Prior to seeing this, I remember reading a lot of good reviews on it. Well, the critics were right about this one: it was good. It's an excellent adventure film that really gets you involved with the story.
The story, off the famous book written by Jack London, involves a young adult male's adventures during the gold rush days of Alaska at the end of the 19th century.
Some of the Alaskan scenery in here is just magnificent. I have talked to a couple of people who have been around the world and they both said Alaska had the most incredible scenery of any place they'd been, and you see evidence of that in this movie.
They did a nice job with the action scenes in here: not too much, not too little and pretty realistic. The dog-fighting scenes aren't pleasant, but they aren't bloody, either. The villains, led by James Remar, are nasty but not profane.
This is not a typical Disney film, at least at the time of its release, because the violence is intense at times and there is some profanity. It's a rugged story about rugged people in a rugged land. These adventurers had to be rough to survive.
Ethan Hawke plays the young man-hero whom we all root for, and the way he builds a relationship to wolf-dog "White Fang" is touching to view. The movie offers everything but humor but they do throw one funny line in at the end, by one of the villains, no less.
Summary: a memorable adventure. One of Disney's best films of any genre. I am amazed there are less than 20 reviews of this movie.
