The Legend of Black Thunder Mountain

Written and directed by Tom Beemer, it's no great surprise this is the only movie he ever made. It stars his kids, plus another father-son team, and it's just a glorified home movie.

The kids actually do fine, but elsewhere the acting is poor and the script, direction and production values are almost nonexistent. The special effects are fairly laughable, though footage of a volcanic eruption is spliced in OK.

On the other hand the scenery is nice, the animals are cute and well-trained (though they aren't required to do much), the songs aren't bad at all and the slapstick comedy, though crass and poorly timed, should amuse very young children.

This is a pleasant gentle and not too scary tale, suitable for the littlest ones, who may well like it a lot.

I could only watch about 15 minutes of this drivel. The big question which arose was, which was worse: The acting, the writing, the narration, or the music? I love family films and am willing to overlook a few faults to enjoy a pioneer adventure. But not this one. Watch one of the Wilderness Family Movies instead, or Across the Great Divide, or Old Yeller, or even The Legend of Cougar Canyon. So many great family movies have been made that it's not necessary to watch some amateurish crap like this.

I was actually embarrassed watching the few minutes of this I did.

Skip this one and take your kids to the park instead.

When I was about 5 years old, my mother came home with a whole lot of movies, Legend of Black Thunder Mountain was among one of these movies, I saw it at that age but I did not understand the story, years later when I was 12 or 13, I saw the movie again and I really liked it a lot. Directed by Tom Beemer in 1979 this movie was not at all popular, but its a wonderful movie for all ages, some people may think it's a "dorky" movie, but that's just their opinion.

The story is based in the pioneer age, a man and his daughter and son are traveling thru the Black Thunder mountains. the 2 kids are separated from their father by 2 gold-obsessed loons (I am pretty sure the loons are related…) who want some kind of map the traveling family has, the 2 siblings have the map in their nature book & escape from the 2 gold brothers. I don't want to give off too much information so I'll make this short. Anna & Jamie Parish (the lost kids, who are about 10 & 8 years old) are played by Holly & Steve Beeman (yep, they're related in real life), I think they give a very good performance because they are not at all haughty & they are really optimistic about finding their father, but they are just children so they show a sign of meekness, but best of all, they are not sibling rivals.

The film was shot in places such as the Wenatchee National Forest & more, but the scenery was very lovely, many gorgeous trees, merry rivers & a big beautiful mountain. There's also he fauna folk (animals, duh…), many animals include the adorable eagle chicks, raccoons & many more of our friendly animal friends. There's this one character, Mrs. Mullen a big bumbling lovable she-bear, who protects the kids as if they were her own cubs. Other characters include a crazed mountain man and an enigmatic, but trusty Indian boy.

I recommend you seeing this movie because its so moral, the father of the two children is Christian and no one (even the gold bros) dies in the end, it's totally for kids. Like I said, it was not a popular movie and its probably hard to come by.

The film is dated back to the late 70's a time where movies were still taking shape. So you can expect some cheesyness but like I said its expected from a 70's movie. It is really cute as it ventures with 2 children trying to save their fathers book from a gang of bad guys following them up a mountain. It has a lovely connection with the wildlife, and despite its hate I enjoyed the music. It suits the film nicely, its unique and stands out in its own way. If you can get this film I will say its worth a watch. AGAIN please bare in mind it is a very very old movie.

This movie was really cute, and I loved the animals and the message it sent out. It shows how Native Americans cared for the land and its animals, and how children can get along and communicate regardless of their backgrounds. It not only showcases wildlife in its natural habitat, it gives one a feeling of connecting with the individual animals. I think that a lot of the movies of today are not family oriented enough in the right way. I did not find this movie offensive or violent. No one gets killed or ripped apart, it wasn't needed - the bad guys are seen for their greed and their stupidity without the gore. The points and or moral of the story are all loud and clear. All in all, it was interesting enough to pause the movie when I had to leave the room. I enjoyed it even though the acting was terrible. But for 1979 - it turned out really well.