Mother Lode

Decent wilderness adventure with the legendary Charlton Heston directing himself in a tale of two young people, Jean (Nick Mancuso) and Andrea (Kim Basinger) flying to Northern British Columbia. They do it ostensibly to look for a colleague / friend who'd come there and disappeared, but the lure of a potential windfall in gold proves too strong to resist. Unfortunately for them, already residing in the area is grizzled old Scottish miner Silas McGee (Heston), who's not as friendly as he initially seems to be. Heston, directing from a screenplay by his son Fraser (Fraser was also the producer), does a capable job of drawing us into this story with good acting and well orchestrated thrills; the second unit direction was the work of Joe Canutt, son of another legend, Yakima Canutt, so there are two second generation filmmakers filling out important roles here. The film is well shot (by Richard Leiterman) in claustrophobic settings and paced well. Mainly, it's worth seeing for Heston's fine performance (there's a major twist regarding his character, but you won't hear it from me) as he completely immerses himself in the character and does a good job with the accent to boot. Basinger looks great as usual and she and Mancuso are both quite capable. John Marley is Elijha, the forest dweller who lends some much needed assistance and he's just a delight. This is quite well made technically, with some breathtaking aerial photography and lots of gorgeous rural scenery. Ken Wannbergs' music likewise adds to the overall enjoyment. It's too bad that this little film is not that well known nowadays, but it is on DVD now so more people can discover it for themselves. Not that it's anything truly *great*, necessarily, but it's tense and gripping stuff and entertaining all the way. Seven out of 10.

If you hate tight, confined spaces and they make you very uncomfortable, then perhaps "Mother Lode" is a film you'd best skip. Now, I am not saying the film is bad...but the later portions are tough because they take place in tiny, tumbling caves.

When the story begins, a dopey guy sells his house and convinces his girlfriend to come with him into the wilderness of British Columbia. Why? Well, he believes that there's gold to be discovered there and he'll get rich. The problem is that getting to this location is a serious problem...and they almost get killed in the process. Once there, they meet up with a crazed prospector (Charlton Heston)...a man who's been digging for gold for nearly 30 years. What's next? Well, a whole lotta danger and suprises.

I'll admit that the film is a bit slow and Heston's performance is a bit out there....but the story improves a lot as the film progresses and the story is quite original.

A great movie, my wife and I's favorite since we first saw it in 1982. We liked the name and the character Ian MacGee so much that we named our first son Ian, who is now 19. Of course, I am of Scottish decent, so I loved the character's accent, and the bagpipes. This movie could have easily have had a sequel, such as going back for the gold through a mountain crevasse. One of Mr Heston's finest performances. My first introduction to Kim Bassinger, and she remains as my favorite blonde bombshell actress. We are also biting at the bit to get it on DVD. Hey, Mr. Heston, if you ever read this, please get this movie on a DVD, it will sell like crazy!!! Love it, love it, love it.

This is a great independent movie the plot was good, and so was the photography. It was too bad that this movie did not have the advertising and promotional backing for more exposure and running length time. Because if it had, this movie would have done better and would be better known that it is! This movie should have gotten more exposure than it did at the time of release!

Though this review is written 18 years after the fact, this film remains among the top of my all time favorites. Introducing the great wilderness in the manner portrayed within the story was breath-taking and this introduction was significant in eventual Canadian and Alaskan adventures. When films can have such an impact on a person, they cannot help but remain close to the heart. The story was fun & exciting and very well played, yet, hats are off to the big screen impact this film portrayed of the Canadian Wilderness.