Perseguição Mortal

Charles Bronson is an ex-patriot of the United States who travels to the Yukon to escape his past. He gets on the bad side of a group of trappers, kills one of them in self-defense, and is wrongfully accused of murder. Lee Marvin as a veteran Mountie, Carl Weathers, and fresh from training Mountie Andrew Stevens set out to track Bronson down as he tries to escape into Alaska.

The acting in this film is sensational, the settings are true to life, and the story is riveting. A must see!

I had fond memories of watching Death Hunt as a teenager and I thought it would be worth revisiting.

Charles Bronson plays, Albert Johnson, a solitary trapper who becomes the target of revenge after rescuing a dog from a cruel fight. He also slaps some manners into the owner in the process.

Feeling emasculated and weakened the man gets a gang together and turns up at Albert's cabin to teach him a lesson. A gunfight ensues, and in one of the men gets a belly full of lead. Sgt. Edgar Millen, played by Lee Marvin, of the Mounty police has the grim task of cleaning up the mess and bringing order. He takes one look at the situation and can see that it was the fault of trigger-happy hotheads, but with one man dead he has no choice but to Albert in. It's the law.

He refuses, of course, and it kickstarts a chain of events that leads them on a chase across the snow-covered mountains of Yukon in Northern Canada. Things get out of hand when a bet in a local tavern has every gun-toting buffoon in the county joining the posse.

Watching Death Hunt it's hard not to think of First Blood or The Fugitive. You'll find elements of both here. Made in 1981 this is without doubt one of last great Charles Bronson movies. It's also, given the fact that he only has three lines dialogue, one of his best performances. Lee Marvin is a commanding presence, as ever, but looks tired. Those years of boozing and smoking have obviously caught up with him. Then there's Angie Dickensian, playing the part of the only woman in the movie and I think that's the only reason she was there.

While this is based on a true story, all signs indicate that this was a very, very loose interpretation of the events of the real Albert Johnson.

This is an almost forgotten film, a status which is undeserved. Loosely based on a true story, it is the tale of a lone, mysterious trapper who irks some thugs in the Canadian wilderness, leading to a massive manhunt by the Mounties. Bronson (virtually silent throughout and thus quite effective) is a resourceful target, at once gentle and violent. Marvin is the grizzled head of the mounted police who has the task of tracking down and capturing a man with whom he can identify. Their unspoken understanding is fascinating to see. Marvin is aided by a wet-behind-the-ears, by-the-book officer played by Stevens. It would be hard to imagine a more adorable sight than fresh-scrubbed Stevens in his red uniform entering the grungy town where the police are stationed. He is gorgeous.....and quite a fine actor. It is a shame that he wasn't able to get to a better place with his acting career. The film is peppered with a ton of familiar (if dirty) faces from old westerns of TV and film. All of the lynch mob look like people who've been guest villain on "Bonanza" or "The Big Valley". One major drawback is Dickinson. It's hard to believe that someone can be miscast in a role as tiny as this one, but she is. Her anachronistic teased hair drains what little 1930's period flavor there is from the film and she is wooden in all her scenes. Apparently, she was stunt-cast because of her previous work with Marvin, but it failed miserably. There is a bit of a connection to "Dances with Wolves" in this film, Maury Chaykin and Tantoo Cardinal appear in both films and Bronson even develops a similar relationship with a vicious dog as Costner does with his wolf. The film is something like "First Blood" + "The Fugitive" x snow - 40 years. It is a great example of the "Bronson versus the world" type of film and offers a solid Marvin performance as well. There is more going on here than one might think. The final showdown is quite dramatic and suspenseful. The scenery is also great.

Here is a story set in Canada about Canadians and yet it was made by the US. I have to ponder why Canada didn't jump on doing this story themselves. If one wonders why Canadian movies are so lame (about failure, disease, depression, weird humor) I would say it is because culturally we have an aversion to examining ourselves in a critical fashion whereas other countries do it quite naturally. England has made films about notorious murders, same with Australia, or Germany (Tenderness of the Wolves), and of course, the US. This story would have been perfect material for a domestic movie--but I can find no evidence that Canada ever sought to make this story themselves. I can understand with the stars involved that they dramatized it and changed the facts, but if it were done with no stars, and kept to the historical story, it still would have been fascinating. But the government film funding bodies don't like stories that present Canada in a negative light. At least in the English side-I know Quebec has covered stories on its history in fictional fashion. I remember the furor over a Canadian murder case when a Canadian producer wanted to make a film about it and was harshly condemned, so the US made it-and Canadian crew people vowed not to work on it. This is seriously screwed up thinking. If Canada wants to develop a normal film industry it needs to be less reserved and more self-examining.... On the film itself, I agree with the sentiments that you wouldn't see this film made today-and if you did, it would star model-types. Character actors have really gone extinct. Some of the melodramatic touches in the film worked for me (the dog, the trapper Bill), others fell flat(the inserted love story). Still, Bronson was effective (you could totally believe he was a rugged mountain man) and Marvin had some good lines (I am sure Canadian government culture ministers would have axed his comment calling the trappers "savages" if it was made in country).

Death Hunt is directed by Peter Hunt and written by Michael Grais and Mark Victor. It stars Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin, Carl Weathers, Ed Lauter, Andrew Stevens, Scott Hyland, Maury Chaykin and Angie Dickinson. Music is by Jerrold Immel and cinematography by James Devis.

Film is loosely based on the real "Mad Trapper" man hunt that occurred in the Yukon Territory, Canada, 1931.

Directed by the man who helmed On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and starring two of the iconic stars of The Dirty Dozen, it's no surprise to find Death Hunt full of machismo. What transpires is a two part movie, where time is afforded the set up for the first half, and the second half features the man hunt across the Yukon landscapes.

Plot basically sees Bronson as nomadic loner Albert Johnson (The Mad Trapper of lore), who rescues a severely injured dog from a dog fight held by baying locals, much to their displeasure. Unwisely tracking Johnson down and taking him on, one of their number is shot and killed. So in come the legal guys, the RCMP, led by grizzled old pro Edgar Millen (Marvin), who desperately tries to keep things in order as the situation quickly spirals out of control. As Johnson takes to the snowy terrain, with Millen and co in pursuit, a respect begins to form between the two wise heads, with Millen very much aware that there will be only one winner in this hunt.

So it goes, framed by lovely location photography, and with Bronson and Marvin doing what they do best, film plays out as a snowy chase and survive adventure. It's very much fictionalised from the real story, but some instances are real, including the incredible journey that Johnson undertook whilst fleeing his pursuers. Violence slots in and out of proceedings, as does moments of humour, and there's a nice grey area in the narrative that questions who you should be rooting for. In fact Marvin's characterisation of Millen is very enjoyable because he is irked by the cretins he finds himself hunting with.

Some of the support players are under written, so therefore underused, while Dickinson pops in only briefly and purely as a bit of sexy relief from the machismo on show. All told it's a safe and enjoyable movie for fans of the stars and fans of outdoor action/adventure/thrillers. Kind of like First Blood meets The Fugitive who then take Seraphim Falls out for a drink. Only, remember, this was before all those and it has Bronson and Marvin in the locker! 7/10