When a major motion picture is delayed from its original release by over a year, you can safely assume that it's a troubled product.  This was the case with "Pathfinder," first slated for a Spring 2006 release, but not finding it's way to theaters until 2007.  The story bands together unlikely elements of a stranded viking lad who is raised by Native Americans, then is later faced with the duties of repelling the invaders when they come back again years later.  From the previews alone, the film lacked any real cinematic inspirations in the production value of this feature and all that I could take away from it was that this was going to be a muddled mess.

When a movie is delayed as long as "Pathfinder" was, there can be various changes expected during the lifecycle, and that's what happened with the score.  Jonathan Elias was ultimately brought on board to create the music for the feature.  Elias is not a name that I am familiar with in the world of film music as he had worked on variety of smaller projects before getting the gig for this one.  While the production value of this movie painfully reminded me of another flop, "Battlefield Earth," I was hopeful that the music would provide a redeeming element from this venture.

 

The music of "Pathfinder" felt a lot like a horror score.  The tempo and atmosphere in which it sets mostly centers on a dark underscore and doesn't take advantage of the thematic elements that the story offered.  Even if the movie is poor, there are ways to maximize the opposing cultures in a creative way, and in my opinion, this went largely under developed.

 

The highlights of the soundtrack are indeed the moments in which Elias fuses the Native American sound with that of a modern film score.  "Pathfinder" is at its best when the battle drums are used to create action elements that provide some level of excitement. The male Native American chants are also nicely adapted, if infrequently used.  However, when these styles are combined together, you can hear a welcome energy emerge and it makes you crave for more of the same.  Sadly, these moments are sparse and the album trails off into the world of incidental music, specifically in the final 20 minutes of the score.  As I stated earlier, the tone becomes more of a horror score than that of an exciting adventure.

 

Another aspect that this album lacked, and one that I am uncertain that I could pick up on, is thematic material that represents the Vikings.  Even if this material is present and I missed it, I would have hoped that it could have been substantial enough to be picked up on during the first listen.  The Vikings are a key player in this saga, after all, yet I was unable to detect any music that clearly represented them. The only segment of music that came close to doing so was in track 7, 'Vikings Attack', which served as primarily an action cue.

 

Although I had a firm opinion that "Pathfinder" would not do well at the box office, I, like most of you soundtrack fans, had some hope that we'd have a chance at some epic music from it.  The score isn't memorable, however, and apart from about 10 to 15 minutes of above average material, there simply isn't enough quality to sustain it.  It's too dark and it lacked emotion, or quite simply, a fighting spirit.

Lastly, the dim outcome of this project has also made it difficult to locate this soundtrack release at many music retailers, so if you do plan on purchasing it, you'll most likely have to do so by ordering it online.  But please, limit your expectations because this score is not the epic you may have originally thought it is.