A Volta dos Bravos

Set in the Montana wilderness of the 19th century, "Winterhawk" relates the story of the title character (Michael Dante), a mythical warrior of the Blackfoot people. Despite his feelings towards the white man, he realizes that he will have to ask for their help when smallpox starts to decimate his tribe. He goes to a community with the intention of a trade so that he can obtain needed medicine. But two of the guys in this community are the patently awful Gates (L. Q. Jones) and Scoby (Dennis Fimple), and they merely mock and assault Winterhawk and his fellow emissaries.

In retaliation, Winterhawk kidnaps lovely young Clayanna (Dawn Wells) and her younger brother Cotton (Chuck Pierce, Jr., the son of director Charles B. Pierce), and takes them on a very long journey North. They are followed by community members Big Rude (Woody Strode), Arkansas (Denver Pyle), and Little Smith (Jimmy Clem, a Pierce regular), as well as sullen loner Guthrie (Leif Erickson), who's always been a friend to people like Winterhawk.

This is pretty good, overall. It attempts to be epic in scope, spanning months and seasons, and it's the winter scenes that are the best. As befitting Pierces' style, there is time for some comedy touches, but he treats his Indian characters with dignity, and it's worth noting that not only was he doing his part in keeping the Western genre alive during this time, but he was also taking the time to tell stories that revolved around Indian people.

Overall, despite some very nice scenery and excellent music by Lee Holdridge (as well as a catchy theme song), Pierces' subsequent film "Grayeagle" is superior. For one thing, although he doesn't do a bad job, Dante is not as imposing or commanding a presence as Alex Cord is in that other film. But he's surrounded by such a top bunch of character actors that this picture is still quite watchable. (Strode, playing a strong / silent type, tends to be rather wasted until late in the story.) Also appearing are ever-welcome faces like Elisha Cook, Jr., Arthur Hunnicutt, and the notorious Sacheen Littlefeather as Guthries' young wife. Fimple and especially Jones play jerks so loathsome that you wait patiently for their hoped-for comeuppance.

This viewer could have done without the narration that came across to him as rather pretentious, but "Winterhawk" is still a reasonably engrossing story from writer / producer / director Pierce. Strodes' son Kalai Strode also contributed to the script, uncredited.

Seven out of 10.

You are wrong! This is a great movie! I watched it again and again. I loved the scenery. And the music was beautiful. I love Dawn Wells and thought she was great in this part. A wonderful story that gives a sympathetic view of the American Indian.

Up n the mountains of Montana ad Colorado on the Blackfoot and Flathead Indian reservations it musr have been a rugged shoot for the filming of Winterhawk. Michael Dante in the title role makes a proud and impressive Blackfoot chief.

Who is on a mission for his tribe. He wants to trade with the white trappers in 2840ish Montana, furs for medicine for smallpox . The disease has ravished hs tribe. But the minute the trappers hear smallpox they open fire. So Dante grabs the niece and nephew of missionary Elisha Cook for trade. Dawn Wels who narrates the film from the perspective of old age and Charles Pierce, r., are the barter.

Cook hires Leif Erickson to lead a rescue party. There's also a score to settle with L.Q. Jones who was the one who started te shooting. Erickson has some personal score to settle with Jones.

Beautiful cinematography of the high country is the number one feature of Winterhawk. Dawn Wells's narration is also poignant in many spts. And finally a realistic portrayal of the Blackfeet people.

One good western.

I never finished this picture so this may not be a completely fair evaluation. Seen on AMC it was introduced as a film made in the spirit of Tarentino and others like him where the film maker found his own extras and essentially financed it on a very limited budget. I watched only a half hour and kept dozing off. The actors mostly acted like they had never acted before. No emotion, no realism to what they did or said. And the score! I got so tired of hearing bass voices droning "Winterhawke" in the background that I had to mute it several times. Maybe it picks up further along and gets better. The lead lady was decent in her acting as was her little brother. Who knows, I don't expect to ever go back and find out. 1.5 stars out of 4

Love the scenery, cuz it is in our backyard!!! It was also cut down from the three hour epic that Charles Pierce wanted to make, as we have looked for lots of our friends who were extras is various scenes and they did not make it into the final 98 minutes.

The film also had a sizable budget for that period of time, so I think the issue is more related to the parts that landed on the cutting room floor.

Michael Dante was also extremely arrogant and was hard to work around. Dawn Wells was very nice, as was Denver Pyle who loved the Flathead Valley.