The North Star (2016)

The North Star is the story of Benjamin "Big Ben" Jones and Moses Hopkins, two slaves who escaped from a Virginia plantation and made their way to freedom in Buckingham, Pennsylvania in ... See full summary »

Director:

Thomas K. Phillips

Writers:

Thomas K. Phillips, Tim O'Connell

Stars:

Jeremiah Trotter, Thomas C. Bartley Jr., Clifton Powell

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeremiah Trotter	...	Big Ben Jones
Thomas C. Bartley Jr.	...	Moses Hopkins (as Thomas C. Bartley)
Clifton Powell	...	Mr. Lee
John Diehl	...	Master Anderson
Keith David	...	Frederick Douglas
Lynn Whitfield	...	Miss Grace
April Woodall	...	Mrs. Atkins
Christopher Mann	...	Willie
Douglas Gibson	...	Randall
Alana Lee	...	Sarah
John Wooten	...	Lewis Stone
Jeff Panzarella	...	Joshua Fell
Matt Boliek	...	Charles Vale
Peter Bailey	...	Leo Edwards
Drew Bruck	...	Robert

Storyline

The North Star is the story of Benjamin "Big Ben" Jones and Moses Hopkins, two slaves who escaped from a Virginia plantation and made their way to freedom in Buckingham, Pennsylvania in 1849. Big Ben's 6 foot 10 inch size and a record bounty for his safe return make him the focus of every slave hunter on the east coast. Their journey exposes them to danger and cruelty; however it also exposes them to the unexpected kindness of the people involved in the Underground Railroad. These experiences will change Ben and Moses forever. Upon reaching the relative safety of Mt. Gilead Church on Buckingham Mountain, Ben and Moses get to experience life as free men and cross paths with historical figures such as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Joshua and Jonathan Fell. Their freedom also allows them to experience heroism, romance and treachery.

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Taglines:

Hope cannot be chained.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 March 2016 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

LuckPig Studios, Reel Goode Productions, JRC Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jeremiah Trotter was a Pro Bowl Linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles

User Reviews

Great story but not good filming

The movie tells the story of two runaway slaves, their journey and things happened after they made it to the free state as the trailer shows. The story is great and there are moments that are touching, underground railroad people fight until death, and face it in a strong way, "He died for what he is fighting for". but the filming is not good enough. It doesn't have the tension that a "runaway" story should have, everything seemed to be too smooth like it was supposed to happen. I am not worried about they got caught, they starved to death, they got bitten by snacks, none! why? cause' movie doesn't do a good job creating the atmosphere for me. One of my favorite movie, the Jaws, the shark doesn't show up very often, but I was nervous the whole time. Steven Spielberg did a good job, but Thomas Phillips didn't. Anyway, if you would like to see Jeremiah Trotter and would like to have a happy ending movie about this dark time in America history, I would say it still worth seeing, but don't expect a "Hollywood level" movie