This film begins in 1851 somewhere in the Pacific Northwest with a mapmaker by the name of "Big Eli McDonaugh" (Dan Haggerty) taking his young son "Little Eli McDonaugh" (Trever Yarrish) with him into the wilderness. As they initially set out down river in a commercial raft, they come across a small group of river pirates led by a man named "Hatchett" (William Smith) who Big Eli had some trouble with in the past--and neither man has forgotten about it. After eventually getting to the cabin, he had made a year earlier Big Eli introduces Little Eli to another member of the family--a golden eagle by the name of Lady who he helped raise when it was much younger. And so it is that Big Eli sets out one morning to do some map making while Little Eli stays behind to fish for salmon in the nearby river under the watchful gaze of Lady. It's during this time that Hatchett appears and kidnaps Little Eli in order to sell him to an Indian tribe not far away. Realizing that something isn't right Lady alerts Big Eli who immediately sets out to find Little Eli at all costs. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a rather tame family movie which features a number of unrealistic scenarios throughout the course of the film. To be sure, William Smith put in a fine performance in the role of the bad guy and having a beautiful actress like Jeri Arredondo (as the Indian maiden "Watawna") certainly didn't hurt either. Unfortunately, neither of these two attributes was enough for me to rate this film any higher than I have. Slightly below average.
