Pathfinder (Extended Edition) (DVD)

...Nispel On The Set Of Pathfinder - This is pretty self explanatory, talking to the director Marcus Nispel about the film.
Clancy Brown: Cult Hero - A biography of Clancy Brown, following him around the set and interviews with other actors talking about him.

Concept Trailer - This is the original trailer that is put forward to initiate the ideas of the writers/producers/directors, and is similar to one of the scenes kept for the ...
...Starfire - Moon Bloodgod
Pathfinder - Russell Means
Gunnar - Clancy Brown
Blackwing - Jay Tavare
Wind In Tree - Nathaniel Arcand
Ulfar - Ralf Moeller

Ghost - This is the main character of the film and is played by Karl Urban, also of The Chronicles of Riddick (Vaako) and The Lord Of The Rings (Eomer). He is introduced as a mysterious character very early on during the film and is obviously going to ... more

*****The Plot*****
WARNING, contains some spoilers.

The story follows a Viking boy who was a member of the first exploratory force to America from the Vikings. 600 years before Christopher Colombus, as the film states in it's introduction.

The scene is set quite well with his childhood being introduced in the format of a dream, after he is rescued from certain starvation on an abandoned Viking ship. This dream shows his fellow kin slaughtering innocent, defenceless and helpless Native Americans. His father, the Viking leader, instructs him to slaughter a young girl. Which he refuses to do. This instance in the film is very graphic as it show a lot of blood coming from the girl's head, as her skull is smashed in from the Viking king's blade. This sort of scene is recurrent throughout the duration of the film. Malice, gruesomeness, heartlessness, realism and brutality feature all the way through the film. The fact that the child refuses to do this, and takes the punishment, shows us that he is something alot different and is special. He grows up to become Ghost, the main character.

His uniqueness follows him through the film. A viking, living with and raised by Native Americans, his appearance may be different, however his beliefs and ideals are the same, as we see towards the end of the film. This is illustrated after the second Viking force invades and Ghost fights against them to protect both the people he loves, and those that love and have protected him.

The plot does not have a lot of depth to it and is not exactly gripping, however, it does develop steadily enough to mantain interest. It is slightly predictable, one man saving his race of people and winning the love of a beautiful woman is not the most original storyline in the world, though it does seem to be a successful one. It is a bit of a cliche. The fact that there are quite a few graphic action and fight sequences makes up for this fact and without these it would not be as successful. As well as this, the ending to the storyline is also quite disappointing. It is almost, "and they lived happily ever after". There are twists and turns, showing the fickleness of the Vikings, as they will kill anyone, including their fellow invaders to gain what they want. This is shown in a couple of instances, however, does not strengthen the plot at all.

Overall, the plot is weak and thin, being repetitive at times, moving along at a steady pace, with a few good action scenes. Not amazing, however, interesting enough.

*****DVD Extras*****
Commentary by Director Marcus Nispel - This is pretty self explanatory. The director commentates throughout the duration of the film on why he decided to shoot in a certain way, and what scenes mean.

Deleted Scenes - A selection of 7 deleted scenes from the film. In this section you can chose whether or not to have the commentary on from the director. Who explains why the scenes were not kept in the final cut of the film. This is quite interesting, as it gives you an insight into the production process of a film and the different things that don't make it into the final version.

Featurettes - Which involves some more sub features. These features are -
The Beginning - A short featurette about how the film came about, it is not that interesting, but puts parts of the film into perspective.
The Design - This shows the design process behind some of the special effects and scenes from the film.
The Build - A featurette illustrating how they built some of the sets. I generally don't like to watch these as i feel they tend to ruin the illusion of a film like this.
The Shoot - Behind the scenes on the set of the film.
The Stunts - Showing how the stunts were performed in the film. i.e. using wires and stuntmen.
We Shoot Now! Marcus Nispel On The Set Of Pathfinder - This is pretty self explanatory, talking to the director Marcus Nispel about the film.
Clancy Brown: Cult Hero - A biography of Clancy Brown, following him around the set and interviews with other actors talking about him.

Concept Trailer - This is the original trailer that is put forward to initiate the ideas of the writers/producers/directors, and is similar to one of the scenes kept for the final film. It does not show the actual cast of the film, as it is only a guidline to what they want to do.

Theatrical Trailer - The final trailer that is realised to advertise and promote the film. It gives an introduction on what to expect of the film and specific details. For example there are flashes of scenes, cut through by words that set the scene. Along with a voiceover, this makes for a very successful and accurate trailer, and does not misrepresent the film at all, like some trailers can do.

www.fox.co.uk - This is just an item that promotes the fox website stating that you can find exclusive content if you sign up.

*****Cast and Characters*****
Ghost - Karl Urban
Starfire - Moon Bloodgod
Pathfinder - Russell Means
Gunnar - Clancy Brown
Blackwing - Jay Tavare
Wind In Tree - Nathaniel Arcand
Ulfar - Ralf Moeller

Ghost - This is the main character of the film and is played by Karl Urban, also of The Chronicles of Riddick (Vaako) and The Lord Of The Rings (Eomer). He is introduced as a mysterious character very early on during the film and is obviously going to be the main character. He is an excellent fighter and has very strong morals and beliefes that are illustrated strongly, again, since his introduction as a child. He is the hero of the story and seems to be somewhat of an outsider.

Starfire - The heroin and what looks like the main inspiration for Ghost and his braveness. The character of Moon Bloodgod (8 Below), is introduced into the story when 2 of the native tribes come together to trade. We are given the slow motion, hair blowing in the wind introduction, which seems to come as standard when intoducing a love interest into a film. She is a strong willed character, who only features towards the end of the film, as she joins Ghost and is hunted by the Viking hoardes. She is a beautiful native girl and the daughter of the Pathfinder.

Pathfinder - This is the spiritual leader for the Native American Tribe, he is the one that everyone listens to and respects the most. He also knows, in his heart, and through his spirituality, that Ghost has something special about him. He is a very wise old man, stereotypical of one of the elders, in a Native American tribe. This character is played well by Means (The Last of the Mohicans). He brings an element of trust into the storyline, and we are able to feel for him, what the characters feel for him. Throughout the film he comes out with many sayings that help Ghost along his troublesome path.

Gunnar - The leader of the second Viking invasion force. He is a formidable character, who will do anything to get what he wants. Including killing his own, loyal followers. He is a very viscious man, and this is portrayed very well by the actor, Clancy Brown (Highlander). As the featurette explains, he is a cult legend, although, i myself have never heard of him. We are made to feel a certain hatred for this disgusting man who is the opitimy of what the Viking race is known for.

*****DVD Appearance*****
My DVD has a protective carboard sleeve, with parts of the illustration being partially raised, including the title. It looks shiny, very clean and very neat. The case is very appealing, as is the picture. It shows a fight between Ghost and one of the Viking invaders with one of the Norse longboats in the background. The case is as action packed as the film.

*****Price*****
I purchased my copy of the DVD from ASDA for £7, although this was mislabelled and was meant to be £13.97. It can now be purchased for £4.99 from play.com flying up to a massive £19.99 from PowerPlayDirect. With a range of prices in between including sendit.com (£5.89) HMV (£5.99) and Amazon (£6.43).

All prices were found using www.find-dvd.co.uk.
URL: http://www.find-dvd.co.uk/3213901000.htm

*****Additional Information*****
IMDB URL: http://imdb.com/title/tt0446013/
Rating: 15, no sex/nudity, strong violence throughout containing graphic scenes with blood.
Duration:107 minutes
Director: Marcus Nispel
Language: English
Subtitles Available:

*****My Opinion*****
Overall i think that this is quite a good film. It has kept me entertained throughout the duration. The storyline moves along at a steady pace, although in some parts it is quite repetitive, the action scenes make up for this. I like the way that it is shot, with a lot of dark and gloomy scenes, which help emphasise the fact that the Vikings themselves are a dark race. I felt that the characters themselves lacked profile, as we do not get to know anything about them at all, apart from Ghost, the main character. This is not a good point of one of the films. This, to me, made a lot of the performances seem lifeless, and at some points pointless. Blackwing, for example is introduced, and we see him a few times, but i do not feel anything for him as i do not know him.

*****Would I Recommend?*****
I would recommend this film to people who like similar films, such as Apocolypto and to some extent, Braveheart. The sort of historical drama and battle films. However, do not expect a gripping epic from this film as it will be sure to disappoint otherwise. All in all a good film, but not worth much more than £5. 

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