Outlander

I watched this film today with fingers crossed that it would add up to a decent enough film. However this film ended up exceeding those expectations, with a pretty good plot, a cast which was decent enough (with a few minor blips that I'm willing to overlook) and action sequences that are quite creative and thrilling to watch. At times parts of this film reminded me of The 13th Warrior, with a little Beowulf sprinkled on top. You certainly won't get bored watching this film. I'm surprised that this film did not get a little more attention, as it deserves it, but there you go. If you like to see aliens get hacked away by men in beards, this is the film for you!

Caught a screening of this last night in Berlin. Cinema was completely packed, not a spare seat in the house, and the crowd really seemed to enjoy it. I thought the film was great, really cool genre pic that comes across as a nice mixture of Predator/Braveheart/Beowulf, all the while managing to feel quite original on its own. Nice cast, Nice Script, and everything is handled a hell of a lot more intelligently than what you'd expect from a movie which is essentially 'Giant Alien Vs Vikings'. Why this is only getting such a limited release is beyond me, I think it could actually do quite well if given the chance. Basically anyone who enjoys Sci-Fi Action/Adventure done well should be looking forward to checking this one out when and if they get the chance.

I stumbled upon this move by accident, but being a sci-fi and fantasy nerd, I watched it, despite the fact that sci-fi movies nowadays tend to be rather poor.

The story begins with Kainan (James Caviezel) crash landing his spaceship into a lake, in the middle of Viking-land, in 709 AD. With his co-pilot dead, and his ship in ruins, sunken to the bottom of the lake, he uses his only working piece of technology to teach himself the norsk language. (I laughed my head off, when the first word he utters in Earth language is the "F" word :D) Wandering around in a forest, he is found by Wulfric (Jack Huston) and brought back to his village. They think Kainen is responsible for brutally ransacking a nearby village, and when Kainen tells them he is hunting for a "dragon", he is labeled as a liar and enemy. When in fact, the "dragon" he is referring to, is a monster from another planet, now hunting the viking populace and fauna of the land. Soon, when the villagers start vanishing and turning up as mutilated corpses, the vikings realize that Kainen might be telling the truth after all...

I gotta say, combining space marines and alien monsters with a fantasy Viking setting intrigued me to no end. Outlander is the living proof, that such a combination can result in a very good and entertaining 115 minutes. Although the story is a little shallow, lacking in huge plot-twists and deep character development, but it is enough to keep the attention between the awesomely gory fight scenes.

The acting is good enough, with the Christian Bale look-alike Caviezel, and the great but short performance of Ron Perlman, it manages to be captivating. We see far more swordplay than pulse rifle shoot-outs, so the sci-fi part of the film is largely suppressed to make way for the epic battle between the vikings and the moorvens, but that's just how it must be in this movie. The fight scenes are nicely choreographed and acted, the special effects are more than awesome, and the whole is movie is just great.

I'd like to point out, that the Moorven is most astonishing space monster I've ever seen. With the clever colored pulsing and the well thought-out anatomy of the beast, it manages to be best so far.

It's not the best movie I've seen, but it's still great, and every sci-fi and fantasy fan should go see it.

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.

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.