The story of the outlaw Gisli is indeed a saga of epic, sweeping proportions in both landscape, and complexity of warring families. Back in 10th-century Iceland - dramatized as a land where people live in earthen-like shelters and have herds of ponies, a very sharply hewn sense of honor matches the weapons used to defend said virtue. When a jealous husband overhears a conversation that he understands to impugn his honor, he murders the supposed offender and touches off a never-ending, ever-widening circle of men killing each other to keep their names intact. Gisli is marked for assassination and has to flee for his life, avoiding the trackers who are hunting him for their own revenge. Single-handed combat and larger battles loom on his horizon, as the story leads into a higher and higher body count.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide