The extreme close up shots, of eyes and "weapons", when the foes Kjartan and Þrándur meet, correlates to the shots between Angel Eyes, Blondie and Tuco in the legendary Mexican standoff scene in the classic Spaghetti Western.
The mind set on occasion, and the realisticness of the movie, with conversations and circumstances with awkward confrontations, refers to the highly rated comedy drama.
The war between birds and men in the Hitchcock epic Thriller, appears lightly but increasingly in a number of scenes through out the movie, in a comedic yet simultaneously serious manner.
When going to "war" with the Arctic Tern, the boys prepare in the wagon like the soldiers prepared in the boats, coming to shore in Normandy in the WW2 drama.