Outlander DVD Review
Sci-Fi/Viking Hybrid Surprisingly Entertaining
It's hard to imagine that a blending of science fiction and Viking lore could actually work as a film. Howard McCain's Outlander manages to pull off this quirky combination with skill, and the movie ultimately stands as a rousing piece of entertainment.
Outlander Plot
Outlander finds Kainan (Jim Caviezel), a soldier from another world, crash landing on Earth circa 750 A.D. He is immediately taken prisoner by the members of a Viking village. Unfortunately Kainan isn’t the only thing that crashed. A monstrous creature called a Moorwen begins decimating the village and only Kainan has the knowledge and skill to stop it. But convincing his captors of that proves to be a difficult task, and the threat of an impending war with another Viking clan isn’t helping. Luckily King Rothgar (John Hurt) and his daughter Freya (Sophia Myles) take an interest in Kainan, believing he may be the only one who can save them all.
A potentially disastrous blend of sci-fi and medieval hack and slash action, Outlander proves to be an incredibly fun and interesting film. While not having a fraction of the budget of Wolverine, the films effects are still impressive, especially the alien Moorwen. The Moorwen uses bioluminescence to lure its prey, and the visual effect of the creature turning from neon blue to neon red in a darkened cave is striking.
Director Howard McCain has crafted a wonderfully entertaining movie that by all reasonable expectations should have been a bad Sci-Fi Channel original movie. The visuals are striking, the action scenes rousing, and the script by McCain and Dirk Blackman manages to nicely balance character development and action. Each major character is well-defined and the actors acquit themselves nicely. Caviezel has always been a reliable actor and he is surrounded by a strong supporting cast, including Myles, Hurt, Jack Huston and the always fantastic Ron Perlman.
Outlander comes to DVD from The Weinstein Company and Genius Products. Sadly there is no U.S. Blu-ray release planned at this point, which is a tragedy as Outlander is a beautifully shot movie that screams for a high-def treatment. That being said, this is a solid DVD effort from Genius.
Outlander Picture Quality
Outlander is an inherently dark movie, but blacks are strong and detail is clear. The Moorwen effects are brightly colored and stand out nicely against the darker palette of the film. There’s minimal edge enhancement, and skin tones and textures are nicely realistic.
Outlander Audio Quality
Outlander has a clear booming soundtrack, with a rousing score. Dialogue is fairly clear, although there are some scenes where the dialogue is lost amid the background noise. Action scenes will give speakers a good workout.
Outlander DVD Extras
The best extras are over 40 minutes of deleted and extended scenes. Most of the scenes were cut for budgetary or pacing reasons, but they do shed some light on some of the subplots of the film. For fans of the film they will be well worth checking out. The disc also includes commentary from the director and producers, production art galleries, animatics and visual effects tests. All together, it is a fairly loaded disc.
Outlander is a fantastic blend of sci-fi and Viking film. It is a real treat for those who are willing to seek it out. It’s got all of the sword-swinging, limb chopping action one would expect from a Viking film, coupled with all of the spaceships and aliens one could want in a sci-fi film.
Final Rating (Out of *****)
Movie ****
Video ****
Sound ****
Extras ***
Rated R for Violence
115 Minutes
For more information on the movie go to http://outlander.solsector.net
Buy the DVD at here
Outlander One-Sheet
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