Iron Will - Der Wille zum Sieg

The Grey Rating: Iron Will A flexible rating system used to determine the quality of a movie based on a methodical comparison with the film masterpiece, The Grey.

+ Winter and cold conditions.

+ Hypothermia

+ Water in sub zero temperature

+ Survival in arctic conditions

+ Perseverance of the protagonist against overwhelming odds

+ Savage canines (not wolves exactly)

• Definitely overdone

• Predictable

• Lack of Sir Liam Neeson

How much of this story is true is up for dispute. I suspect most of it is highly exaggerated. Nonetheless, it is inspirational and fun to watch: an excellent adventure tale.

The movie reminded me of "White Fang" with the winter scenery and the young hero, played by MacKenzie Astin, looking and sounding much like Ethan Hawke. The story was simply about a dog-sled race in the early part of the 20th century.

The picture is beautifully shot, especially the train scenes, and looks very good on DVD. The villains in here aren't as despicable as in other films, so it's more pleasant to watch. I enjoyed the entire story except for the whistling at the finish line which was a bit stupid, but that's minor.

This is one of Disney's better efforts.

I got the chance to work on this movie on the special effects crew as a local hire. It was a really interesting how we shot the movie, and how it ended up being put together. Makes you understand how important the editors are. Things that we shot weeks apart and in different locations ended up in the same scene in the movie. w Wen he goes off the cliff I am hiding just over the lip holding a safety line. It was extremely cold the first couple of weeks shooting - it was shot mostly around Duluth Minn, then it got warm and everything melted and we spent HOURS spreading potatoe flakes to make snow. The final scene of the movie - most of the snow was trucked in to cover the streets.

Growing up on a farm in South Dakota "Will Stoneman" (Mackenzie Astin) is worried about the financial impact of his going to college will have for his family. Then one day his father "Jack Stoneman" (John Terry) is killed in an accident and needing money to prevent his mother "Maggie Stoneman" (Penelope Windust) from having to sell everything, he decides to enter a dog race in Canada which offers $10,000 to the winner-which is a hefty sum in 1917. Yet, even though he is quite familiar with dog sleds , the brutal nature of this race is like nothing he could have imagined and it will take everything he has just to survive. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that there was indeed a dog race held that year which started in Winnipeg and finished in St. Paul, Minnesota. But that's about all this story gets right. So to suggest that the story was embellished is an understatement in and of itself. Regardless, this film does have a "feel good" quality about it and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Being that I like to wonder about what really happened in historical films, I had been curious about what really happened in that race. I did everything I could to find out about the "real Will" and found out some interesting information. On a history of dog-sledding site it is said that the race made famous was dramatized in the movie Iron Will, was loosely based. That's an understatement. They change the hero's name from Frederick S. Hartman to Will Stoneman. It's not so bad, I love the movie it's excellent, and I suppose if they had kept the ending to what really happened it wouldn't have been so inspiring (nothing melancholy, but Frederick actually lost the race). What I like about Disney films is that they have some theme to it. Writers and English Lit teachers know what I am talking about: An inner meaning that the writers have inside the story. You see this over and over again in movies, and Disney is excellent at it.

The acting is great, the screenplay is all right, history aside it's not too bad. After all, history can be bleak sometimes, and hope springs eternal, we can always dream and imagine right? For film score fans like me, the music, which I always am interested in, is not so bad, the main theme is nice, but it's not as good as the music from Interview With The Vampire or Forrest Gump.

Bottom line, don't be taken too much by the tagline about it being a "true story;" if you do research you will be disappointed. Other than that, see it if you haven't yet. It's excellent. Just because it has hardly anything to do with the truth doesn't mean it's not a great movie.