Grand Nord

Had "North Star" been made in, let's say, the 60s or 70s, then I would be able to watch it and classify it as maybe an eight or nine-star film. It's got the kind of plot that would suit a 90s movie, but the way it's made is far too reminiscent of the past. And when you mix a film that looks modern with a style of the past, it comes out a bit campy. For example, the screenplay seems like it was written a long time ago and went unchanged until just now. Characters laughing at jokes and stuff that are not even remotely funny were common back in the 60s and 70s, but not in films of the 90s. I hate to say it, but sound effects and stuff in this movie like that are also no better than the Westerns of long ago. Thus, the shootouts aren't that exciting. Some parts of "North Star" go on for too long, some parts whip by way too fast.

There are some positive aspects to "North Star" though. Even though it does seem like it's made in the wrong time and kind of cheesy, it is a film that you can sit down and watch without getting bored. Sure, you'll be thinking a lot, "man, that was...weird" or "that wasn't very thrilling" or "that was disappointing", but it is a film where you want to see the rest of it. That's what made me give this film five out of ten stars for a rating. But it's still heavily flawed and had it been made twenty or thirty years before it really was, I think it would have been better.

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.

I spotted plot elements from at least three other movies in this film- 1)the ruthless landowner/businessman abusing the honest foreigners (Heaven's Gate) 2)the kidnapping of the said baddie's girlfriend (Valdez is Coming) 3)the pursuit of the noble hero through the Alaskan wilds (Death Hunt) James Caan played the heel well and Burt Young stole the show as his henchman. Christopher Lambert, however, looked like he was sleepwalking through his role, which ruined the pacing for me. He could have livened up the movie had he shown some interest in getting revenge on those who wronged him.I don't think Nordic Westerns are going to catch on.

Sorry friends this is a frozen turkey; just it's an interesting turkey courtesy of Caan & Young. Years back they made two superior films- The Gambler & The Killer Elite. It's nice to seem them looking so good 25 years later even considering the material.

When the movie starts I started to think of Jimmy Stewart & Walter Brennan in The Far Country. Afterwards, Valdez is Coming. By the end it just freezes to death of its own weight. It's supposed to showcaset this Highlander guy but he doesn't even rise to the level of Steven Seagal.

I laughed and enjoyed Caan as a ruthless businessman turned psycho killer but somewhere Sonny Corleone is shaking his head. John McIntire too.

RELEASED IN 1996 and directed by Nils Gaup, "North Star" is a Western that takes place in Nome, Alaska, during a gold rush in 1899. James Caan plays the love-to-hate mogul who denies mining claims to foreigners and attempts to kill a half-breed Indian (Christopher Lambert) for the claim to a cave filled with gold, which the Natives use in their ceremonies. The half-breed ends up abducting the mogul's woman, played by the beautiful Catherine McCormack, who you might remember as Wallace's doomed wife at the beginning of "Braveheart" (1995). The Winter chase is on!

There are elements of other Westerns here, like "Death Hunt" (1981), "Valdez is Coming" (1971), "The Far Country" (1954), "North to Alaska" (1960) and "Dances With Wolves" (1990), but that's to be expected. On the originality side, it's one of the few fully Winter Westerns of which I can remember beyond "The Great Silence" (1968) and "The Hateful Eight" (2015). Of course, films like "Will Penny" (1967), "Jeremiah Johnson" (1972), "A Man Called Sledge" (1970) and a few others have some fairly long Winter sequences.

While Caan's villainy is too over-the-top for my tastes (although he does it well), I found "North Star" to be a well-done Western, except that the final 11 minutes or so feel rushed. As noted above, I was impressed that this was one of the first Westerns I've seen that focused exclusively on Winter conditions. It goes without saying that shooting in the snow is way more challenging than shooting in other seasons; and even more so if the locale is mountainous. The locations, sets and cast are all first-rate even while the storytelling has somewhat of a comic booky Grade B vibe.

But the filmmakers seemed to hurry the ending. Maybe they wanted to just complete the project and keep it under 90 minutes; or perhaps they weren't confident with the closing footage and awkwardly tried to "make it work" in the editing room. But it's not THAT bad and didn't ruin the experience for me. At the end of the day "North Star" is a worthwhile 'modern Western' that attempts something unique even while being a pastiche of the genre.

THE FILM RUNS 88 minutes and was shot in Norway. WRITERS: No less than five scripters are credited to adopting Heck Allen's novel.

GRADE: B-/C+ (5.5/10)