Distributed by 20th Century Fox, it stars Karl Urban, Clancy Brown, Ralf Moeller, Moon Bloodgood, Russell Means, Jay Tavare, and Nathaniel Arcand.

A Viking Age expedition arrives in North America, intending to subjugate or slaughter the native "Skræling" population.

Now finally respected as the bravest of the tribe and one of their own, Ghost assumes his position watching over the coast if the Vikings ever return.

For the theatrical release and the initial DVD release, director Marcus Nispel had been forced to cut the gore and digitally remove some of the extreme violence out of at least 32 scenes, and also a scene of Ghost and Starfire making love in a cave, so that the film could gain an R rating from the MPAA.

Nispel was also forced to trim down 23 scenes (including significant plot development) for reasons of time and pacing.

[7] A review on the BBC website gave the film two out of five stars, stating, "...this Norse saga plays like a 100 minute trailer; there's no character development, no real plot, just a string of high-concept action sequences... ...director Marcus Nispel [a veteran director of music videos] helms it like it's a nu-metal video: swirling dry ice, thundering Dolby sound effects, and oversized Vikings who look like WWF wrestlers.

"[8] Peter Debruge of Variety wrote, "This latest bit of historical balder-dash stands in direct defiance of proven action-movie formulas, trusting its brutal concept and striking visuals to overcome a lack of star power.

"[9] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times wrote, "All grunting, all goring, the witless action flick "Pathfinder" has little to recommend it".

[12] Among the more positive reviews, Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter stated that the film "nicely balances action and adventure with American Indian wisdom and a modest romance to provide a graphic-comic-book movie experience for males in urban markets.

"[13] Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe praised the "grueling action sequences", granting that the filmmakers "choreograph some excitement" in two scenes "in a 99-minute adventure that feels longer than that".

[18][19] The graphic novel was built around dialogue written by the film screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis and with art by comic book artist Christopher Shy.