It's entertaining nonsense with major league special effects, larger-than-life characters and inventive monsters that draw on the "Aliens" and "Predator" models, being terrifying but also vaguely sympathetic.
Surprise number one: It's smarter than it looks. Surprise number two: That doesn't entirely ruin it as an action film.
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
An enjoyably goofy hybrid of extraterrestrial sci-fi and Iron Age action, Outlander boasts a super-serious Jim Caviezel in the title role
50
VarietyDerek Elley
VarietyDerek Elley
Not helped by a wooden perf from Jim Caviezel as a humanoid alien who accidentally imports a real alien to eighth-century Earth.
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Outlander is interesting as a collision of genres: the monster movie meets the Viking saga. You have to give it credit for carrying that premise to its ultimate (if not logical) conclusion.
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
The nuttiest hunk of junk in many months.
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
By taking nonsense seriously Outlander never achieves camp. It's a comic book that's mistaken itself for scripture.
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
If only Outlander was as fun as the premise makes it sound on paper.
25
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
There isn't a single scene in this story about a traveler from another planet (Jim Caviezel) who crash-lands on Earth during the Iron Age that doesn't remind you of another, better movie.
20
Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
Writer-director Howard McCain bids fair to dethrone Uwe Boll as the king of crap action flicks, and every second feels like time on the cross.