Iron Will (1994)

When Will Stoneman's father dies, he is left alone to take care of his mother and their land. Needing money to maintain it, he decides to join a cross country dogsled race. This race will ... See full summary »

Director:

Charles Haid

Writers:

John Michael Hayes, Djordje Milicevic

Stars:

Mackenzie Astin, Kevin Spacey, David Ogden Stiers

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mackenzie Astin	...	Will Stoneman
Kevin Spacey	...	Harry Kingsley
David Ogden Stiers	...	J.W. Harper
August Schellenberg	...	Ned Dodd
Brian Cox	...	Angus McTeague
George Gerdes	...	Borg Guillarson
John Terry	...	Jack Stoneman
Penelope Windust	...	Maggie Stoneman
Jeffrey Alan Chandler	...	DeFontaine
Michael Laskin	...	Simon Lambert
James Cada	...	Peter Swenson
Rex Linn	...	Joe McPherson
Allan R.J. Joseph	...	Albert Carey
Alvin William 'Dutch' Lunak	...	Gabriel Carey
Tony Griffin	...	Mike Riley

Storyline

When Will Stoneman's father dies, he is left alone to take care of his mother and their land. Needing money to maintain it, he decides to join a cross country dogsled race. This race will require days of racing for long hours, through harsh weather and terrain. This young man will need a lot of courage and a strong will to complete this race.

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Plot Keywords:

racing | dog movie | family relationships | father son relationship | mother son relationship | 

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Taglines:

The Uplifting True-Life Story Of Courage, Determination And Triumph!

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Genres:

Adventure | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for adventure action

Details

Official Sites:

Disney's Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 January 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Voluntad de hierro

Filming Locations:

Bingham, Maine, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$21,006,361

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

David Bedford, owner of Black Ice Dog Sledding Equipment and real-life dog sledder, did the mushing for "Borg" throughout the movie. He used his own 7-dog team led by "Chase", a malamute. Filming his scenes took 3 months. David's wife Shilon helped to establish the Minnesota Malamute Club

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Goofs

After Will crashes after dodging the "Army" truck. It is revealed that there is a Marine recruiting poster on the side of the truck. (The US Marines would never advertise on an army truck.) There is certainly a competitiveness in today's U.S. armed services; back in 1917 President Woodrow Wilson created the Committee On Public Information. This committee tasked "The Society of Illustrators" out of New York to create artwork that illustrated the demands that the Great War was placing on America and on American servicemen and women. These pieces of public art were created by some 300 of America's top designer's and were ordered to be placed on "every" wall and publicly viewable surface. Given the great need for the American public to support the war effort during The Great War, it is not unreasonable that an Army vehicle would show it's patriotism by sporting a U.S. Marine recruitment poster.

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Quotes

Will Stoneman: Do you think I can do this?
Ned Dodd: Matters most what you think.
Will Stoneman: I think you should come, is what I think.
Ned Dodd: Be strong boy. Be brave. Your father will be with you always. He lives in your dreams. Trust the dogs. Trust yourself.
Will Stoneman: I will.
Ned Dodd: When you come to face the thing you fear let the Creator guide you.

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Intersection/The Air Up There/Body Snatchers/Iron Will/Hoop Dreams (1994)

User Reviews

so cold, you feel some of it.

We rented this film because Kevin Spacey is in it. When it came on, my daughter (12 yrs old) exclaimed "Oh no, not another cheap Disney film!" My wife also made noises of discontent and I was wondering why Kevin was in it and if I'd made a terrible mistake.

Well, it was good. True it had some bad Disney unrealistic heart-jerking story in it, especially at the end. The bad guys were really Disney evil, but the rest of the film worked.

Kevin Spacey gives his best at whatever role he tackles, and this is no exception. The sledding scenes are very good and it is really cold - you can feel it, and so can the actors judging by the breath.

The film get a few tears out and we decided that, although we never would have rented it if we knew it was a Disney film, we liked it. We give it 8.