Nektonic
Veteran
I finally got to see this great little medium budget film that was supposed to be released theatrically, and only ended up being out for a week in a few theaters. Anyways, its out on DVD now.
http://www.amazon.com/Outlander-Jam...ef=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1243741484&sr=1-1
If you like action, science fiction, old Norse legends, sword and sorcery (think Conan type of stories), or genre films with some suspense and fun action then check this one out. It is a somewhat cheesy premise that is handled with a decent amount of gravitas. It could've been handled in a really cheesy way, but they boldly chose to take this seriously. Most of the film takes place in the Norse world, but there are a few otherworldly scenes that had a great old school science fiction feel to them. When I say old school, I don't mean B-movie quality. What I mean is the kind of stuff you might read in an older science fiction novel that took its world and premise seriously. I loved these scenes as well as the Norse world they created. Both worlds' came across as real but also had that sense of underlying magic that makes these types of films so cool and fun.
There isn't a massive amount of character development, but for this type of film there is plenty and it works just fine. It is just one of those films that despite having a simple story, it is just enjoyable and it works. They didn't blow their wad action and spectacle-wise early on either. The film took enough time to establish the characters and the world before the monster starts to really go wild. Acting was good too. Production design and music was as well.
One thing that really grabbed me was the creature. Not only the technical quality of the effects, which were great, but the creature actually has a motivation beyond just being a murderous beast for the protagonist to kill. I actually felt sympathy for this thing once some of the backstory about it was revealed.
The action isn't as epic as a 100 million dollar super hero film of something like Lord of the Rings, but it was still fun and exciting. If you like films like Predator, then this is right up your alley. It isn't horror movie scary, but has some suspenseful scenes and pretty good action. The action also drove the story and didn't feel gratuitous at all.
The effects are surprisingly really well done considering the amount of shots they had on a lower budget. There wasn't a shot that stood out as being an unfinished effects shot. Most big blockbusters these days usually have one or two of those botched FX shots that pull you out of the film for a second. Outlander didn't have anything dodgy effects wise. Of course WETA did the effects, so no surprise on the quality level.
The only complaint is that some shots during the night scenes looked a little washed out in the blacks. I assume that this is due to the film's distributors, the Weinstein Company not really caring about this film. Of course, being a lower budgeted film, it could be that the cinematographer didn't have the time or tools to get everything perfect. Until I hear otherwise, my guess would be that the DVD transfer was possibly rushed to save money. There isn't even a Blu-ray announced for this yet, which saddens me because I would like to purchase this film in HD someday.
It is too bad that Outlander got buried by its distributor, just like another fun sci-fi action flick called Equilibrium did back in 2002. It really deserves to be seen, especially by fans of sci-fi, fantasy, and action. It really is a fun and interesting sci-fi twist on the Beowulf myth.
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) would make it tougher for people to dish out the dough to see it in theatres. Especially with sci-fi/action flicks like Transformers and Wolverine taking up space in said theatres and raising the expectations of sci-fi spectacle.
