Pathfinder Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Pathfinder Blu-ray Movie Review

This violent and mostly cheesy action film sparkles on Blu-ray.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 31, 2008

You are still haunted by the demons from your past. Until you face them, you will never know who you really are.

There are few things better in cinema than a good slice and dice sword epic. Braveheart, the Conan films, and Gladiator are all fun, brutally violent films that offer good acting, fine action, a decent story, a good message, and bucket after bucket of the red stuff. I am by no means a fan of excessive gore, especially in pointless horror movies (which we'll discuss in a moment) but there's a certain "wow" factor to witnessing men chopping each other to pieces, in film anyway. It's certainly not anything I'd like to become privy to real life. Marcus Nispel's Pathfinder is the latest sword wielding flick, and while it offers plenty of stylized violence, good visuals, and great sound design, it fails where the other films succeeded, providing dull characters, a boring script, and a recycled story line with no real point, unless you consider a head count (and I literally mean the number of decapitated heads in the film) a "point." Nevertheless, Pathfinder is decent entertainment, a film akin to Lionsgate's recent release War, that is best taken in when there is nothing better to watch.

Karl Urban appears distraught when he is told that there will be no 'Pathfinder 2.'

Pathfinder is a film that retells the legend of a man who almost singlehandedly drove away invading Vikings from America's shore some 600 years before Christopher Columbus "sailed the ocean blue" and "discovered" America. Abandoned by his native Scandinavian peoples for being less than a brutal killer and subsequently found by a native woman, a young, pale-skinned boy finds his life in the hands of a Native American tribe. After a discussion as to whether or not he is a demon and a monster "like his fathers," it is decided that the young man shall remain with the tribe. Fifteen years later, the boy is now a man they call Ghost (Karl Urban, Doom), and is a respected member of the community despite his difference in appearance. When the Vikings return, Ghost witnesses the slaughter of his village from afar. He confronts the Vikings, killing and wounding several in the process. He escapes to the advantage of the marauders, who want to track him from village to village, making it easier for them to find and destroy the settlements. Ghost urges the people to resist and launches a personal vendetta against his former countrymen, doing all he can to singlehandedly stop them before they destroy all signs of his adopted peoples and settle the land for themselves.

Director Marcus Nispel is probably best known as the director of the 2003 remake of the horror classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I absolutely loved the visual style of that movie, but didn’t care for it on the whole. My feelings towards Pathfinder are eerily similar. It is a gory and violent film too, but it ranks somewhere on the gore scale below full-blown horror pictures like Hostel and Saw III. I find I can stomach an abundance of violence much easier when there is at least a reason for it, such as in Pathfinder, rather than the senseless violence depicted in films like Nispel’s retelling of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Some may argue that any kind of violence serves no purpose, and while they might have a point, the fact is that it is sometimes unavoidable in life, and it’s the violence I see when people are fighting and dying in a cause they believe in that I can handle. Extremely gruesome films like Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down use violence in a non-glorifying way to both prove a point and to recreate with as much accuracy as possible a real life situation with real meaning and real motivations, and as such I find it easy to accept in film. It's the pointless violence that serves only to gross out audiences with no real motivation to it in the progression of the story that I cannot handle. In other words, it’s all about the context of the violence.

As a film taken on the whole, Pathfinder is fairly lackluster. The dialogue is sometimes laughable at best, the acting stiff, and the ending boring, partly predictable, and completely unbelievable. The film also seems to take some liberties with its depiction of history. I cannot comment on the accuracy of the film with complete confidence as I am neither a scholar of Native American history nor the history of Scandinavians, but expecting much accuracy from Hollywood for even recent historical events that are well documented is difficult at best and next to impossible at worst. I don’t approve of the “fudging” of history, but in any case, Pathfinder is nevertheless a mostly fun slash ‘em up picture that gets a bit slow at times but should prove to be exciting and bloody enough for most viewers who like this sort of thing. As long as movie fans go into this film with rather low expectations, they should walk away from it mostly satisfied with the experience.

Pathfinder Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Pathfinder slashes its way onto Blu-ray in 1080p high definition and in its original 2.40:1 aspect ratio. This is yet another winner from Fox. Some viewers may be taken aback by the almost excessive amounts of grain displayed in the first few minutes of the movie. Combined with an extremely dark image, it is sometimes hard to make out every detail on your set, but this is no doubt how director Marcus Nispel wanted to begin the film, presenting a bleak and unforgiving atmosphere in which Ghost is abandoned by his countrymen and subsequently discovered and accepted by the native peoples. As the film moves along, the excessive grain and almost completely dark scenes give way to a still gloomy and frigid yet somewhat brighter world and it is from this point forward that the image truly shines in high definition. The finest of details mesmerize viewers as a world rich in traditions and set in a cold yet undeniably beautiful setting reveal themselves. Because the image retains a darker feel to it, devoid of almost any bright colors, it's astonishing that the image manages to dazzle with such incredible detail. Black levels are nothing short of spectacular. They're jet-black yet retain excellent shadow detail with no excessive crushing, and the image never wavers or artificially brightens in an effort to reveal more detail than is necessary. There are several scenes that take place inside of caves and it is here that the image really shines, bringing out the best it has to offer. Chapter 14 in particular will knock your socks off with the depth, clarity, and steadfast black levels on display. Pathfinder looks as good as almost any Blu-ray I've seen to date, and it's all the more impressive considering the cold, nearly colorless look to the film. Yet again, 20th Century Fox has a winner on its hands, visually.

Pathfinder Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Pathfinder's DTS-HD MA lossless soundtrack sounds excellent. Perhaps the best aspect of this track is the deep, rumbling, and exceptionally powerful bass. A scene involving a confrontation with a bear in a cave proves to be an excellent demonstration of the powerful and heavy nature of the bass. The animal's growls deliver wonderful low frequency effects that easily put the viewer in the middle of the action. The scene is all the more scary and intense because of the wonderful sound design and its lossless reproduction on the disc, and the end result is a wonderful sonic experience. Overall, this is a loud and boisterous presentation that manages to remain clear and clean despite the extremely aggressive nature of the sound design. The track also offers excellent dynamics with crisp and clean highs and the aforementioned powerful lows. The quieter scenes offer up some very nice moments filled with awe inspiring ambiance that add some flair and realism to some otherwise drab moments in the film. Surrounds are active and loud throughout, creating an immersive and wondrous experience. Thunder and rain effects engender a sense of fright and realism. Sound is excellently placed as well. For example, as a sword tumbles off a cliff, it's position in the sound design matches its position in relation to the screen perfectly, and the clanks of the steel emanate from the appropriate speaker. Fox hit all the right notes, so to speak, and Pathfinder proves to be an awesome sonic experience.

Pathfinder Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Pathfinder includes a rather small but nevertheless decent array of supplements for this Blu-ray release. First up is a commentary track with director Marcus Nispel. Nispel discusses the way he found himself behind the camera for this picture, his influences, and reasons behind making this film. Nispel describes the work that went into creating a graphic novel in tandem to making the film and how the novelist and the director worked closely on the project. Also discussed are the concessions in making R and PG-13 rated films versus an unrated, gorier version. Nispel is very pleased with his film even though the critics aren't, but even if the film isn't "good," it has plenty of pluses, including its amazing visuals. This proves to be an easy and enjoyable listen and a good track overall that fans of Nispel's films will enjoy.

Next up are seven deleted scenes (1080p, 10:11 total runtime) with optional commentary by director Nispel. He discusses audience reaction to scenes and why some were cut, all the while describing what's happening and the scene's relation to the film. Six featurettes (1080p, 30:42 total runtime) examine the origins of the film as well as the original 1987 version, the dark look of the film, creating the set pieces and costumes, the physical taxation on the actors and crew, a look at the various stunts throughout the film, and a brief look at actor Clancy Brown who plays the character of "Gunnar" in the film. The Path Revealed: Secrets On-Screen is a fun pop-up trivia track that offers plenty of tidbits surrounding the film. Finally, the movie's theatrical trailer (1080p, 2:26) concludes the special features.

Pathfinder Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Pathfinder is a movie that serves no real purpose other than to show beheadings, the gouging of eyes, and other assorted extremely violent acts on screen. The story is a decent one, but it's one we've seen countless times before, but perhaps not on such a violent scale. If Pathfinder has anything going for it, it's the top notch look and feel of the film. It's easy to get sucked into the period and feel like you're in the middle of the action. This is aided a great deal by the first rate audio and video presentation on this Blu-ray disc. If you are looking for a good disc with a decent array of special features to show off your high dollar system, Pathfinder is a very good choice. For those on a tighter budget that want a good movie to go along with stellar A/V quality, there are other options available as well. This movie is worth a rental if you are into swords and violence, and is only recommended as a purchase for die hard, completist Blu-ray fans.