Pathfinder - Fährte des Kriegers

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.

While the story is good, the flaws begin to stand out.

Yes, all the little things that should have been important to the filmmakers in production and in filming.

Like - airplanes in the sky.

It seems to be winter or early spring but snow doesn't stick to anything, nobody's face or skin turns overly cold or white or purple due to it. Snow doesn't turn to water when collecting on anybodies's face, the pelts they wear do not freeze after they fall through ice into the river Natives have very straight, clean teeth and very clean hair and skin - even after going through battle.

Vikings wear heavy amour but move swift, fast and easily through the forest.

Climbing the edge of a mountain, nobody is freezing wearing virtually no clothing.

There are tire tracks in the mud.

Even though a slew of swords are used and arrows are shot, no horses get injured.

There are a bunch of things like that - after watching the movie, just begins to make you wonder how this can be thought out and actually given an OK.

Snow that blows all over the place, but in some areas of open space, there is none and then several feet away there is several feet of it.

Caves with light coming in from all directions.

Swords that seem to weigh as much as a can of pop - being easily flung across a field or lifted and swung without much force or effort.

I can go on,but I won't.

Pathfinder was not nearly as bad as many people are making it out to be. True, the editing was mediocre at best, with the seasons clearly out of whack. There were some pretty odd incongruencies with language as well. The filmmakers relied on some trite Native American imagery and stereotypes...

But Pathfinder was obviously never about the plot or silly Viking outfits. Ultimately I think the filmmakers wanted to impress upon the viewers the starkness of the landscape of "uncivilized" North America, and how the people who lived there survived. One of the best lines in the movie is delivered when Ghost tells his lady friend that the Vikings know eternal winter, but "don't know our spring." I think the movie, in its own kind of botched way, did a good job conveying the awe, reverence and fear that the people who lived in N.A. had for the seasons and the natural environment.

What a waste.

The only redeeming feature of this movie were the well made action scenes (not all were good, but overall there were more enjoyable fight sequences than boring ones).

The story is clichéd and predictable. The acting is terrible (the main role is so horribly sketched out that you can barely blame the actor, the supporting roles all make a mark for their blandness). The main couple have no chemistry, the dialog is UN-enjoyably bad and the editing looks like it was done by a blind man. Scenes start and end with absolutely no flow. One scene was particularly bad (I wont spoil it for you, suffice to say its the one where the Indians charge into battle against the hero's wishes). That is the only scene when I laughed in the movie, and its supposed to be a sad/rousing scene.

The trailer of this film looked really pretty, but then again the consisted of mostly the fight scenes so I'm not surprised at all. The director seems to have had a good eye for visuals, but his effort has ended there.

Pathfinder = 5/10 Five for the fight scenes.

I was trying to find a path out of the theater at many times during the movie.

"Pathfinder" is one hell of a brilliant intense historic warrior adventure film about a young boy who is saved & raised by Native Americans but is the last survivor of a Viking expedition & years later as a young man he must defend his village against another brutal Viking expedition. That's the basic set up for an Awesome ultra-violent warrior movie. This epic action adventure is visually stunning & striking with just fantastic cinematography & a scary dark look & Atmosphere, also this film is Directed by the BRILLIANT Marcus Nispel who directed one of the greatest Horror remakes of all time with his visually striking & terrifying "The Texas chainsaw Massacre" from 2003!!! That movie is even better than the original 70's CLASSIC!!! He is a visionary director full of style & an exciting vision, i love both of these films. Also we get the veteran actor Clancy Brown as the head Viking villain "Gunner" although you probably wouldn't know it because of his huge beard & helmet & Armour but he does make for a huge menacing presence on screen. The excellent but underrated KARL URBAN is fantastic here as "Ghost" the warrior with hate in his heart & a quest of bloody vengeance, mr.Urban is a great actor & screen presence & he blew me away with his portrayal of the tough futuristic Cop named "Judge Dredd" when he played him in the 2011 Cult Classic "Dredd" & he was excellent there & is excellent here in "Pathfinder" so yeah he's a great actor & I'm a big fan!!!

The look of this epic adventure is drained muted colours so it looks dull, gloomy, dark & scary almost like a Horror film & the big Viking warriors are scary as hell, they are huge with big metal armour & big horned helmets & animal skins & really look terrifying!!! The Vikings are merciless & savage as they slaughter their way through villages of helpless people including women & children, so it's AWESOME when our warrior hero "Ghost" starts to hunt them down & slaughter them in Cool ways with traps & weapons. Like i said the look is great & gritty with beautiful shots & scenes mixed with the Horror of savage killings & the killings are brutal & blood soaked, this is a very gory film as it should be & "Ghost" really delivers on his quest for bloody vengeance & the evil Vikings deserve their deaths.

I was on the edge of my seat watching this excellent film as it was tense & gripping, "Pathfinder" is definitely one of the best "Warrior" films I've ever seen!!! Definitely one of the most entertaining & exciting one's too!!! I can see this is another way underrated yet brilliant movie with an excellent lead in "Karl Urban" but i loved it & consider this a "Cult Classic" in my opinion. Terrific,Tense & exciting