Pathfinder

A little boy is left in a strange land and he's adopted by an Indian family. But a merciless, ambitious and cruel barbarians(Clancy Brown, Ralf Moeller, among them) suddenly appear and they are cruelly murdered . The starring(Karl Urban) observes the massacre from a distance and he manages to flee these murderers and reaches a village with other Natives whose inhabitants are worried if he has been able to hide his leads. Afraid of the violent savage warriors ,they decide to flee. Meanwhile the protagonist falls in love with a charming Native(Bloodgood). The young stays alone to revenge his families killers but he gets captured by the Vikings. Unfortunately , they get him before he can do anything and force him to lead them to the other Indians. He guides them and agrees to lead to the hiding place of his fellow villagers but he has a scheme to destroy the cutthroats barbarians before reach the camp.

It's the second version based on ancient folk-tale from Lapland, the first and classic version was directed by Nils Gaup in 1988, winning several prizes. This new adaptation is an exciting picture plenty of action, thrills, chills, roller-coaster ride, violence and breathtaking fights. The brutal Vikings with horned helmets deliver the goods, their appearance is spectacular and creepy, including the majestic horses doing pirouettes. Furthermore the astonishing killings are gruesome executed and grisly graphic. Special mention to Russell Means , he was born Lakota Sioux, a good actor Native American, he along with Graham Greene, Rodney A Grant, Tantoo cardinal, Eric Schweitz and Wes Studi appear in all movies about Indian themes. The evil Vikings are characterized in similar style to the classic 'Conan' by John Milius, as when at the beginning appeared James Earl Jones in an unforgettable scenes . The sombre photography by Daniel Pearl with a sort of never-ending dawn and dusk time is truly awesome. It's a kind of light mingled in a moody and foggy atmosphere. Many frames including the combats and cliffs scenes are made in a ¨300¨ style adding computer generator backgrounds. Stirring and evocative musical score by Jonathan Elias. Stunning and gripping realization by Marcus Nispel. He's a video hits director and expert on terror genre such as he proved ¨ Friday the 13th, Frankestein, Texas chainsaw massacre¨ but none of his movies have been based on original plot.

I know movies plain and simple. Was this great... no, but was it pretty mindless entertainment...yes. My main complaint was that the original villain Kurgan Clancy Brown from the Highlander movie was barely noticeable through all of the film. He had so much beard, helmet, paint, and just plain armor and you couldn't tell who he was. Only way I knew him was because of his voice and Eyes. One of his best underrated and too soon canceled programs the Showtime series "Carnivale" showed just how good he is at being bad but at the same time kinda good. Anyway back to the movie, it's main problem is the awful editing, It had some pretty decent action scenes but they just cut so quickly and you never get a hold on what you are seeing! My other complaint is that all the Indians speak English. I can understand this happening 20 years ago, but are we really that lazy that we can't read subtitles? Especially in this day in age, do we have to put all films in English? It sounds ridiculous and remember "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" did over 100 mil. U.S. and it was subtitled! The script also seemed repetitive sometimes as well. And whose Idea was it to not give the main character any lines 15 minutes into the movie? Well just don't ask too much of the film and it should be OK.

I wasn't expecting much when I started watching this, but that quickly changed thanks to the brilliantly lit scenes and grainy, pensive mood of filming. The acting, as well as the violence was well above average in quality and brutality respectively, and the story was refreshingly original.

I believe three things could have elevated this movie to brilliance: 1. A more sweeping, bold orchestral soundtrack. 2. More sweeping, cinematic shots to give us short escapes from what, at times, became a claustrophobic atmosphere. 3. Authentic native language with subtitles, as was given the Vikings. I realize the choice not to do so (point #3) was probably based on perceived audience appeal, or perhaps even on the psychological identification with the "good guys", but it would still have added an element of greatness.

Overall I give Pathfinder 8 out of 10 stars for originality, brooding (amazingly refreshing) filming, and an authentic truthfulness in telling what was a simple but bloody tale of revenge. I also appreciated the fact that the film took itself seriously, and did not toss in a heap of "humorous" moments that so many current action movies seem to rely on. This movie was relentless in its pursuit of telling a dark and bloody tale and, for the most part, succeeded in providing an excellent couple hours of escape.

Nipsel and company basically hybridized the structure of Dances with Wolves with a not-quite-historical fiction (more like radical speculation) plot about interactions between Norsemen and Native Americans during the 12th century A.D.

Ghost (Karl Urban) is a Norse boy left behind aboard a wrecked ship. He is adopted by the Clan of the Dog (the dogs who cohabitate with this tribe are historically inaccurate, but that's just one of many historical transgressions). As he grows up, Ghost's obvious difference and his history become something of a stumbling block for him, but he works hard to overcome them in order to be accepted by his adoptive people. Eventually, it seems, he must confront the demons of his past, and unfortunately, so must the Clan of the Dog.

Pathfinder is played well by Russell Means, and Ghost's love interest - Starfire - is nicely portrayed by Moon Bloodgood. Urban has great physical talent, but this story did not lend itself to testing his ability to create drama and mood, so there isn't much to say about his performance. Likewise, most of the Norse characters were so under-developed and one-dimensional that it is impossible to comment on the performances involved.

Although the story relies on stereotypes to develop both its Norse and Native American characters, since so little is actually known about the Norse colonies, this seems forgivable. What is not really forgivable, in my opinion, is the reiteration of the trope established in Dances with Wolves and other similar works which suggests that it takes a European to effectively fight off Europeans. Although the characterizations of the protagonists in both films are adequate to explain their behavior, the character and behavior of the Native Americans attached to them is less well developed, and there is a lingering, inaccurate and disturbing shadow of inferiority implied in their apparent inability to strategize and effectively lead in combat.

However, Pathfinder refuses to touch reality with any length of pole, so, sit back and enjoy the action, costumes and sets.

The film contains a lot of violence, most of which is convincingly shot. The costuming is excellent, and the sets are lovely. if you can get past the problems - which are several - you may just enjoy it.

This is pretty good B-movie. If you want subtle plot and dialog then you should have figured out from the trailer and the poster that this show is not for you.

Yes, it appears to be inspired by a Frazetta painting (see Death Dealer) and is surely derivative of Conan and Tarzan. But how long has it been since a good Conan or Tarzan movie.

Lots of gore, lots of decapitations (but as Joe Bob would say, all necessary for the plot) lots of low key lighting to make the special effects easier to pull off but then again, it's not a chick flick.

If only we still had drive in movies.