User reviews

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.

The plot lines in this movie are borrowed from the TV Lassie series of the 1950s, where the part of Lassie is played by an eagle. The eagle warns that some party needs rescue, then guides the rescue party to them. Most of the suspense comes from protracted recovery from bullet wounds. Theme and repetition.

There are a number of things that strain belief. The characters in the movie get basic provisions twice a year, yet most are as plump as Rob Ford. All the images I have seen from the period show men skinny as railway rails. The hero lives in the wilderness, but does nothing to earn a living, never grows food neither does he hunt, nor does he chop wood. The hero's cabin has three large unglazed openings for windows, but he seems baffled a raccoon could get in. The "wild" horses are exquisitely groomed as if for dressage at Buckingham palace. A pretty native American teenager follows the 50 year old, grossly overweight hero home, claiming she wants nothing more than to serve him and his son. The villains kill anyone they lure into trade and steal their furs. Yet word does not seem to get around about them and it takes a very long time for anyone to see to revenge.

The scene that annoyed me most was when the hero lied to his son (and the kids in the audience) that his mom was not really dead. She was floating on the clouds watching him. There are other heavy handed Christian messages.

Haggerty plays a gentle soul, and this is what carries the movie. Even if he is an idiot, he a sweet, well intentioned idiot. The villains really ham it up. They are great fun, comic and oh so wicked.

There is something I found a bit creepy. Especially in the early part of the film, our hero compulsively kept clutching at his son, and pulling him into a snuggle or kissing him even when the son was in no need of reassurance. The son passively put up with it. In real life he would have pushed the clutching parent away.

This is an adventure movie made for kids only. Dan Haggerty plays again the same part he had as Grizzly Addams in the seventies. William Smith, here again with only one eye, plays the bad guy Hatchett who wants to kill Haggerty. Smith has some really good scenes here and sometimes he makes you forget that it is only a movie for kids.