Outlander (2008)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Howard McCain

Writers (WGA):

Dirk Blackman (written by) &
Howard McCain (written by)

Release Date:

11 July 2008 (Latvia)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

It destroyed his world. He won't let it destroy ours.

Plot:

During the reign of the Vikings, Kainan, a man from a far-off world, crash lands on Earth, bringing with him an alien predator known as the Moorwen. Though both man and monster are seeking revenge for violence committed against them, Kainan leads the alliance to kill the Moorwen by fusing his advanced technology with the Viking's Iron Age weaponry.

Plot Keywords:

Viking | Alien | Old Norse | Beowulf | Norse

Cast

James Caviezel	...	Kainan
Sophia Myles	...	Freya
Jack Huston	...	Wulfric
John Hurt	...	Rothgar
Cliff Saunders	...	Boromir
Patrick Stevenson	...	Unferth
Aidan Devine	...	Einar
Ron Perlman	...	Gunnar
Bailey Maughan	...	Erick
John Nelles	...	Donal (as John E. Nelles)
James Preston Rogers	...	Bjorn (as James Rogers)
Scott Owen	...	Aethril
Petra Prazak	...	Mara
Owen Pattison	...	Galen, son of Kainen
Matt Cooke	...	Captain

MPAA:

Rated R for violence.

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English | Norse, Old

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | UK:15 | Singapore:M18 | Singapore:NC-16 (edited version) | Ireland:15A | Hong Kong:IIB | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Bay of Islands, Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Company:

Weinstein Company, The

Trivia:

Renny Harlin was originally slated to direct when Howard McCain was pitching the script to film studios some years back.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Freya comes face to face with the creature in the cave, saliva from the creature's mouth drops on her cheek. On the next shot we see her face is clear. Then on the next shot the creature's saliva is on her face again.

Quotes:

Wulfric: This is where your ship went down?
Kainan: That's right.
Wulfric: In a lake?
Kainan: Don't ask.

B+ movie

I was very skeptical before watching this film. Even if it got John Hurt and Ron Perlman in it, I just couldn't believe the SciFi/Norse legend combination would work. My instinct told me that this was going to be another of those horrible B-movies with a stupid story, sub-average effects and mediocre acting at best. I was, however, pleasantly surprised. Not that it is a masterpiece. The background story could have been a tad bit more elaborate, the plot more original and the final outcome a little bit less predictable, but all in all one has to acknowledge the decent effort to make this movie convincing and suspenseful. The end result is a solid piece of entertainment, with ample effects, directing I'd call 'by the book', workmanlike acting and a few kicks and thrills along the way. So if you happen to like action movies and don't ask for too much depth in the story, this will provide you with a 90 minutes amusement worth the time.