Le tonnerre rouge

ALIEN THUNDER is based on the true story of Almighty Voice, a Cree Indian fugitive that eluded the Mounties for over a year. Donald Sutherland plays Mounty Dan Candy who is obsessed with "getting his man". The film is alternately sympathetic towards the white police officers and the Native Americans. Two of the First Nation stars are Oscar nominated Chief Dan George who plays Sounding Sky and, in his screen debut, Gordon Tootoosis in the title role. It is Donald Sutherland who steals the show with his role as the tall tale telling, comforting, determined N.W.M.P.. The film is recommended not for its plot, which wears a bit thin, but for it's vivid capturing of early Canadian pioneer life and Northern Cree culture.

I have low expectations when I watch a movie released on Mill Creek. It's not like I surrender a substantial amount of money to purchase a Mill Creek release. Plus, I am happy to be able to view movies from the past that have fallen into relative obscurity.

In order to keep costs down I don't expect, nor anticipate, a top notch transfer. And it can even be a little fun watching whatever scratched up print Mill Creek has procured.

Nevertheless, I was deeply disappointed by the absolute total lack of effort in the transfer for Dan Candy's Law.

As fas as I can tell, you somehow obtained the worst print possible (from Chief Dan George's basement, perhaps?) and decided to project it on a dirty bed sheet you acquired from an intern and then video taped it with a 1983 Sony video camera.

I'm guessing pan and scan is too costly, as well as going to the inconvenience of maintaining the original aspect ratio of the movie with a letterbox. But still, the transfer of Dan Candy's Law indicates complete and absolute indifference to your product.

I loved how a watermark with the Mill Creek logo appeared every so often in the bottom right hand corner. It was if Mill Creek were concerned that the viewer might forget who was responsible for their incompetence.

I can only hope that the majority of viewers of this film don't have to experience it via the Mill Creek release. Seeing half of Donald Sutherland's face half of the time is not a rewarding cinematic experience.

Donald Sutherland who was Canadian never misses a chance to boost the film industry in his native country. With this in mind he starred in Alien Thunder about the true story of Cree Indian who was arrested for some minor charge, but resented confinement and escaped. The Cree, Gordon Tootoosis kills Mountie Kevin McCarthy who is Sutherland's partner.

In Canada as well as in the USA when you're partner is killed you're supposed to do something about it. That's what The Maltese Falcon teaches us. Sutherland feels the same way, but the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were never in the same kind of numbers that our US Cavalry were, they didn't need to be. It was a more solitary occupation with them having to cover the vast wilderness in this case of Canada's Northwest Territory.

I didn't see a particularly good print of the film, it had a really grainy and washed out look to it. That could have been corrected, but the rather dull telling of the story was not something better cinematography or editing could have remedied. The performances by the cast were sincere and the Indians were as realistically portrayed as ever been on screen.

An interesting story that was ruined with a dull treatment.

I only gave this movie a 4, but that's mainly because it was kind of slow. I like Chief Dan George, so that was a plus right there. I read a comment from one of the commentors and he mentioned how grainy the picture was and I pretty much experienced the same thing. However I thought it added realism to the movie. The dialogue, the sets, the wardrobe, the scenery. It almost looked like someone had a video camera back in those days and actually filmed what was taking place. It's always a good thing when movies use real Indians instead of actors that are painted up to look like Indians. You would think that I would have givin' this movie a higher rating with all the positive things I've said, but it is a movie to fall asleep too. I got this movie in a 20 movie pack, so what the heck.

Alien Thunder is a 1974 Canadian film that deals with the conflict between European and Indigenous (Cree) people who already populated regions of Canada and USA, focusing on the search for a Cree individual (Almighty Voice) who kills a cow that did not belong to him, kills a military in the process and becomes a fugitive. As has always happened in colonization processes in history, the Indigenous people lose a lot in the clash with the Europeans. The film does not make very clear some details of an event that was crucial for the development of the story and, also, does not develop well the interpersonal relationships between several of the participants in the story. In my opinion, it is not a good film - at most, it is regular.