Prime Video Has Rescued the ‘Predator’ Director’s Viking Misfire

1 week ago 12

Image via Prime Video

Published Feb 15, 2026, 6:20 PM EST

Catalog movies don’t usually get second lives on streaming because people suddenly changed their taste. They pop because the algorithm finally puts the right title in front of the right mood. That’s what’s happening with this gritty, atmosphere-first Viking survival adventure that plays like a monster movie in armor as well. If you missed it in theaters (or only remember it as a punchline), its current run is a reminder that some films were always entertaining.

The hook is deceptively strong: an outsider dragged into a doomed mission, forced to earn trust through competence. The film stars Antonio Banderas as a strategist, learning the rules of a violent new world in real time while the direction leans into clarity: night raids, torchlight paranoia, and geography you can follow even when everything turns chaotic. And yes, this comes from the same John McTiernan who made Predator, which explains why the enemy in the dark tension hits harder than most historical action.

FlixPatrol shows The 13th Warrior sitting in the Prime Video U.S. Top 10 this week, peaking at #6 yesterday and landing at #7 at the time of writing. That’s a real turnaround for a movie that was branded a theatrical disappointment, especially with a reported budget as high as $160M and a worldwide gross of about $61.7M. Streaming strips away the opening-weekend narrative and lets the film compete on what it actually does well: lean runtime, relentless escalation, and a crew under siege structure that plays perfectly in one sitting.

'The 13th Warrior' Has a Poor Critical Reception on Rotten Tomatoes

On Rotten Tomatoes, The 13th Warrior sits in the red: a 34% Tomatometer (critics' score) based on 89 reviews. Now this can be credited to the film’s muddy storytelling, uneven tone, and a prestige-adventure package that never fully clicks, despite John McTiernan’s muscular action instincts. The audience story, however, is kinder. The audience score is 66% from 100,000+ ratings, and that means plenty of viewers find it a solid, atmosphere-heavy Viking creature thriller.

The 13th Warrior is available to stream on Prime Video and is currently trending. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.