Have you ever considered what would happen if a space alien who looked exactly like a human being landed in Norway in 709 A.D. and joined a tribe of Vikings engaged in a life or death struggle against a dragon from outer space? Nope, me neither.

Plot Summary

Kainan, a fellow from an unidentified space faring race, crash-lands his spaceship into a lake in Norway. His only companion is killed in the crash, leaving Kainan stranded on our planet. Fortunately, he has a nifty portable computer that he rescues from the damaged spaceship, which can teach him Norwegian as spoken in 709 A.D. by the natives. He recovers a weapon, and sets off into the wilderness.

Discovering a partially destroyed village but no bodies, Kainan investigates but is quickly knocked out by a Viking on a horse, his advanced weapon lost. Taken away to a thriving Viking village as a prisoner, he is treated as an enemy, assumed to be a member of the raiding party that destroyed the first village.

Telling the locals that he comes from an island far to the north, Kainan explains that he has accidentally brought a 'dragon' with him on a ship. No one really believes him, but the Vikings take him along when they go looking for whoever or whatever destroyed the village. They corner a large bear in a cave, and after a fight, Kainan slays it, saving King Rothgar. This act ingratiates him with the Vikings, especially the King's daughter Freya.

Of course, there really is a 'dragon' lurking in the wilderness. Called a Moorwen, the savage creature from outer space does look sort of like a mythological dragon, glowing red when it's angry and discharging energy, sort of like breathing fire. While fighting off an attack from a neighboring Viking tribe, the two groups are forced to join forces to fight the Moorwen. The rest of the film is taken up by the struggle of Kainan and the Vikings trying to kill the Moorwen using only swords and spears.

My Impressions

The initial setup asks you to believe several impossible things. Kainan looks and acts like a human being and he has a computer module that can imprint him with the local Norwegian dialect even though he crash-lands on Earth by accident. He's only unconscious for a short period of time, yet the Moorwen escapes the spaceship that sunk to the bottom of a Norwegian lake, locates and raids a local village, and removes all of the corpses in a short period of time. And just how did this giant 'dragon' that's so incredibly violent managed to sneak on board the spaceship in the first place?

Firmly suspending my disbelief, I found the rest of the film quite enjoyable. Seeing the Viking village through the eyes of a stranger, meeting and ultimately romancing the King's beautiful daughter, and engaging in several battles with swords, spears and axes made for a thrilling movie. Watching Ron Perlman fight with a stone hammer in each hand made for an excellent battle scene.

Sophia Myles plays Freya, daughter of King Rothgar. She does an excellent job, both because she's extraordinarily lovely, and because she’s one of those rare actresses that can actually act. The lady is believable as a hard-working village woman preparing meals and serving in the King's Hall. She's equally believable on the battlefield, slaying a Viking warrior from an opposing tribe who has attacked her. The mild hysterics she has after killing the man fit her character as someone who has been trained to use a sword but never fought actively in the war before.

The Moorwen spends most of the film in the shadows, with only little bits of it seen at any one time. The glowing red light the creature emits as it kills is used to good effect -- making it essentially an unseen monster in the darkness grabbing off one Viking warrior after another. I personally rather enjoyed the scene where the Moorwen grabbed up and destroyed the Christian missionary who was chanting an exorcism as though the creature was Lucifer himself.

If you're expecting a historically accurate view of life amongst the Vikings, please remember that this is not a documentary. It's an adventure film. If you're expecting high art and a poignant drama that will move you to tears, you're going to be disappointed. Outlander is an adventure film.

If you're looking for an adventure film with lots of sword fighting, stone hammers, and slaying a honest-to-goodness dragon, this is the film for you. There's even a beautiful damsel in distress -- although she does her fair share of rescuing as well. A good cast, and good camerawork make this a most enjoyable adventure.

Rated R for violence

Directed by: Howard McCain
Cast:
James Caviezel	Kainan
Sophia Myles	Freya
Jack Huston	Wulfric
Ron Perlman	Gunnar
John Hurt	Rothgar
John Beale	Edmund
Katie Bergin	Sonja
Matt Cooke	Captain
Aidan Devine	Einar
Drakaina	Kitchen wench
Michael Fox	Alien Warrior
J. William Grantham	Drunken Reveler
Allyson Haas	Villager
Craig Harris	Viking Warrior
Ricardo Hoyos	Jon
Amy Kerr	Bored Kitchen Wench
Ted Ludzik	Olaf
Bailey Maughan	Erick
Liam McNamara	Finn
John Nelles	Donal
Simon Northwood	Warrior
Mark A. Owen	Raider
Scott Owen	Aethril
Owen Pattison	Galen, son of Kainen
Petra Prazak	Mara
James Rogers	Bjorn
Todd Sandomirsky	Shishkebob
Cliff Saunders	Boromir
Todd William Schroeder	Warrior
Colette Stevenson	(voice)
Patrick Stevenson	Unferth
Steven Wendland	Viking Warrior