Find out why and by how much here

“Outlander”, where Beowulf meets Predator. Not for the weak of eyelids.

I wanted this to be the first really exciting sci-fi movie of the 2009. I wanted to be amazed with fantastic stunts and monsters. Instead I got OUTLANDERed.

The movie was not a zero though; it starts as a space ship crashes to Earth, two bodies pop out of the water and get to shore. The one survivor is Kainan (James Caviezel), who we after a while learn that his ship had a stowaway on board. A fierce creature Kainan calls a Moorwen. The Moorwen kills everything in its path, and Kainan must work together with the Vikings to destroy the beast before it destroys them all.

Acting talent is good and is handled well with Caviezel in the lead role and Jack Huston as Wulfric, the Viking Prince and soon to be King. John Hurt plays the current King, Rothgar, and Freya is played by Sophia Myles, best known for her role as Isolde in ‘Tristan and Isolde’.

Huston, the grandson of Director John Huston and the nephew of actress Angelica Huston, does his lineage well and does not disappoint in his role.

There is also Ron Perlman, ‘Hellboy I’, as Gunner, a rival chieftain. He does not do much but he dies pretty well.

The special effects are so-so. The Moorwen looks good although I thought it had a phaser blasting out of its mouth. It did not.

Release for this movie is limited to 200 theaters across the United States, If you liked Beowulf, Pathfinder and playing Dungeons and Dragons you will enjoy this.

“Outlander” is touted as an independent movie. At a cost of almost 50 million dollars, which in my book takes it out of the independent range and even past low budget, into mid budget range. I expected more. Wait for cable release.