The Mountain Men (1980) Reviews

• An interesting period of time

  tonopah62002-10-22

  If you haven't been spoiled by modern society and brainwashed with political subliminal television making you into a sheep, then you will clearly enjoy this movie! You will like setting yourself within the era of the early 1800's, experiencing the freedom and danger of the wild west. `Got sand in her, she does,' Brian Keith says when an Indian woman wants to latch on to Charlton Heston; which leads to the normal function of having a mate, and that becomes the main story because the squaw‘s mate from the Blackfoot tribe pursues in getting her back. The Wyoming Grand Teton national park is an excellent location; it sets the scene for Heston who loves to trap beaver; it sets the scene for a period of time when their where few luxuries; it sets the scene for the battle between Heston and the Blackfoot warrior. A buddy film that's fun, and sad . . . So watch, feel, and enjoy the action.

• One can almost smell the wet fur.

  Poseidon-32004-07-28

  Maligned upon its release for its vivid violence, course language and questionable script, this film plays a bit better a quarter of a century later (now that vivid violence, course language and questionable scripts are almost all Hollywood has to offer!) Heston and Keith play feisty, rowdy, rugged trappers, swathed from head to toe in pelts and eking out a living selling their wares once a year or so to other frontiersmen. The action takes place in land occupied by warring Crow and Blackfoot Indians. When an enslaved Indian woman (Racimo) unsuccessfully tries to kill Heston and he brings her injured body back to his camp, a chain of events is kicked off that causes the deaths of dozens of people. Her captor, Blackfoot warrior Macht, wants his possession returned to him, more as a matter of pride than anything, and will stop at nothing to retrieve her. A variety of other characters turn up along the way including frontier newcomer Glover, old Indian friend Ackroyd and French Canadian trapper Cassel. Ultimately, Heston must go mano a mano with the ever-disgruntled Macht for the rights to Racimo. The rather cut-and-dried story is played out on a vast canvas of stunning Wyoming locations. The scenery is one of the chief attributes of the film. There is also a lovely score by Michel Legrand. Heston (along with many other people in the movie) has to contend with a horrendous fright wig - worse than his usual toupee! - a thick beard and a ton of heavy fur costuming. He gives a slightly more raucous portrayal than audiences may be used to but remains the granite-jawed, monument-like hero more often than not. Keith is wondrous. He completely abandons any and all refinement and sinks himself into his rough-and-tumble, foul-mouthed, earthy role. He and Heston share a significant amount of chemistry and the tale is almost more about their mutual affection than it is about the fight over Racimo. Surprisingly, for 1980, almost every Indian is portrayed by a white actor. Some are more successful than others. Jory and Ackroyd come across pretty authentically. Though he gives an intense portrayal, Macht brings all of the Native American sensibility, nuance and detail to his role as, say, a New York City writer moonlighting as a cab driver. He gives his role a far too contemporary and angst-ridden spin. Someone should have shown him Henry Brandon's work in "The Searchers" for inspiration. He also has an unintentionally amusing Snidley Whiplash moustache painted on his face for the bulk of the time. There's a raft of anachronistic-sounding vulgarity in the film, but it does aid in presenting the title characters as unsophisticated roughhousers. The violence is mostly very effective and gripping except for one really badly-handled beheading. Though fans of traditional (Randolph Scott?) westerns may balk at the film, it does offer some decent acting, action and cinematography. It also provides a vivid and rare glimpse into the world of the 19th century trappers. One quibble: Why do characters (often on foot!) keep running into each other in this expansive wilderness with the same frequency (or greater) than what would occur in Danville, Illinois??

• "Men" on film...

  Mister-62000-01-10

  If memory serves, back when this movie first came out, two well-known reviewers (who lived by their thumbs) voted this one of the worst films of 1980. A few years later, I actually saw "The Mountain Men". Just goes to show that even two well-placed thumbs can be wrong. This is a fairly entertaining film, detailing the rowdy lives of two hunters (Heston and Keith) living in the mountains, drinking bad whiskey and fighting off attacks by bad guy Indians like Heavy Eagle, who scalps poor Keith at one point. The stereotypes are a little thick in spots, but the story is so well-told that one hardly notices. The film was written by Fraser Clark Heston, Charlton's son, and a fine writer he is, blending humor, action and sentiment all into one neat little package. And with such beautiful mountain scenery on view, what a pretty package it is. It's not exactly the easiest film to find but if you do get a hold of "The Mountain Men", be sure to watch it immediately. This is one of those films they REALLY don't make anymore. Eight stars for "The Mountain Men".

• Man's Man Movie

  piratecat-22006-12-31

  One of my favorite movies. A movie set around 1830 when trapping in the Rockies was slowly dying out. Charlton Heston and Brian Keith are pair of spirited old codgers who are liven past dreams gone by but manage to eick out a liven in the forsaken rugged frontier of Wyoming. Their adventure is far from over when a dispute with an Indian warrior puts them on a head to head collision. The warrior's woman who escapes to be with Bill Tyler the trapper put not only him but all his friends in harms way. A must see movie. An enjoyable entertaining tale of the ole frontier. Keith the undying loyal sidekick of Heston till the end loves to hear his friend spin tales of the valley of the beaver. So abundant are the beaver they stand on logs and call out take me Bill Tyler take me. To the amusement of Brian Keith but the irritation of Charlton Heston. A fun, action, humor, drama, and suspenseful performance.

• Keith Steals The Heston Project

  bkoganbing2007-01-05

  It's always good to have a movie star father and young Fraser Clarke Heston was able to get father Charlton to star in a film adaptation of his script about The Mountain Men. Of course Dad was able to get friend Brian Keith into the film as well, they had worked together previously on a western called Arrowhead back in the salad days of both of them. Charlton Heston has always been generous with praise of his colleagues so I don't think he begrudged Brian Keith a bit for totally stealing this film away from the Heston clan. Keith's portrayal of the rollicking, hard drinking, hard cussing, mountain man pal of Charlton Heston is the highlight of the film. It's the main reason to see The Mountain Men. Another reason is the grand location cinematography in the Grand Teton mountains in Wyoming where this was filmed. This in fact is where the Kit Carsons, Jim Bridgers, Thomas Fitzpatricks and the rest of that hardy breed of men worked at their lonely occupation of trapping beaver pelts for sale. They were indeed a hardy bunch. Unlike the post Civil War west these guys were in fact outnumbered by the Indians who with their bows and arrows were actually possessing weapon superiority to the muzzle loading single shot muskets the trappers had. You learned Indian ways and skills of all kinds or you did not survive. The plot of this film has Heston rescuing an Indian princess, Victoria Racimo, a Crow away from her Blackfeet captors and earning the undying hatred of Stephen Macht, a chief among the Blackfeet. Very similar to the plot of Robert Redford's Jeremiah Johnson where Redford was also an object of Indian vengeance. This film marked the farewell performance of that grand character actor Victor Jory. Jory plays a Crow chief who may look old but seems to have found Viagara long before the FDA approved it. Unfortunately for The Mountain Men it got caught up in the wake of the approval for Jeremiah Johnson. It suffers unfairly in comparison to the Robert Redford film. Yet The Mountain Men can definitely stand on its own critically and every other way. And Jeremiah does not have the fabulous Brian Keith in it.