Pathfinder

I love it when a friend of mine says, “Have you seen ______?”, and my reply is, “Seen it, I’ve never heard of it.”  Then I rent it and it turns out to be a great movie.  Rarely does it happen.  Most direct to DVD movies are that way for a reason, but on occasion you find a real jewel.  ‘Pathfinder’ is one of those jewels.  Now, I’m not saying it’s the best movie ever, but totally worth the $3.00 to rent it.

The story of ‘Pathfinder’ is actually very simple.  A Viking boy is left behind when his warring people leave the newly discovered shores of America.  He is found and raised by a peaceful tribe of Native Americans.  Fifteen years pass and the Vikings return to settle on this new land.   The Vikings are ruthless, war mongers who seek to kill every last ‘savage’ (their term for the villagers) they can find.  The only thing that can prevent this is Ghost, the boy they left behind.

The fight scenes are amazing and the movie is full of action, which is a contrast to the very simple dialogue.  Nearly 20 minutes into the movie pass before Ghost speaks a word.  But the movie does not suffer for lack of words.  It is beautifully shot and looks very true to the era.  

I’m sure this will be a ‘love it’ or ‘hate it’ kind of movie.  I am leaning to the ‘love it’ side.  I give this movie a B+ grade, which is pretty darn good for a direct to DVD release.  Be warned that there is lots of violence and gore – so no kiddies should stay up to watch this one.

I wanted to throw out there a couple of other DVD jewels.  These are movies I messed at the theater (for the week they were there) or they were direct to DVD releases.  These were totally ‘friend recommended’ and are worth a watch.

1.  Equlibrium – The BEST movie you’ve never seen – really.

2.  The Talking Dictionary – A great historic romance featuring Jessica Alba.

3.  The Man Who Knew Too Little – Bill Murray at his best.

4.  Office Space – Just about the funniest office movie I’ve ever seen.