Pathfinder (2007)

Director:

Marcus Nispel

Writers (WGA):

Laeta Kalogridis (screenplay)
Nils Gaup (1987 screenplay "Veiviseren")

Release Date:

13 April 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | History | Thriller | War

Tagline:

Two Worlds, One War. The Ultimate Battle Begins.

Plot:

A Viking boy is left behind after his clan battles a Native American tribe. Raised within the tribe, he ultimately becomes their savior in a fight against the Norsemen. |

Plot Keywords:

Viking | Rape Attempt | Winter | Death | Based On Comic

US TV Schedule:

Thur. July 31

8:00 AM

MAX

Cast

Karl Urban	...	Ghost
Moon Bloodgood	...	Starfire
Russell Means	...	Pathfinder
Clancy Brown	...	Gunnar
Jay Tavare	...	Blackwing
Nathaniel Arcand	...	Wind In Tree
Ralf Moeller	...	Ulfar
Kevin Loring	...	Jester
Wayne Charles Baker	...	Indian Father (as Wayne C. Baker)
Michelle Thrush	...	Indian Mother
Nicole Muñoz	...	Little Sister
Burkely Duffield	...	Ghost - 12 Years Old
Ray G. Thunderchild	...	Elder #1
Duane Howard	...	Elder #2
Brandon Oakes	...	Elder #3

Also Known As:

Pathfinder: The Legend of the Ghost Warrior (USA) (promotional title)
Sang du guerrier, Le (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong brutal violence throughout.

Runtime:

99 min | 107 min (unrated DVD version)

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English | Icelandic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #42805) | Brazil:16 | Malaysia:18SG | Netherlands:16 | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Peru:14 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Germany:18 | France:-12 | Finland:K-15 | Argentina:13 | USA:Unrated (unrated version) | Ireland:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:15 | New Zealand:R16

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Vinland Productions Canada Inc.

Trivia:

The Pathfinder's house was constructed around a real tree which was found at the location and had to be re-enforced. The design of the Indian huts was partly inspired by the famous opera house in Sydney, Australia.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Despite persisting belief, not all Vikings wore helmets and those who did had no horns on them.

Quotes:

Ghost: Twig.
Pathfinder: Spear.

Movie Connections:

References King Arthur (2004)

Worse than I could have ever imagined.

I'm not quite sure how director Marcus Nipsel and company managed to take this screenplay, which had potential, and suck every ounce of life, drama and coolness out of it. They did, though. Pathfinder proves to be another completely forgettable historical action movie at best, generic as hell, right down to your cookie-cutter indestructible action hero (played by Karl Urban).

My biggest gripe with the film, and I have many, comes from how long it was pushed back for. If I remember correctly, it was first slated for release in January of '06. It was delayed well over a year, and I assumed that the crew were editing, re shooting and doing other things that might make the film better. I should have remembered what happens when one assumes. In reality, they were just waiting around for a good time to release the film, because it obviously didn't improve in that year and a half. At one point, they literally insert stock footage of an avalanche instead of creating their own CGI (or real) avalanche. Who are you guys kidding? There are about six words worth of meaningful dialog in this film. The Vikings don't even look human, nobody ever really explains why they're going out of their way to kill everyone. The Native Americans are portrayed as weak and stupid, little more than target practice. This film just lets the arrows fly and the heads roll.

The acting is horrendous as well. Its got some cool action scenes, but thats about it. It might have been a blessing having so little dialog in Pathfinder, because if how brutal the little that was present proved to be. It was like, Covenant bad. The script literally sounds like it was written by a child.

Overall, Pathfinder wastes its potential and fails to prove itself worthy of anyone's time, let alone anyone's money. No amount of good action could have saved this film from its fate.