Pathfinder [Blu-ray]
20th Century Pathfinder (Blu-ray) The heroic story of a young Norse man raised by Native American Indians who wages a personal war against the Vikings that barbarically raided his tribe.Pathfinder is a curious, cross-genre movie with elements of horror, sword-clanging fantasy, historical fiction, and Native American mysticism. A classic story of an outsider-hero, Pathfinder is set approximately five centuries before Columbus’ arrival in the New World, a time when Vikings were claiming real estate in Greenland and eastern North America. A young Norse boy is abandoned by his disapproving, conqueror-father and adopted by an aboriginal tribe. He grows up to become Ghost (Karl Urban), almost-but-not-entirely accepted by natives, yet a fierce swordsman and defender of Indians after a terrible assault on those whom he loves best. Clancy Brown (The Shawshank Redemption) plays the fiercest of the invaders, a merciless leader who tangles with Ghost’s inherent prowess as a fighter, and engages in a psychological as well as physical struggle with him in the film’s final third, which involves a harrowing journey through an avalanche-prone mountain path. Russell Means (The Last of the Mohicans) is a typically comforting presence as the all-wise Pathfinder, leader of a tribal nation and Ghost’s supporter, while Moon Bloodgood (Eight Below) is outstanding as a love interest with nerves of steel. Marcus Nispel (who directed the 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) guides the brutal if often exhilarating action as if it were amplified history. He makes the point for a contemporary audience that Vikings were as terrifying a danger to those whom they conquered as, say, Klingons are in Star Trek–precisely by making his Vikings seem so reminiscent of Klingons. –Tom Keogh
User Ratings and Reviews
2 Stars Pathfinder
Good premise for sure but the execution was sloppy. Too many quick cuts, poor lighting and poorly set up. All combined to make the action very difficult to follow. Rent, do not buy.
1 Stars A humble suggestion: Dialogue!
So I was sitting here remembering what a god awful movie “Pathfinder” was and it made me so angry that I decided to write a review so as to warn other potential viewers away. I expected it to be another review read by about 2 people (I mean, seriously, who the hell would watch Pathfinder anyway?), but I felt obliged to save those 2 poor souls. Imagine my surprise when I looked up this crapfest and found over 100 reviews of the movie, some involving rather heated debates!
Here’s the thing: Pathfinder is absolutely terrible. I can’t believe the people defending it as this deep movie that shows the realism of the Native American - Viking conflict, and that somehow it’s over the head of the average action movie fan who likes being “spoon fed” everything. Apparently, we just don’t get it. Who needs trivial things like meaningful dialogue (or dialogue at all, for that matter), characters about whom you’d give a crap if they lived or died, at least semi-human antagonists, some semblance of historical accuracy, or a plot that makes the slightest bit of sense? All this can be forgiven because in Pathfinder, we have an accurate portrayal of Indians, and a real sense of fear is created in the film. Except that Indians weren’t retarded, peace-loving simpletons who got slaughtered by Vikings everywhere they went: rather the reverse, in fact, due to their superior numbers that eventually drove Vikings from North America. And as for the supposed element of fear created, the only fear I had was that the movie would continue for another hour after the main character threw his evil Viking nemesis off the cliff, documenting his “realistic” “romance” with the Indian woman as they sat staring at one another, saying absolutely nothing and showing no emotions whatsoever. Thankfully, this did not occur, but I was still livid after having watched this garbage.
This movie felt like it was directed, produced, and cast by a mongoloid chimp with a caved in skull. Even for a mindless, silly action movie (which is what I expected going in), it fails spectacularly. Don’t buy into the drivel that this movie is anything short of horrendously appalling.
2 Stars Poor Acting
I was excited about this movie when i purchased it. The setting for the story seemed like a good idea, and the action scenes had been compared to 300. The action scenes did turn out to be decent, so if thats all you want then you should be pleased. It gets two stars because the dialogue is terrible, and the acting isnt much better. Some of the dialogue in the movie is so horrible its comical. Not a good thing for a serious action movie.
5 Stars Pathfinder Excels
I upgraded from DVD to Blu-ray on this and was it a positive. Execellent Picture Quality and the new HD Sounds are a thing to behold.
I highly recommond the upgrade.
5 Stars Great Film
If you like adventure and some homespun philosophy thrown in, this film is for you. Enjoyed it very much.
Filed under: Blue Ray Movie Reviews