North Star (1996)

User Rating:

4.6/10   

Director:

Nils Gaup

Writers:

Heck Allen (novel)
Gilles Béhat (story) ...

Release Date:

25 October 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Western

Tagline:

Where land is power and revenge is obsession.

Plot:

Set during the Alaskan gold rush of the late 1800's. In his efforts to gain control of a small mining town...

Plot Keywords:

Wilderness | Revenge | Hunter | Gold Rush | Saloon

Cast

James Caan	...	Sean McLennon
Christopher Lambert	...	Hudson Saanteek (as Christophe Lambert)
Catherine McCormack	...	Sarah
Burt Young	...	Reno
Morten Faldaas
Jacques François	...	Colonel Henry Johnson
Mary M. Walker	...	Haina
Renny Hoalona Loren	...	Cheelik
Frank Salsedo	...	Nakki
Don Backhurst	...	Native American
Roddy 'Two Eagle' Randall	...	Native American
Reidar Sørensen	...	Bjorn Svenson (as Reidar Sorenson)
Pedea Torget	...	Jesper
Hilde Grythe	...	Hannah
John Cassady	...	Jim Hanson

Also Known As:

The North Star (France) (promotional title) (International: English title) (UK) (promotional title)
Duello tra i ghiacci (Italy)
Grand nord
Tashunga

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence and language.

Runtime:

90 min | Argentina:89 min | UK:88 min | USA:88 min

Country:

France | UK | Italy | Norway

Language:

English | Inuktitut

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 | Netherlands:12 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:16 | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Maridalen, Oslo, Norway

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Goofs:

Factual errors: The Army Officer who comes to Nome to declare martial law is wearing the crossed sabers on his hat; those of a cavalry officer. The hat badge is upside down. The hilts of the sabers should be in the lower half, not the upper. The blade tips belong at the upper half.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Reno: Where is Hudson Saanteek?

Here is an example of a movie that was made two or three decades too late

Had "North Star" been made in, let's say, the 60s or 70s, then I would be able to watch it and classify it as maybe an eight or nine-star film. It's got the kind of plot that would suit a 90s movie, but the way it's made is far too reminiscent of the past. And when you mix a film that looks modern with a style of the past, it comes out a bit campy. For example, the screenplay seems like it was written a long time ago and went unchanged until just now. Characters laughing at jokes and stuff that are not even remotely funny were common back in the 60s and 70s, but not in films of the 90s. I hate to say it, but sound effects and stuff in this movie like that are also no better than the Westerns of long ago. Thus, the shootouts aren't that exciting. Some parts of "North Star" go on for too long, some parts whip by way too fast.

There are some positive aspects to "North Star" though. Even though it does seem like it's made in the wrong time and kind of cheesy, it is a film that you can sit down and watch without getting bored. Sure, you'll be thinking a lot, "man, that was...weird" or "that wasn't very thrilling" or "that was disappointing", but it is a film where you want to see the rest of it. That's what made me give this film five out of ten stars for a rating. But it's still heavily flawed and had it been made twenty or thirty years before it really was, I think it would have been better.