Review of Pathfinder (1987) by Mara A — 09 Jan 2012
At first I thought for sure they had sent me the wrong movie. The name didn't seem familiar, nor did the brief synopsis on the DVD sleeve. I went ahead and popped it into the DVD player while I was working, thinking it could be a "white noise movie." I could not have been more wrong.
"Pathfinder", where have you been all my life? This is a truly remarkable, spellbinding movie...why did it not receive more attention? Press? Reviews? Villagers carrying banners of it's name in through the streets?
In my mind it's every bit as good as LOTR (which is a high honor coming from me...precious few movies can be considered in the same league as my beloved LOTR), though with a bit more graphic violence. The fact that it's based on a 1,000 year-old legend added to the intrigue for me. The synopsis truly doesn't do this movie justice.
Clauncy Brown, probably most remembered as the uber-villian in "Highlander", brought just the right sense of "powerful evil" to the character of Gunnar, though Brown himself claimed his character was "not evil, he was just a Viking." I failed to see any difference. Brown's voice is so unmistakable, that just hearing it for this character sort of brings in all the other bad guys he's ever played (and he's played a LOT). It was amusing to watch him in the "Making of...", as it was the first time I'd ever seen him out of makeup and costume.
And yeah, OK, I have *always* had a thing for Jay Tavare...
Like LOTR, great pains were taken to bring realism to this movie, though in the "Making of..." everyone kept insisting "It's just a movie", "It's not based on any one person." Actors learned to speak Icelandic, which is the language attributed to the Vikings. A lot of people went to a lot of trouble to bring realism and authentication to "just a movie." What showed through in the movie was spelled out in the "Making of..." the dedication to doing it right, to realism, to authentication. Even and especially Hollywood can't fake that. Either it's there, or it's not.
This review of Pathfinder (1987) was written by Mara A on 09 Jan 2012.
Pathfinder has generally received mixed reviews.
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