North Star (1996)

Set during the Alaskan gold rush of the late 1800s. In his efforts to gain control of a small mining town, Sean McLennon is buying up every mining claim that becomes available, usually ... See full summary »

Director:

Nils Gaup

Writers:

Heck Allen (novel) (as Will Henry), Gilles Béhat (story) (as Giles Behat)

Stars:

James Caan, Christopher Lambert, Catherine McCormack

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Caan	...	Sean McLennon
Christopher Lambert	...	Hudson Saanteek (as Christophe Lambert)
Catherine McCormack	...	Sarah
Burt Young	...	Reno
Morten Faldaas	...	Smiley
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

Storyline

Set during the Alaskan gold rush of the late 1800s. In his efforts to gain control of a small mining town, Sean McLennon is buying up every mining claim that becomes available, usually after the deaths of the previous owners at the hands of McLennon's "assistants". One of the miners targeted by McLennon, a half-Indian hunter named "Hudson Saanteek", manages to escape his hired thugs, and comes back into town looking to re-establish his claim and get revenge. McLennon and his men have the advantange of numbers and weapons, but Saanteek has his survival skills, and knowledge of the Alaskan wilderness.

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Plot Keywords:

killing a pet | survival skills | wilderness | revenge | hunter | 

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Taglines:

Where land is power and revenge is obsession.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence and language

Did You Know?

Goofs

In the beginning of the movie, Sean McClennon (James Caan's character) states that "non-citizens" have no right to claims. Alaska was not even a US territory at the time, so in fact, Sean McClennon had no right to any claims as well.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Reno: Where is Hudson Saanteek?

User Reviews

Not as good as I'd like it to be

North Star is unique for a European western in that it's set in Alaska, far from the sun baked deserts of the southwest. Everything else is disappointingly typical.

Caan plays a black-hearted land baron in 1899 Alaska who's systematically murdered and cheated his way into being the owner of the largest goldmines in the area. He tries to kill Lambert, a half Eskimo who had the good sense to file a claim on his people's sacred (and gold rich) cave.

It isn't boring but a chase movie where Christopher Lambert squares off against James Caan and Burt Young in a savage frontier battle for survival should have generated more heat than this, especially being that this is co-written by Sergio Donati, who also helped pen For A Few Dollars More and Once Upon A Time In The West!

It's pretty straight forward and unpretentious but it made me wish it were more compelling. The characters were pretty cardboard, though Caan seems to be having some fun swinging back and forth between greedy and treacherous to insane and out of control.

Also, everyone appears to be under-dressed. This movie takes place in Nome, Alaska during a snowstorm but everyone's dressed like it's Fall.

Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson were better in Death Hunt, watch that one first!

Details

Country:

UK France Italy Norway

Language:

English Inuktitut

Release Date:

25 October 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

North Star

Filming Locations:

Maridalen, Oslo, Norway

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., AFCL Productions, M6 Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1