The Mountie

In 'honour' of the woeful poetry a little girl reads out at regular intervals in Way Of The West, or The Mountie, or The Ranger, or whatever they're calling it these days, I thought I'd compose my own dreadful little ode:

Clichés abound No Surprises in store This Film Is a plodding bore

Good guy with white horse Baddies on black Colour coding This movie doesn't lack

The hero here Is totally vanilla No personality traits Dialogue just filler

The tedium extends To the shoot outs Stay awake? I have my doubts

But before I take My blessed nap Let me warn you Of this piece o'crap

It's in the 99p shop Taking up space Just ignore it and leave With a smile on your face

There we go. Wordsworth, Hughes, Byron... you better watch out... 3/10

I have to admit that the alternate (USA DVD) title "The way of the west" doesn't speak to the movies content. I am certain the only reason they created an alternate title for USA distribution is because "The Mountie" or "Way of the Yukon" or some similarly Canadian title would have little meaning or frame of reference for American viewers. Having said that, I can see how it being in IMDb's category Westerns could be a bit misleading and probably why other reviewers were disappointed. I wouldn't really drop it into the drama category either.

The cinematography is predictably well done, and given the raw nature of the Canadian Territories there are some great backgrounds. I agree that the lead actor (Walker) really does lay on the Clint Eastwood a bit thick. And unnecessarily so. he could have pulled off the role just as easily and likely more believably in a less strained manner.

As for continuity, I had no problems following the story line. I might question the historical accuracy of opium cultivation (which seems to be implied) in the Yukon, but there definitely was an opium trade. One also has to take into account that the story basically takes place in the middle of nowhere so character interaction is limited to the few people in the camp (its not a town).

I found the writing competent and the story engaging. I often shy away from Canadian movies due to their track record in terms of quality, but I didn't find The Mountie disappointing. It not a masterpiece either, but it is entertaining. The cast was well placed and the performances believable. Some familiar faces with Jessica Pare (who was awesome in "Suck"), Pastko and Buza.

All in all its worth the rental fee, I won't be adding it to my DVD collection, but it was enjoyable enough for me. I give it a 6/10. Just don't expect "Hang "em high".

Not sure why some reviewers are criticizing Andrew Walker for "channeling" Clint Eastwood when he looks like Eastwood, sounds like Eastwood and is playing the type of part that Eastwood would play. Kind of hard to get away from that comparison.

While the movie wasn't perfect, it was more authentic that most Hollywood westerns. Ie. Riders actually walked their horses (and did not run everywhere), people lived in tents, firearms were black powder and sounded like it, the size explosion of a stick of dynamite was reasonable, people and their clothing were dirty and the Mountie's uniforms weren't pristine clean and pressed.

Better to see a movie where the director makes an effort for some authenticity than, big budget Hollywood fluff.

The absolute beauty of the Yukon Mountains give this moving tale of mans corruption and greed an almost surreal effect. The director (S. Wyeth Clarkson) has taken the time to interchange the brutality of a greedy encampment of Russian criminals intent on basically enslaving a poor mining camps inhabitants with the stunningly gorgeous background of the Yukon mountainous region.A Mountie (expertly portrayed by Andrew Walker), rides in to the rescue in the complete wilderness to save the day in the timeless tradition of the NorthWest Mounted Police Fashion. Breaking the movie into pieces just enough to perfectly not draw the audience away from the main plot to show the Mountie has an accomplice that was persuaded by opium and punishment to fall from grace, seemingly waiting on the same Mountie to save him from himself. An absolute pleasure to watch if you love the Beauty of the Wilderness and an excellent story comprising Man's honesty and integrity to shine through when all else is hopeless. I will watch this movie many times more, and I would urge anyone to give it a preview as the entire cast plays their parts perfect, without flaw.

By Canadian standards I am sure this could be considered a work of art, by the rest of the worlds standards it was "meh". This movie appears to be a feeble Canadian attempt at an American "western" type movie, it even has a quite humorous "Canadian Clint Eastwood". I suppose if you go into the movie knowing this and expecting to be a typical "Canadian movie" with a simplistic plot, predictable storyline and less than average actors you will not feel as if you wasted your time. It is not bad for something to do when bored on a Sunday afternoon. If you are a pretentious Canadian however I would expect you would be very excited to see this "film" and it would be a special event in your life ;) I have seen worse movies but I have most certainly seen BETTER. Give it a shot, as long as you do not spend more than $1.00 to view it then you should be okay with the time you gave to watch this movie.