Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Supelice Dreadfully Boring

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Wizard-8 Despite being made by one of Hollywood's most prominent film companies (Regency), and starring James Caan and Christopher Lambert, the distributor (Warner Brothers) doesn't seem to have done much (if anything) in the way of a theatrical release, at least on this side of the ocean. Seeing the movie for myself, I think I can understand why. It's not a TERRIBLE movie - the scenery looks nice at times, and the movie is never boring - but it comes across as flat. Lambert is his usual vanilla self, and Caan at times doesn't seem to be taking this acting assignment with much seriousness. There appear to have been cuts made to the story, either in the screenplay stage or in the editing room, which leads some parts of the movie to be somewhat incoherent or without proper explanation. One explanation for this may be that this movie was a co-production between FOUR countries - maybe details got lost in the constant translation between the parties. The movie obviously had a limited budget, which explains why the movie lacks visual depth and scope at times, often resembling a made-for-TV movie. And in the last part of the movie, Caan's character starts doing some ludicrous things that no man with sense would do in his situation. You are not missing much if you skip by this movie at your video store.

jadflack In the latter part of the 19th century,Alaska is swamped with people claiming land for goldmines and a struggle ensues between a crooked businessman and a half breed over stolen land. This is in all aspects a western but set in land covered with snow and with sledges more than horses.Film is actually mainly norweigian made but also has other countries involved in it's production,so may even come under the euro western genre.Film is slow paced but also strangely seems rushed at times especially at a rather lacklustre climax.James Caan as the villain of the piece plays it all wide eyed and mad looking which is a little over the top.Some sporadic violence and a couple of OK moments but not enough.

classicsoncall I've probably seen James Caan more often as a villain than a hero, and the villain role suits him just fine. He goes from bad to evil to maniacal in the course of the story here, with a twist in the picture that comes out of nowhere that attempts to explain his hatred of the half breed Hudson Santeek (Christopher Lambert). That he's a half breed himself serves no purpose other than to cause this viewer to go "Oh!", so I don't know why that element was even introduced.While watching the film, I hearkened back to my childhood days with 'Sergeant Preston Of The Yukon'; this could have been an extended episode of that show. Great footage of Alaskan sled dogs mushing through wind whipped snowy trails, not quite figuring out how competing sled teams didn't get all tangled up with each other. One thing Preston never had to put up with was getting shot and falling into icy rivers. Man, I can't imagine even being THAT cold! I wonder if the actors got bonus pay for that.I caught this on the Encore Western Channel this evening, and I suppose the 'Western' connotation has some bearing, even if filmed as an Alaskan wilderness adventure. It's got a typically 'B' Western flavor focusing on an evil town boss (Caan) swindling local miners out of their gold claims and leaving them dead in his wake. I can't think of a Western that ever got the body/deed count as high as eleven like this picture did, which can only mean that Christopher Lambert was no Red Ryder or Durango Kid. For his trouble, the man should pour himself a brandy to warm up.

vchimpanzee In Nome, Alaska, in the 1890s, the mining claim of Hudson Saanteek, deceased, is being auctioned off, only he's not really dead. Hudson is a 'half-breed' who wants to preserve land that belongs to the Indians who raised him. Meanwhile, Swedish immigrant Bjorn Svenson wants to claim the land where he has been mining for months, but immigrants are not allowed to have claims. He has to appeal to Sean McLennon, who seems to make the rules in this town and has plenty of money but could always use more. McLennon won't listen, because he despises immigrants as well as half-breeds, and anyone who stands in his way. Later, one of these two problems is dealt with by a kidnapping, and so begins a wintry wilderness adventure.If you like scenes of sled dogs racing through the snow, this movie may be for you (though this wouldn't have been my first choice; it just happened to be on TV). There's lots of excitement once the adventure gets going, and some strange plot twists. James Caan made a deliciously evil and almost comical villain, at least at first. Later, he was just plain mean. The Indians talked mostly in a native language, which added to the realism, and I think most of them gave good performances. One Indian woman never said a word, and yet she could show emotion just with her face, even with very little movement. And one dog, who was listed in the credits as a wolf, even seemed to have a personality. Reidar Sorenson was also quite good as Bjorn, with a style that made me wonder if he has done Shakespeare.Still, this is not that special, and maybe there have been movies like this which were done better.