North Star

North Star is unique for a European western in that it's set in Alaska, far from the sun baked deserts of the southwest. Everything else is disappointingly typical.

Caan plays a black-hearted land baron in 1899 Alaska who's systematically murdered and cheated his way into being the owner of the largest goldmines in the area. He tries to kill Lambert, a half Eskimo who had the good sense to file a claim on his people's sacred (and gold rich) cave.

It isn't boring but a chase movie where Christopher Lambert squares off against James Caan and Burt Young in a savage frontier battle for survival should have generated more heat than this, especially being that this is co-written by Sergio Donati, who also helped pen For A Few Dollars More and Once Upon A Time In The West!

It's pretty straight forward and unpretentious but it made me wish it were more compelling. The characters were pretty cardboard, though Caan seems to be having some fun swinging back and forth between greedy and treacherous to insane and out of control.

Also, everyone appears to be under-dressed. This movie takes place in Nome, Alaska during a snowstorm but everyone's dressed like it's Fall.

Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson were better in Death Hunt, watch that one first!

Despite being made by one of Hollywood's most prominent film companies (Regency), and starring James Caan and Christopher Lambert, the distributor (Warner Brothers) doesn't seem to have done much (if anything) in the way of a theatrical release, at least on this side of the ocean. Seeing the movie for myself, I think I can understand why. It's not a TERRIBLE movie - the scenery looks nice at times, and the movie is never boring - but it comes across as flat. Lambert is his usual vanilla self, and Caan at times doesn't seem to be taking this acting assignment with much seriousness. There appear to have been cuts made to the story, either in the screenplay stage or in the editing room, which leads some parts of the movie to be somewhat incoherent or without proper explanation. One explanation for this may be that this movie was a co-production between FOUR countries - maybe details got lost in the constant translation between the parties. The movie obviously had a limited budget, which explains why the movie lacks visual depth and scope at times, often resembling a made-for-TV movie. And in the last part of the movie, Caan's character starts doing some ludicrous things that no man with sense would do in his situation. You are not missing much if you skip by this movie at your video store.

I spotted plot elements from at least three other movies in this film- 1)the ruthless landowner/businessman abusing the honest foreigners (Heaven's Gate) 2)the kidnapping of the said baddie's girlfriend (Valdez is Coming) 3)the pursuit of the noble hero through the Alaskan wilds (Death Hunt) James Caan played the heel well and Burt Young stole the show as his henchman. Christopher Lambert, however, looked like he was sleepwalking through his role, which ruined the pacing for me. He could have livened up the movie had he shown some interest in getting revenge on those who wronged him.I don't think Nordic Westerns are going to catch on.

Sorry friends this is a frozen turkey; just it's an interesting turkey courtesy of Caan & Young. Years back they made two superior films- The Gambler & The Killer Elite. It's nice to seem them looking so good 25 years later even considering the material.

When the movie starts I started to think of Jimmy Stewart & Walter Brennan in The Far Country. Afterwards, Valdez is Coming. By the end it just freezes to death of its own weight. It's supposed to showcaset this Highlander guy but he doesn't even rise to the level of Steven Seagal.

I laughed and enjoyed Caan as a ruthless businessman turned psycho killer but somewhere Sonny Corleone is shaking his head. John McIntire too.

In the latter part of the 19th century,Alaska is swamped with people claiming land for goldmines and a struggle ensues between a crooked businessman and a half breed over stolen land. This is in all aspects a western but set in land covered with snow and with sledges more than horses.Film is actually mainly norweigian made but also has other countries involved in it's production,so may even come under the euro western genre.Film is slow paced but also strangely seems rushed at times especially at a rather lacklustre climax.James Caan as the villain of the piece plays it all wide eyed and mad looking which is a little over the top.Some sporadic violence and a couple of OK moments but not enough.