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Pathfinder
EMAILPRINTTwentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 23 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 27 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Action | Adventure | Drama | War
Written by:
Laeta Kalogridis
Nils Gaup (1987 screenplay Veiviseren)
Directed by: Marcus Nispel
Release Date:
Theatrical: April 13, 2007
DVD: July 31, 2007
Running Time: 100 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for strong brutal violence throughout
Starring Jay Tavare, Nicole Muñoz, Michelle Thrush, Karl Urban, Moon Bloodgood, Russell Means, Clancy Brown, and Ralf Moeller
In an untamed, primordial America, 500 years before Columbus will reach its shores, unfolds an epic battle between love and hate that will change one man’s destiny and the future of a nation: Pathfinder. (20th Century Fox)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
Nicely balances action and adventure with American Indian wisdom and a modest romance to provide a graphic-comic-book movie experience for males in urban markets.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
Urban and Bloodgood make the most of their parts, locking eyes and arms, and occasionally using American English as if the snowy 10th century were another way of saying, "Where the après ski?"
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
It's undone by a murky palette, silly horror-movie cliches, dumb dialogue and a confusing climactic sequence.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
Pathfinder is aimed more at the action-figure crowd than the history buffs.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Robert Dominguez
After the first 1,000 or so beheadings, impalements and severed limbs, Pathfinder's slash may just induce sleep.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson
If this uninspired fight-fest had been delayed out of existence, it's unlikely anyone would have missed it.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Pathfinder's moody, muddy look is courtesy of music-video director Marcus Nispel, who doesn't distinguish between people and tree trunks when it comes to emotional content.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman
Mainly it's messy, and I don't just mean the gouged-out eyeball in a puddle.
Read Full Review >Variety Peter Debruge
Like "300" and "Apocalypto," this latest bit of historical balder-dash stands in direct defiance of proven action-movie formulas, trusting its brutal concept and striking visuals to overcome a lack of star power.
Read Full Review >Empire Ian Nathan
For crying out loud, Marcus -- all you had to do was have Vikings fight Indians! How hard was that?
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
All cinematic creativity seems to have focused on devising the most repellent ways to maim and murder.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Michael Ordona
One of the funniest films of the year. That's not good news for this attempted action-adventure, which clearly lost its way in its own copious fog.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Jessica Grose
There is one redeeming skirmish -- the climactic fight involving a snowy cliff and an elaborate pulley system -- but from the guy who's directed videos for Cher, Amy Grant, Billy Joel, and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony? We expected more.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Matthew Sorrento
The fault here lies in the film’s dead rhythm, which never lights the sparks necessary for an action film. The plot and action progress like an eroding lakeshore, but the energy and excitement are washed away in every scene.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
It's a tedious experience in almost every way: The acting is numbingly one-note, the CGI work is unconvincing and often downright shoddy, and the action is poorly staged and framed so close you can never tell for sure who is lopping off whose head.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
The movie takes us on a journey to an ugly, contentious period in our misty, ancient past - all the way back to four months ago, when "Apocalypto" came out.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Colin Covert
Too small to be a spectacle, too humorless to take seriously and too stupid to pass muster at a middle school writing workshop.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
In a way, it's perfect: You can't imagine anyone seeing this mess and not feeling lesser for the experience.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Stephen Hunter
Makes "Conan the Barbarian" seem like Dostoyevsky in its complexity.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Manohla Dargis
The director, Marcus Nispel, takes his butchery very seriously. (He was the lead vivisectionist for the remake of "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.") He may not be able to make this movie move, but, man, can he make an eyeball fly.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
No more than a minute into this, and it becomes obvious that the next 98 are going to be trouble.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
Here's my nomination for future grindhouse double-bill from hell: Pathfinder and "Apocalypto."
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 3.8 (out of 10) based on 27 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jared C. gave it a10:
It may start off dumb, but you get used to its dumbness after a while, and in its own thrilling way its good. Well, at least I liked it.
Rory T. gave it a1:
Just a trashy movie no nudity at all that would have been good to have in cause the only good thing in there was the Vikings aumor and shit.
Byron M gave it a2:
An unwatchable mess made from a wretched script. Even a comatose patient would walk out of this movie.
Steve L. gave it a3:
The plot line was quite far fetched even including the "historical elements" of the film. In response to Franklin's claim about the horses on the boats, that part actually is true. Horses were expensive commodities and vikings would bring them and any other practical belongings with them when they were going "a viking." Unfortunately, this doesn't make the movie any better.
Snacky Bear gave it a3:
The thing that disturbs me most about this movie is that I could not imagine how the vikings could fit their horses into their narrow-hulled ships, because as I saw from the movie, these were the kind of ships they used to cross the ocean and reach foreign land. I'm not familiar with Nordic history, but did the vikings rear and ride horses? Maybe they should have incorporated Led Zep's "Immigrant Song" into this movie to make it sound better because the dialogue was diabolical.
Franklin T. gave it a2:
If this had been generic fantasy I would have rated 4 for its hackneyed plot . But it was supposed to be semi-historical about a real clash of cultures and it manages to get everything wrong from costuming, weaponry and everyday modes of life. It makes the Vikings .ook incompetent at their profession of plundering and the warriors of the amierican indians look even worse. Avoid this movie.
Scotty gave it a6:
Ok, first off I have to say the Metacritic team pointed out like one flaw with the film and I am sorry if this offends you, but um, Its a freakin movie. Plus, he knew the viking language very well when he was eight, when he was abandoned. Stupid reviews aside, I think this might be the most underrated movie of the year. The cinematography, the sound, the focus on action rather than a lot of dialogue were all merits. Not to over glorify the film, however, it is everything you expect violence, stupid dialogue when its there, some cheesy moments, goofs, and a somewhat cliche story. If you walk in with that mindset, hey you will probably enjoy the movie. Its everything you might expect, its just going to entertaining getting there. And you know what? We don't see too many movies about the vikings, so there has to be points given for that. Overall, Pathfinder is g a slightly above average movie that makes me wonder, by all the bad reviews, if the reviewers forgot what it was like to enjoy a movie.
