Good story, Not enough for a whole film

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Allegorical Western, its Message Siding with a Greuling Chase among the Earth's rugged Natural Environment from the Top to the Bottom, or as the Film would more than Metaphorically Display, from Heaven to Hell, with the "Fallen Angels".The First Two Acts are Typical of Old Time in the Genre, Featuring Closed Mouth Types Speaking in Short Cynical Sentences. Showing the kind of Men who Could Survive on God's Not So Green Earth. There's the Snow and the Desert, Two Extremities on Terra-Ferma that are Not Inhabitable for the Weak and the Unprepared.Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson are the Fallen One's and the Film is Ambiguous about that for quite a While, but in the End there are No Easy Answers, No Saints, just Sinners. As the Film Fades Out it is as Simple as "Vengeance is Mine Sayeth the Lord".Reluctantly Admitting the Gorgeous Cinematography and Fine Acting, some have taken Quite an Offense that the Mystical Intruding is too Heavy Handed, going Against the Classic Western Tradition.The Modern and Postmodern Western has Evolved with the Likes of Mann, Boetticher, Leone, and Peckinpah. If You Prefer John Wayne, John Ford, Howard Hawks and the like, that's Fine. But, the Influences here are the aforementioned.

Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan play pursuer and the pursued in this intelligent, beautifully filmed, and provocative Western / revenge saga. Neeson is a former Confederate officer, Carver, who bears a grudge against solitary ex-Union captain, Gideon (Brosnan). In the company of four other men, Carver relentlessly tracks Gideon down. And he will do absolutely anything to get his man, revealing a hard edged and ruthless nature.As the story plays out, co-writer & director David Von Ancken departs from any sort of convention by going in a much more surreal direction. Therefore, this may not appeal to Western / action fans looking for a traditional revenge story. As the movie starts, we're not made aware of Carvers' and Gideons' shared past; we just know one wants the other dead, BAD. The characters aren't really fleshed out until the end. Although we can make a pretty good guess as to what happened between the two men, it's devastating once we finally see the flashback.Ones' sympathies may waver a bit while watching this. Counteracting the inherent need to root for a person who has been wronged is the fact that Carver is so cold blooded about his mission. This man will NOT be deterred. It's actually easier at the outset to be on Gideons' side, since we don't know the whole story. And the experiences of Gideon as he struggles to survive man and the environment make for some very compelling cinema.Brosnan gives Gideon some likability, while Neeson is commanding as his determined nemesis. The supporting cast reads like a Who's Who of character actor talent: Michael Wincott, Xander Berkeley, Ed Lauter, Tom Noonan, Kevin J. O'Connor, and Wes Studi. Anjelica Huston appears very late in the film as an enigmatic peddler.Everything is breathtakingly photographed by John Toll, and the pacing is deliberate but effective, steadily taking us through one episode at a time. "Seraphim Falls" engages the viewer every step of the way, including its striking and unusual ending.Eight out of 10.

I consider myself a bit of cinephile...yet this hidden gem escaped my attention for 7 years. I stumbled upon it tonight on a random search for things I hadn't seen. I was not disappointed.This is a tight, short, compact beauty of a movie. An acting tour de force (ironically between two irish actors in a western). This movie took in less box office in it's run than 'Taken 2' took in in it's first hour, but what a movie! The whole thing is very atmospheric, moody...you really feel for the two lead characters. Uniquely we never get vested in who is the hero and who is the villain. They both have redeeming qualities, and they both have their dark side. I never felt I was on either side of the equation, I just watched the story unfold without the obligatory Hollywood right vs. wrong, good vs. evil. It was a simple story between two good men and their past misgivings catching up to them. It's not the greatest movie I have ever seen, I didn't learn anything new, but it was a breath of fresh air in the era of cookie cutter movies. The ending was about as anti-Hollywood as I've ever seen.Watch this, you will not be disappointed.

Heh, easy way to write a review...Seriously, after I read this (fellow's?) review I honestly don't think that I could say it any better. As a matter of fact, I bloody well KNOW that I couldn't! : ) The only other thing that I want to add is that this is an EXTREMELY Existentialist film (well, technically until the odd couple of encounters toward the end which will likely turn off the Western 'Realists' that ol' IQ is talking about) As he also said, this is not your usual by the numbers, Good Guys / Bad Guys kind of film. In one way it is REALLY stripped down to very RAW, primitive elements; but, on the other hand there is a very low-key, sort of subtle underlying almost metaphysical feel to it, ESPECIALLY at the end.So, as IQ said about 'Misdirected'; I wouldn't really quite use that word, since I do not feel that the film itself is misdirected, but I would say that people who go to watch this movie can VERY easily and mistakenly be misdirected into thinking or erroneously jumping to the conclusion that it is overly simple and / or boring with nothing much to it.So, in a unique way it is sort of a 'Thinking Man's' Western, but only in a deep down, almost vague kind of way. If you think that you are all intellectual and whatnot, you might easily watch this for a few minutes and think 'I don't see what the big deal is'. But, as the reviewer at DVD Verdict said, once it was over and he gave himself time to digest it, even though ON THE SURFACE it looks really simple, he began to appreciate some of the underlying things about it. So, DON'T expect a bunch of 'Clever' dialog or anything like 'THE USUAL SUSPECTS' or anything remotely like that. The 'Thinking' part isn't based upon any obvious 'Cleverness', but more in a 'Pondering' kind of way well after you have finished watching the movie.Heh, truly a hard one to put across to others as to whether they would want to watch it or not, but like IQ stated far more eloquently than I could, if you consider what kind of Western it is that you enjoy, you should be able to make a decent guess as to whether you would like this film...