kmosier-2

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.

As a 48 year old weekend biker I was very much looking forward to this film, but after reading the overwhelmingly positive reviews by other posters I have to wonder if I saw a different version of this movie. I felt the chemistry between the stars was lacking and many of the sets were contrived. This film reminded me of a low budget made for TV effort and was as predictable as the day is long. I tried to eat my popcorn and treat the movie as pure fluff, but I kept thinking - would I like to be on this road trip with these guys? The answer was a resounding NO. I won't say it was all bad, and there were several funny scenes, but this is not one I would see again.

This is a movie I, like many others, caught on late night TV. Being a long-time Jeff Bridges fan, I thought I would give this a whirl when it showed up on TBS back in the 80's. I was immediately transfixed by the atmosphere, the haunting music and most of all the casting. All of the characters were on target and I can't recall a movie with more "character" actors than this one. Scott Wilson, Randy Quaid, Ed Lauter, Keil Martin and 70's staple Paul Koslo all add to the richness of this flick. There were no real bad guys in my mind. Even Rod Steiger's psychotic yet tortured portrayal evoked sympathy. I was able to tape a showing about 15 years ago and still have the VHS. I am half afraid to watch it because if anything happened to it it's practically irreplaceable. With all the garbage being released on DVD these days I would love to see more quality pictures such as this being released.