The Legend of Tillamook's Gold (2006) User Reviews

Poor fantasy-action flick of an interesting legend

[SimonJack · 4/10 · 22 April 2014]

Having lived in Oregon, I am familiar with the legend of the Tillamook gold. I also trekked over, up, down and around Neahkahnie Mountain several times. But I wasn't looking for treasure. It is part of the Oregon Coast Range and has some wonderful hiking trails. They wind through rain forest, along deep woods ridges, and along paths that lead to outstanding views of the Oregon Coast from up high. The coast highway, U.S. 101 runs through Oswald West State Park that encompasses the mountain. The town of Manzanita is below the most spectacular view that includes Nehalem Bay and Tillamook Bay in the distance.

The premise for this story could lead to the making of a good film. But, unfortunately, this one falls far short. The script jumps all over the place, and there's little coherence in the plot. The acting is fair by some of the cast, but Suzanne Doyon in the lead role as Julie is flat. Too many diversions and subplots are in this. The attempted humor with Richard Doyon and Mary Stein, playing Clyde and Billie Stahl, misfires throughout. The family problems and subplots only add to the incoherence of the plot and distractions from the story.

My four stars are for the scenery, the location shots, and the exploration of the legend that dates to the early 17th century. Unlike the implication of this movie, the treasure has never been found. That is, to anyone's knowledge. But some people believe it may have been found in the early 1800s by Thomas McKay. If he found it, he never let on that he did; but this outcome has considerable credence because McKay disappeared for a time after looking for the treasure, and then appeared years later in Oregon, independently wealthy.

At best, this is a fair movie about a search for treasure. But it gets sidetracked so often that it's hard to sit through. It seemed much longer than its 107 minutes. Only the most avid treasure enthusiasts may find this film of enough interest to sit through the whole thing.

Low budget and glaring plot holes

[princesskrose · 5/10 · 18 June 2020]

Family safe... Mostly. Her parents' fighting hits a little close to home for me, as I've heard it before. There is no cursing, no sex, and the only violence is a shovel fight. The older sis randomly gets engaged (and promptly breaks it up). As a community theater actress, the acting still had a ways to go. As a creative writer... There were many plot holes and many more things that made me uncomfortable. Top of the list: Eddie. He STALKS the main girl and takes photos of her without uer knowledge or permission. That's not cute; that's creepy. A major red flag. Jimmy is way too comfortable with his brother's wife, and she with him. Hospitable host gives off different vibes than the vibes he was giving off. The ending was cliche. Either she learned how to deep dive in the last five minutes, or pulled a "maybe the real treasure is my family and weird new boyfriend!" The villains were goofy and really didn't pose as anything more than a minor hindrance to the main girl. Clearly, though, the main girl has little to no brains at all. She goes out ALONE in the middle of a storm, slides down a hole, literally cannot tie a correct knot to save her life, and nearly indirectly killed her dad. The treasure still would have been there when the storm stopped. (yes, really, it was only her opening of the box that caused it to be lost.) To top that off, in the time it would have taken her to free climb a wet cliff and get back to the car, her dad would have been long drowned.

Heartfelt, Family Treasure Film.

[meddlecore · 5/10 · 24 February 2021]

The Legend Of Tillamook's Gold aka Tillamook Treasure tells the story of a young girl- the daughter of a struggling writer- who has moved to Oregon, from California, when her family suffers from money problems.

One day, she happens upon a gold coin, of Spanish origin, on the beach.

Which she learns more about after querying her marionette making grandfather, and his indigenous friend, Standing Elk.

Standing Elk tells her a tale about how his ancestors had witnessed the Spanish land on their shores, with a slave, whom they forced to bury a cache of treasure- before killing him, so that his ghost would watch over the treasure.

Until the chosen one comes to find it.

After going on a vision quest, and, with the help of the slave's lost soul in the form of an elk, she works to crack the code of the treasure's location.

Despite having competition from the local historian, and her partner- who constantly attempt to stifle her efforts.

Eventually, she figures it out.

But it almost gets her- and her father- killed.

And she is forced to decide between fame and fortune...or their lives.

The whole thing is rather low budget, with very mediocre acting.

But the main actress is cute, and her character is endearing.

It all has a less-exciting Goonies sort of vibe.

Though it must be noted that this is more of a family film, with an adventure angle, than it is an adventure film, with a family angle, like The Goonies.

It's certainly not the best treasure hunting movie ever made.

In fact, it's probably among the worst.

But the little twist at the end is clever and heart felt.

That being said, it likely won't be enjoyed by most.

But I enjoyed the message it puts out there, on a personal level.

So I'd say it's worth a watch.

4.5 out of 10.

Mystery Science Theater, Where Are You?

[smkroh · 2/10 · 12 March 2009]

I'll give this movie one star for having moderately competent performances by some of the veteran supporting actors, and one star for having no glaring technical errors. Otherwise I cannot recommend any aspect of it. I watched it on cable because I grew up in Oregon and have fond memories of visiting Tillamook. What I got was a poorly written and edited clinker that resembles the unholy love child of Nancy Drew and Carlos Castaneda.

The first problem is that the producer cast his own daughter in the lead role, and while not particularly unpleasant on screen, she cannot act a lick. She is certainly not alone among the cast in this regard, but it's a huge liability in the main character.

Her line delivery is wooden and her emotional range is flat, but she does doggedly carry out her assignment with a modicum of dignity and consistency. The script and editing are another matter. This is one of those movies where you find yourself telling the story in your head because the movie apparently can't be bothered with fulfilling that chore. Each scene appears content to sketch out the bare outlines of its main idea without actually building a narrative. Then it ends abruptly and the movie wanders on to the next loosely connected event. Scenes often feel like they end a few actions or lines of dialog before they are finished, and the movie as a whole ends up playing like a Cliff's Notes version of itself.

Told in this manner, the story would probably only occupy about 30 minutes, but the movie falls into the amateur trap of trying to make up for a lack of substance with sheer quantity. The scenes may be short and light on dramatic content, but there are a lot of them. Some needlessly rehash previously covered material, some fulfill stock checklist purposes like Comic Relief Scene or Local Scenery Chewing Scene, but most of them do little to advance the story.

Many of the other reviews posted here praise the film for being family-friendly. If you are seeking wholesome, uplifting stories with a minimum of offensive content, there are many excellent choices that have strong narratives and talented performances. This is not one of them. Watch a Pixar film or the growing Narnia series instead. For those who claim that the girl in the leading role has great prospects ahead of her, I doubt she'll ever land a role in another project unless her father has a hand in making it. I wonder how many of these glowing reviews were written by people who were involved in making the film, or who come from the Tillamook area and are blinded by their enthusiasm for a homegrown product.

The people who made this movie meant well and tried hard. They did not succeed. Avoid it unless you can see it for free, and even then only watch it if you are looking for an instructive example of how not to make a movie, or if you enjoy giving bad movies the MST3K treatment I alluded to in my Summary line.

Wow...just wow...so bad

[ramckay · 3/10 · 29 December 2013]

Flicks like this are what give the term "family feature" a bad name, and I find all the positive reviews to be HIGHLY suspect. This film was aimed at tweens who cannot discern a quality story or cinematic production. That, or the bar is just too low for shows targeting families. It's just sad. Many of the actors in this movie seem to have experience limited to high school drama; the plot had potential as family fare, but the execution is difficult to watch. I gave it more than one star because kids up to about age 13 would probably watch this and enjoy it without laughing at it. However, for me, this was painful to watch: I was embarrassed for the actors in a lot of the scenes. Go ahead and see it if you want something to ridicule mercilessly, as it provides ample opportunity to do just that.

Educational

[austinwriter · 3/10 · 17 March 2017]

The story overall is of interest. The execution of production is a lesson on how things can be done better. A previous review gave it high praise. I must not have watched the same movie. Anti-climatic, poor dialogue, ... I will stop there and not discourage someone to watch it. The writer/director expects the audience to read the mind of the protagonist, because the actions and words either did not match up or came out of the blue. Not to mention, the narrator speaks of things that technically should be shown. After all, it is a movie, not an audio-book.

Magical, mystical entertainment

[BostonBean · 10/10 · 3 February 2010]

I saw this at the film festival in Toronto and just recently bought the DVD. I loved it on the big screen and love it just as much on the small screen. The lead actress was enchanting. Loved Floyd Red Crow Westerman. Saw a tribute to him recently at the Native American Music Awards where the flute player in this movie, Jan Michael Looking Wolf won best artist of the year. Very cool. The puppets added another layer to the film They were done by Philip Huber who I think did the puppets in Being John Malkovich. Some great talent for a small indie film.

Mostly the film touched me because of the respectful way it treated native American myth and also because it had a young girl lead who was strong and a good role model for my 3 young daughters. I watched it with my parents, daughters, nieces and nephews and it played well to all age groups.

Well done and beautifully told story.

Ecellent family film

[lenroger · 10/10 · 28 April 2006]

My wife and I have a couple of children in grade school and middle school. We have difficulty finding movies that we can go to as a family which we would all enjoy. We heard about this film at the Newport Beach Festival of Films and thought we'd give it a shot. We were so pleased. It appealed to our whole family and on the way home was the catalyst for a discussion about what it means to find inner strength.

The production was great. I know it was a low budget so I didn't expect the production values of a big studio movie but I was pleasantly surprised. It was exceptionally well done and you would never know it was a low budget independent. The acting was great. We loved the young girl (Suzanne Marie Doyon). She's going places. And the native American influence brought real depth to the film.

Kudos to the filmmakers.

Len

(oh, yeah, the puppets were beautifully done. My youngest really got into them and even my near-high schooler thought they were great. They went far beyond a kids puppet show.

a family film worth your consideration

[petewilke · 10/10 · 3 May 2006]

"Tillamook Treasure" is a pleasure to view. The story is imaginative, well told and suspenseful, building as the plot unfolds. The characters are well thought out and the tension and eventual resolution of conflict within the subject family is satisfying and upbeat. The location is a sight to behold, the photography stunning at times. This particular section of the Oregon coast is particularly well-suited for a treasure hunt! The acting is well done. The direction is to the point, without a lot of diversions and side plots emphasized. The comic relief provided by Richard Doyon, one of the producers and writers of the film, is unexpected and funny! This is a terrific family film! It's presentation in high definition added to my enjoyment as well.

Lovely film, lovely message

[pauline124 · 9/10 · 12 May 2006]

What a treat to go to a movie and enjoy every minute of it. The girl who plays Julie, the lead character, Suzanne Marie Doyon, was charming and such a wonderful actor. I am looking forward to more from this young lady. There is a scene with her older sister (Janine Doyon -- they must be sisters in real life as well as the movie - very cool) where they were sitting on the beach talking about the family's problems, was beautiful in all ways, very touching. It was among my favorites in the movie.

I like it that the movie shows a girl growing up and maturing without having to resort to the old story line of sex and drugs. Growing up certainly involves those things for many but this film touches on what is really important -- learning who you are in the world and discovering that you have the power to do important things. This is a real good moral for young girls everywhere.

I also loved the old Indian man, Standing Elk. He was so wonderful, funny and so respectful of Julie that he teaches her things by guiding her to the answers instead of preaching at her. He is so cute, too.

I would have voted 10 but I never have seem the perfect movie.

family adventure

[fallline1 · 10/10 · 15 May 2006]

I had the great pleasure of watching the adventure film, The Tillamock Treasure, with my 12 year old daughter. I didn't cringe at the dialog or worry that the behavior was far advanced of a young teenage girl. We both thoroughly enjoyed the story. The lead character, Julie, is refreshing and talented in her portrayal of a young girl who comes of age in the small Oregan coastal town that she moves to with her fractured family. Her natural beauty and the beautiful scenery is true eye candy. This film's action kept both of us on the edge of our seat. How exciting to sit and watch a performance where the dialog was engaging and the behavior appropriate. I don't think I could sit and watch another Hillary Duff or Brittany Spears wannabe on the screen. And I know my daughter loved the film. She still talks about some of the very funny scenes.

Treasure hunt in Oregon. Enjoyable and well made. Star is a star.

[kent-105 · 10/10 · 28 April 2006]

Suzanne Doyon makes an auspicious debut as the star of this PG movie set in Manzanita and Tillamook, Oregon. She shows an ethereal energy and power with nary a false note. It doesn't hurt that she is drop dead gorgeous - all this at 14! Most all of the actors do a lively job and story moves along swiftly thanks to direction by newcomer, Jane Beaumont Hall. Producer, Richard Doyon has an extended cameo as a dufus treasure hunter - de rigueur role for this genre - but well played. Music by Peter Buffett is very engaging, and amazing marionette puppets make a convincing tie-in. Heartily recommended - especially if you are tired of family fare riddled with violence and explosions.

Wholesome family entertainment

[michael-1760 · 9/10 · 29 October 2006]

We, that is my wife Bridget and twins Sheldon and Brandy (12) enjoyed seeing 'Tillamook Treasure' at the Newport Festival and have recommended it to our neighbors in Temecula. Its a family film of moral value, pleasing to the eye and gentle on your mind. The cinematography is excellent and the actors compliment a dramatic and worthwhile movie event. My kids want me to get the DVD and can't wait to see 'the making of' the film. The producers have filled a void in American movies today by providing entertainment that upholds traditional family values. There's drama, action, comedy and a message which uplifts ones spirit. We wish to thank the writer/producers Jane Beaumont Hall and Richard Doyon. Susan Doyon is a delight to see and Sheldon wants a poster. MR

Escape to the Pacific Northwest

[karenmaish · 10/10 · 12 May 2006]

The first thing that struck me was the cozy glow of the Pacific Northwest. You can almost smell the fresh air! The movie was cute and engaging and a refreshing change with just enough suspense. What a great escape. I especially enjoyed Suzanne's performance however all the actors did a great job. Dealing with common family issues such as family arguments, talk of divorce, finding your first love, going to college and wanting to be famous, this movie is perfect for the family. The children and young teens that went to see it at the screening that I went to were enthralled with it and all ran very fast up to the front to get autographs.

A great family movie beautifully filmed, funny, suspenseful, and heartwarming.

[cmypug · 10/10 · 4 June 2006]

A beautiful mystical story about a young girl following her own path as her family is going through some rough times. I was hooked immediately when the elk came out of the mist and leaped over Julie"s head and she found her first piece of gold. The story is heartwarming and real. The parents aren't perfect and the tension is palpable. The sisters are true to life and are at times angry, protective, and supportive of each other. Susan's boyfriend was endearingly dumb. The idiot treasure hunters were hilarious. I jumped in my seat at the scary parts just like the 12 year old sitting next to me. I think this is a great family movie with the story about the legend of the treasure enhanced by the beautiful puppets.

Good to see Brian Thompson

[barichey · 10/10 · 29 October 2006]

Once again it is a pleasure to hear of Brian Thompson's success in film. My husband and I went to college with Brian. We have watched him in numerous films finding joy in the fact that he is actively living his dream. Tres Amigos is a favorite. Although, we have not had the opportunity to see this film it sounds wonderful! It will be great to see it. Especially as it is filmed in an area that is beautiful and dear to our hearts. We have lived in Arizona for the past 20 years but often remember our roots in Washington State and fun times at Tillamook and the ocean beaches within Oregon. Thanks Brian for years of entertainment and the fun you gave us in college at Stephens Whitney!

(Brian)Andy and Becky Richey

Perfect Family Film!

[jpkbean · 10/10 · 16 July 2008]

Taking place in Tillamook, Oregon, its the story of a troubled family and the distraction a young girl finds in the local legend of Spanish treasure. With a bunch of actors I recognize from other projects (ie the mother also has a significant role in Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion with Lisa Kudrow), it had pretty impressive star power for a low-budget indie. I had the pleasure of meeting the cast and makers of this film at a family film festival I went to with my parents and little brother. I was able to get a copy of their film after and watched it with my little brother-- it was actually really excellent! Not too many "family" movies interest him as he's 11 and thinks he's too mature for kid stuff, but we had a really nice time together. I would highly recommend this for anyone to watch.

A family film based on a northern Oregon Coast treasure legend

[jpphipps-1 · 9/10 · 5 April 2008]

This was a fun film for us to see, as summer residents on the northern Oregon Coast. I had never heard that a movie had been filmed in the Manzanita area until the ad for its opening popped up in the local newspaper. At this time, it is showing at only one theater here in the Phoenix area, but I hope it will get broader distribution in the ensuing weeks. Well plotted, well filmed, and well acted. Scenery shots of the coast were excellent. Lousy title (something like "The Treasure of Tillamook" would have been better, in my opinion). The theater where it is being shown was well outside of metro Phoenix, but worth the trip for my wife and me. Will probably buy the DVD when it comes out.

I grew up being told this story

[waytlesa · 10/10 · 18 February 2024]

My grandparents lived in rockaway Oregon. I lived there almost every summer growing up, I love the beach. My grandpa used to tell me this story. He even showed me a few small items that he believed may have been a part of it, plus Indian artifacts, he found. I'm 67 now, and don't know what happened to them.

I tried searching every summer for the treasure. I do believe the stories are true and the treasure is still up there somewhere. I combed the beaches every day. After a storm things always changed, but no luck. I was excited when I heard about this movie today. And had to watch it. To me, this story is just like the one what I grew up with. It makes sense. I do believe...