Outlander - L'ultimo vichingo

I must say that this film was a great surprise, not only because of my personal taste for sci-fi / fantasy flicks, but because this production is flawless.

I believe Howard McCain is set to be a true revelation as film maker and screen writer. There is no single bad moment in all the film.

Great work in photography and editing make of this film a visual accomplishment.

James Caviezel, John Hurt and Ron Perlman performances are excellent.

All FX are achieved, and the score by Geoff Zanelli is one to remember.

Maybe is something that we all have seen before, but never with this kind of achievement.

For all sci-fi / fantasy fans, this one is a MUST!

It's a real shame I haven't seen a single preview or a billboard for this movie. Whatever, though - the box office opportunity was wasted because someone or other didn't have faith in humanity (I mean seriously, anyone with a droplet of testosterone in them would find this highly entertaining, so of course there's a market for it), but this movie's cult status is assured.

Spaceship carrying terrifying bloodthirsty monster and a mysterious hero (well, not that mysterious) crash lands on Earth during Viking times. I repeat - Vikings! Swords, battles, mead- drinking and all-around Norse badarsery are featured prominently. The acting is good for the most part, the writing isn't stupid and formulaic, and the director keeps a brisk pace throughout the film. And the space monster is simply terrific, imbued with the perfect amount of personality.

If I was 10 years old when I watched it, I would have been running around on the ceiling for months. Being the mature and responsible grown man I am now, I didn't exactly do that - instead, I recommended it to all my friends and watched it 3 times.

Set during the kingdom of Vikings in Norway, as an aircraft crash lands on Earth, there appears a man from outer space, James Caviezel. He is imprisoned by the Vikings, later on, he is freed by the king : John Hurt who has daughter : Sophia Milos who falls in love for him and whose jealous suitor results to be a tribe's brave warrior : Jack Huston. And all of them join forces to vanquish a feared monster that's consuming everything in its path. As the man from a far-off world along with the Vikings face off an enormous beast, a huge panther-like creature that emerges from the night to slash, maul and and eat their victims' remains. It destroyed his world. He won't let it destroys ours.

This is a mixed bag mingling Vikings, extraterrestrial person and monsters in Alien Predator style . There is also a brief exploration of Viking life with rites, traditional habits and Gods .Taking parts here and there of other films as 13th warrior, Predator, and Beowulf . Some overwhelming wide screen images linger in the mind. At its best, this achieves the grandeur and beauty of a breathtaking Viking epic, at its worst, however, it feels an extravaganza blending various genres. Well starred by James Caviezel as a hero who's not from North but from outer space and relunctantly throws in his lot with these hairy-arsed, hard-drinking Nordic types to tackle a monstrous evil. He is finely accompanied by a nice cast as Sophia Milos, Jack Huston, John Hurt, Cliff Saunders and special mention for Ron Perlman as a two-fisted and tough warrior chief who seeks vengeance for death his wife and son.

It packs a moving and thrilling musical score by Geoff Zanelli. As well as evocative, though dark cinematography by Pierre Gill. The motion picture was well written and directed by Howard McCain. He is a good writer and director who has written and shot a few films. As he has written : Underworld rise of Lycans and filmed : Unspeakable, No dessert dad till you mow the lawn and this Outlander. Rating : 6.5/10. Well worth watching. The flick will appeal to Science-fiction and fantasy enthusiasts.

Like a previous reviewer I don't know why this had a limited release. It is MUCH more value for ticket money than a number of other recent offerings and its faults are minor compared to the good qualities.

The story is basically a sci-fi plot but since the lead character's space ship crashes in the Iron Age, among Vikings, you can understand that most of the movie takes place with Viking themes and scenery.

The basic plot is quite sound and for the first 40 minutes the movie is VERY gripping. It tends to go a little flat at the end of the middle act and the start of the third act but effects, gore and very tense action compensate for those not too engrossed in the intricacies of the story. A pity about that because it looked like the story had more to offer and was chopped up somewhat to fit in a bunch of set pieces. I realize this is now making the movie sound a little lame: it isn't Lord of the Rings, but it is definitely worth the price of the ticket. See it expecting to be entertained for about 95% of the time and you wont be disappointed.

I was very skeptical before watching this film. Even if it got John Hurt and Ron Perlman in it, I just couldn't believe the SciFi/Norse legend combination would work. My instinct told me that this was going to be another of those horrible B-movies with a stupid story, sub-average effects and mediocre acting at best. I was, however, pleasantly surprised. Not that it is a masterpiece. The background story could have been a tad bit more elaborate, the plot more original and the final outcome a little bit less predictable, but all in all one has to acknowledge the decent effort to make this movie convincing and suspenseful. The end result is a solid piece of entertainment, with ample effects, directing I'd call 'by the book', workmanlike acting and a few kicks and thrills along the way. So if you happen to like action movies and don't ask for too much depth in the story, this will provide you with a 120 minutes amusement worth the time.