Croc-Blanc

i remember watching this film when i was kid back in 1991. I was and still am a lover of Wolves, and this film really got to me. I just purchased the DVD last night, and am so excited to re-live what was once my all time favorite movie. The acting and the scenery in this film are amazing, i can still remember sitting in my bedroom watching Ethan Hawke's character walking up that huge slope to get to the top and meet with the people he is going to mine gold with. Along the way White Fang comes along and helps him and protects him. It is one of the greatest movies having to do with the gold mining and wildlife. White fang was my hero as an animal as i was growing up, and i had always wished that i could find a wolf, and live in alaksa with it by my side.

***SPOILERS*** Heartwarming Jack London tale of a hybrid wolf/dog puppy who was out on his own trying to survive the harsh weather and the Alaskan Yukon's frozen and dangerous countryside.

The pup, who's mother was caring for it until she died, due to being shot by a gold prospector, was trying to go it alone with no family or wolf pack to provide food care or safety for it is later caught in a trap by a local Inult Eskimo Grey Beaver, Plus Savage, who gives the puppy the name "White fang" due to it's over-sized dagger-like killing canine teeth.

Later at the local town when Grey Beaver, with White Fang, was there to trade in furs for food and supplies some of the people spotted the unusual wolf/dog and set a huge sled dog on White Fang who the wolf/dog made short odor of. The owner of the sled dog Beauty Smith, James Ramer,forces Grey Beaver to give up White Fang to him for compensation for what he did to his lead sled dog and trains the wolf/dog to be a fighting dog at the local illegal dog fighting pen.

White Fang terribly abused and brutalized by Beauty to be a killer wins dozens of dog fights for his greedy owner until one night in a fight with a much younger and powerful bull-dog is almost killed only to be saved by young Jack Conroy, Ethan Hawke,as the Royal Mountie Police broke into the dog fighting pen discontinuing the vicious savagery going on there. White Fang saved Jack's life earlier in the film, before he was taken from Grey Beaver by Beauty Smith, when the powerful and courageous wolf/dog stared down a giant Alasken Bear who was about to maul and kill the wounded young man and now Jack was returning the favor.

Back at the shed Jack was with his partner Alex Larson, Klaus Maria Brandauer,a friend of Jack's late father who died in the wild Alsaken wilderness and left the claim to the shack and mine to him. jack patching the wounded canine showed the love and kindness to White Fang that he never knew and soon became Jack's, as well as Alex's,best friend.

Striking a gold load at the mine Jack,together with White Fang, go to town to see if the gold he found in his mine is genuine which it proves to be. Beauty Smith spot's the young man and his former fighting wolf/dog and together and with a number of his criminal associates follows them back to the shack in order to kill both Jack and Alex and steal their gold but They didn't count on White Fang. The brave and ferocious wolf/dog put the whole gang out of commission and ended up plowing his ferocious teeth into the hated Beauty's derrière.

Touching tearful and uplifting ending with White Fang coming back to Jack who earlier chased the wolf/dog into the wild. That was after he decided to leave the Yukon with Alex and his girlfriend Belinda, Susan Hogan, for San Francisco to open a hotel, with the money they made from the gold mine, with Jack being a co-partner. Wonderful story for kids and grownups of all ages with some of the most scenic and beautiful photography, around the towns of Halnes & Skagway Alaska, ever put on film.

I've never read Jack London's book, but it's certainly on my wishlist. And after seeing this film I think I might finally get around to buying it.

Ethan Hawke plays Jack Conroy a young gold prospector in Canada/Alaska during the gold rush of the late 19th century. His story is without considerable peril and seems to take a backseat to the more intimate story of a young wolf cub who loses his mother and ventures out into the world on his own. Many people (kind, cruel and indifferent) interact and encounter the wolf before Jack adopts him as "White Fang".

The scenes of the cub hugging his dying mother are heartbreaking, and the training the filmmakers did with the animals is really impressive. A disclaimer pops up before the film begins to explain that although all the animal cruelty looks realistic is was done safely.

The scenery is wonderful, but I am puzzled as to why director Randall Kleiser didn't shoot it in anamorphic Panavision. When filming in breathtaking parts of the world it's kinda dumb to not take full advantage. The resulting picture looks a bit TV-ish. But it's a minor quibble.

Basil Poledouris' score is also great. I am convinced Hans Zimmer might have also contributed as there are a couple of tracks that have the early 90s Zimmer sound. But it's definitely Poledouris' show, and it's a shame that a definitive score CD was never released.

For those of you who love wolf, adventure and great outdoors movies, this one is a must.

Maybe I've seen this film for about 5-6 times so far. But it seems that I would never get bored. I just love animal movies which are involved with dogs or wolves.

While the lead characters(one young boy who plays Ethan Hawke) are traveling the snow mountains, they encounter a pack of wolves. The battle to survive between them ends up one person and one beast got killed. A baby wolf left alone in the cold place, begin to explore outside world alone. Boy and wolf meet for the first time in the river, their friendship starts growing in the experiences they go through.

The real star in this movie is absolutely a wolf. This brave, dangerous but irresistible creature totally got me through the movie.

Good family-oriented movie from the Walt Disney Studios proves that sometimes less is more. The story is about a Yukon gold hunter's (Ethan Hawke) friendship with the titled Alaskan husky. Jack London's wonderful novel is methodical both in the book and on the silver screen (this is a major plus). Every frame here is a joy as wonderful editing and cinematography enhance a deceptively smart screenplay and noble direction. Hawke, one of the more under-rated actors of his generation, proves he can handle a major production and take the reigns as the primary focus. Supporting actor Klaus Maria Brandauer shines throughout. One of the finer family films produced in the 1990s. 4 stars out of 5.