Jim Faber defends your freedom to enjoy 'The 13th Warrior' (1999)

There was a lot of hullabaloo over the CGI film version of "Beowulf" last month, most of which was deserved: The film was written by superstar graphic novelist Neil Gaiman and features an animated Angelina Jolie, which is good.

But one gets the feeling this story has been told before, and I don't mean in the freshman lit class you slept through.

I'm talking about the Michael Crichton novel "Eaters of the Dead," a loose retelling of the "Beowulf" poem that was made into an even looser film called "The 13th Warrior." It stars Antonio Banderas, known for playing mythological beings like Zorro, Puss in Boots and Che Guevara.

Most of the time, he's the tough guy with a sword. In "Warrior," he's the delicate poet with a sword -- a scrawny afterthought to a group of red-bearded Norse warriors on their way to save a village from the man-bear creatures called Wendol.

There's plenty of swordplay, decapitation and an epic closing battle. Also, there's Omar Sharif, who allegedly hated the film so much that he momentarily retired from acting.