Il richiamo del lupo

Actually, this movie wasn't that bad though I will concede you probably have to be in the right frame of mind to appreciate it's finery's. I tried it on a hangover while shut in on a gloomy Saturday with the missus out of town and it was the ideal choice -- Brainless adventure with an intelligent dog, the high rockies, a Jack London "family friendly" storyline, and the now late Jack Palance chewing the scenery (albeit gently, since this is a PG rated affair) as a local bigwig corrupt crime boss kingpin who nonetheless knows talent when he sees it.

That talent is of course the real star of the movie, Buck the Wonder Shepard. This is one of a string of Schnitzel/Spaghetti Westerns inspired by "Call of the Wild" aimed right at 8 - 12 year old boys: If anyone else gets anything out of it that's just fine, but entertaining jaded adult audiences wasn't the idea. The idea of a Jack London derived adventure yarn is to have a plucky young tyke befriend and bond with a supposedly ferocious wolf doggie who then saves the day for the rest of the movie just like Clint Eastwood would in a Sergio Leone film. He comes running in at the last minute, leaping onto the bar and bearing down snarling on the bad guys. Film buffs with an eye for the absurd will be overjoyed.

Animal rights activists may not: The film has some now questionable scenes of dog vs dog action that are rather fierce, and as an actor dogs are hardly concerned about script issues or character motivations. They are dogs, and must be manipulated by an off-camera handler to do things on screen that are edited in a way to make them appear to be heroic intentional actions by the dog. One cringe inducing scene has Buck win a wager for his do-gooder owners by leaping off a second story balcony (don't worry, they faked it) and watching it all I could think of was what the HELL were these people thinking?

The film also features the traditional Jack London adventure character types: The bearded plaid wool wearing father (played by Spaghetti Western regular Attilio Dottesio), the clean-cut handsome hero (Fred Romer), the plucky kid, his somewhat jailbaitish teenaged sister (pretty Elisabetta Virgili), the worldly saloon harlot with a heart of gold (Joan Collins looking even more out of place than she did on Star Trek), the corrupt town boss (Mr. Palance, probably drunk: he looks like he didn't give a damn), the friendly rotund bearded innkeeper (veteran character actor Ricardo Palacios) and various legions of local Injuns, prospectors, hunters, card sharks, and lots & lots of anonymous sled dogs, who were doubtlessly envious of Buck's more prominent role. Genre film buffs can look for the familiar faces of José Canalejas, Remo De Angelis, and Manuel de Blas, and enjoy another Stelvio Cipriani musical score that transcends the material: There is actually some respectable talent on display here.

But I mean come on, it's not a blockbuster event film, these were made cheaply and quickly to be watched on rainy Saturday afternoons decades ago by young chaps with nothing better to do -- If the leads find romance in each other's arms that's fine, but what's more important is that Buck gets to do lots of cool stuff, have some neat adventures, and in the end run off into the woods until the next installment. If you can live with that and love Spaghetti Cinema as much as I do, this is a fine film that you can even watch with the whole family, though the dog might get a bit jealous watching Buck have all the fun.

6/10, I'm feeling generous: And thanks for all the great films, Mr. Palance; You may not remember them very fondly but they made a difference, and at least this movie was better than CITY SLICKERS 2. "See you 'round, Partner!"

I've had this in the collection for years, but only realised that it belonged to the ultra-specific Italian sub-genre of "Spaghetti Westerns that take place in Alaska/Canada, and have a dog in them" after the first thirty seconds when the dog 'Buck' is introduced. Basically, its White Fang again. Sigh.

Buck is a dog who hangs out with a wolf pack but then gets caught up in human affairs when he hooks up with two kids. After gaining the trust of their father, Buck displays clairvoyant skills by trying to prevent the father heading to Dawson city. The father ignores these preternatural warnings and is swiftly killed by Indians about ten seconds later. Luckily for the kids two kind hearted gold prospectors turn up and everyone heads to Dawson city to avoid the Indians (one of which Buck kills, proving that he's not to be messed with). Unluckily for these prospectors, Jack Palance is the crooked businessman who is in charge of the town, and one dodgy card game later, the older of the two brothers gets the life jabbed out of him.

On the good side of Dawson city we have the other brother John, who also gets the green light from singer Joan Collins (her singing is the scariest thing about this film), Irish Barman Charlie, the two kids who start up a newspaper, and some lawyer guy the film forgets about. On the bad side is ugly bastard Jack Palance and his never ending parade of hired killers. I have realised from this film that Joan Collins, in young form at least, resembles my wife, as does Barbara Steele. What does it mean?

If you've been unlucky enough to sit through any of these White Fang films, you'll notice that this plot doesn't differ from any of the others. There's the kid who bonds with White Fang I mean Buck (who hilariously ditches the kid at the end!), the crooked businessman who tries to destroy all the good guys, and the macho hero who doesn't really do much at all until the end.

The Great Adventure is certainly not unwatchable, but there was a good amount of talent involved and it should have been much better. The Great Adventure does have enough to make it watchable.

The scenery and sets are absolutely beautiful, the scenery in the first thirty minutes is enough to take one's breath away and the film is attractively if simply photographed, the costumes are good too. Also very good was the music, with a stirring score that synchronises with and enhances what's happening on screen and is the most exciting The Great Adventure ever gets(again the first thirty minutes especially). The nostalgic title song Song of the Wild, beautifully sung by Joseph Allegro, is one so good that it stands as a great song on its own without being part of a film. A few performances are decent too, the best two being Jack Palance and the dog Buck. Palance is methodically intimidating without being over-the-top or phoning-in while Buck is adorable and performs spiritedly. Joan Collins is a touch out of place but plays her tramp with a heart of gold role very charmingly.

However the rest of the acting did seem unenthusiastic and going-through-the-motions-like and disadvantaged further by some very obvious, sloppily synced and odd dubbing(Palance and Collins excepted). The Great Adventure is very staidly directed to the point it becomes plodding, while the writing is what really sinks the film. The script ranges between dreary and cornball and never gets better than that, while the very rambling and also rather predictable story is a little pedestrian in pace and has too many disconnected scenes that lead to very little, if there was any tension or emotional connection intended neither of them registered well to me. The dog attacks do lack tension and excitement and the choreography can be silly and awkward, while none of the characters engage. Instead they are colourless cardboard clichés, despite Palance giving the film's best performance he is also saddled with the most clichéd character, the kind that has been done so many times on film and more interestingly written.

Overall, The Great Adventure is a long way from unwatchable, it looks good, has great music and has a few decent performances but it is let down by the odd dubbing, dreary script, plodding direction and dull story. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Set during the American Gold Rush era , this is an unforgettable tale of two orphaned children called Jim Chambers (Fernando Romero) and Mary Chambers (Elizabeth Virgil) . When en route to the Yukon being killed their father by Indians , they then become involved into multiple adventures and dangers . Luck changes when the kiddies meet two prospectors : John McKenzie (Manuel De Blas) , and Hank McKenzie (Remo De Angelis , stunt coordinator too) headed for the Yukón and who help them go to Dawson City , next to river Yukón . Meanwhile , Jim meets a wild dog , that is part wolf and they must battle against the Yukon wilderness and human greed to help save a frontier town . As they stood together and changed the destiny of an Entire Frontier . But in Dawson City they meet an arrogant , wealthy owner , William Bates (Jack Palance) , and the beautiful saloon girl Sonia Kendall (Joan Collins) who falls in love for John McKenzie (Manuel De Blas). The prospector John and his faithful mate , the wolf-dog, attempt to stop the evildoer , an ambitious, snarling businessman called Bates who formerly killed his brother .

It is a tepid and light-hearted adventure , freely based about known and classic novel by Jack London "The Call of the Wild" . Lumpy blend of adventures, action , villainy , though needlessly violent and aimed to young people . The film is loosely based on the novel by Jack London , though differs significantly from the book but this is an invented version , however remains the essential elements as the young-dog friendship , the gold rush , spectacular outdoors and locations and several moving scenes . The talent of diverse and wasting casting is redeemed in part for the spectacular outdoors filmed on Spanish landscapes . It's a passable/average rendition that maintains the charm and adventure style of the previous films but still makes for decent juvenile amusement . Weak screenplay from Juan Logar , Fonseca and Jesús Rodríguez . Being a Spain-France co-production here appears several Spanish and Italian secondaries , all of them regular in Spaghetti/Paella Western , such as : Manuel De Blas , Ricardo Palacios , José Canalejas , and Remo De Angelis who is an usual masters of arms of lots of Péplum and Western .

Other adaptations about these Jack London novels set in Alaska are the followings : ¨Call of the wild ¨ by Ken Annakin with Charlton Heston , ¨White Fang¨ (1991) by Randal Kleiser with Ethan Kawke as young prospector and Klaus Maria Brandauer , and ¨The return of White Fang¨ (1994) by Ken Olin with Scott Bairstow and once again Ethan Hawke . And Italian ones : ¨Lucio Fulci's White Fang¨ with Franco Nero , Virna Lisi and Fernando Rey ; its sequel titled "White Fang to the Rescue" by Tonino Ricci with Maurizio Merli , Henry Silva , Renzo Palmer ; ¨Buck¨ by Tonino Ricci with John Savage and ¨Buck and the magic bracelet¨ by Tonino Ricci with Matt McCoy .

Colorful and evocative cinematography by José Aguayo , being recently made a nice remastering , and shot on location in snowy landscapes as Navacerrada and Guadarrama mountains and Daganzo , Madrid . And appropriate , adequate and evocative musical score by Stelvio Cipriani . The motion picture was regularly directed by Gianfranco Baldanello . He was assistant director and subsequently directed some films . Gianfranco made several Spaghettis , such as ¨Uccidete Johnny Ringo¨ , ¨This man cant die¨ , ¨Son of Zorro¨ , ¨The Cry of the Wolf¨, ¨Black Jack¨ and ¨Blood River¨ and ¨30 Winchesters for El Diablo" - International title- or "Gold Train" . And this "The Cry of the Wolf" has a rating : 4.30/10 average .

The makers of this bilge should be ashamed. I'll wager Jack Palance's face still turns red when this turkey is brought up in his presence. I would say the same of Joan Collins, but this movie could well be the high point of her pathetic career. The budget couldn't have gone much over a few grand, and most of that was very likely spent on dog food. Come to think of it, dog chow is all any of the cast and crew deserved. The film was constructed entirely of jerky, disconnected scenes chock full of some of the most cornball, juvenile dialogue I've ever had the bad luck of viewing. And the wolf attacks! Why do these adventure shows always have those stupid wolf attacks? At least there were no stupid bear attacks. The story was a familiar one in which an evil scumbag gains control of Dawson City, Alaska during the gold rush days. He hires a gang of toughs to strike fear in the gutless townsfolk by stomping or murdering anyone dumb enough to question his authority. Why didn't some enterprising soul with a good rifle simply pop the ornery tinhorn's chops from a dark alley one night? The sorry creep has a good set-up going until a handsome stranger [who fell in love with the bad guy's "tramp with a heart of gold" saloon girl in about 4 seconds flat] and a couple of kids with a wild German Shepherd [whose bark was strangely like that of a Pomeranian] came to town and upset his apple cart. This bomb opens up whole vistas of opportunity to give new meaning to the term "not worth a tinker's damn". Ten year olds may like this junk, but I have to wonder about even that.