship contains the answer to the mystery of Ragnarok, the end of days in Norse mythology. When his friend Allan finds similar runes on a stone from the north of Norway, Sigurd becomes convinced that the runes are in fact a treasure map. Together they mount an expedition group and their adventure leads to “No man’s Land” between Norway and Russia, which has been deserted for decades. Here Sigurd learns the true meaning of the runes – a secret more terrifying than he could possibly imagine.
Ragnarok is set for a limited U.S. theatrical release August 15th.
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