Set during the Alaskan gold rush of the late 1800s. In his efforts to gain control of a small mining town, Sean McLennon is buying up every mining claim that becomes available, usually after the deaths of the previous owners at the hands of McLennon's "assistants". One of the miners targeted by McLennon, a half-Indian hunter named "Hudson Saanteek", manages to escape his hired thugs, and comes back into town looking to re-establish his claim and get revenge. McLennon and his men have the advantange of numbers and weapons, but Saanteek has his survival skills, and knowledge of the Alaskan wilderness. I'm sorry to say that this film only deserves 2 out of 10, due to the main character Christopher Lambert.<br/><br/>The expectations to this film was great here, since it's partially filmed here in Norway. (The snow scenes and great outdoor scenery is filmed at Mösvatn near Rjukan in Telemark, Norway, and the great Nils Gaup is the director.) Lamberts performance sucks big time! He does not fit into the story at all. <br/><br/>This snow filled western (or northern) has great actors, but due to Lambert tragic figure, the whole film just crashes to the ground, though the story should be good enough. The film also flopped big time in the cinemas, of course, due to this…<br/><br/>This is Nils Gaups worst film. It looks like he really lost the grip on this one. Go watch another of his films! Ofelas or Kautokeino-Opprøret, or Misery Harbour! They are all great! NORTH STAR is a virtual reprise of the 1981 Charles Bronson vehicle DEATH HUNT, which saw a posse headed by Lee Marvin searching the icy wastes for a fleeing trapper played by the DEATH WISH actor. NORTH STAR sets its story in Alaska and features James Caan as the hunter and Christopher Lambert as his quarry.<br/><br/>Despite a decent pacing and some good set-dressing - you never question the setting for a moment - this film has little to recommend it. Lambert fans (are there any?) will be let down by their star's performance, which is wooden even by Lambert standards; little he says or does rings true, and he's almost entirely lacking in star presence. There's a hollowness in the middle of the film which a proper actor should be filling with charisma, wit and heroism.<br/><br/>James Caan is much better as the arrogant villain, a role he also played to the hilt in ERASER. He chews the scenery and shares a decent rapport with Burt Young, playing a fellow bad guy for a change and doing well with it. Catherine McCormack is once again wasted as a love interest, though, leaving 28 WEEKS LATER the only film I've seen that actually makes use of her acting talents.<br/><br/>The pace is good and the outdoor wilderness scenes look fantastic, really bringing the chilly wasteland to life. Scenes of the participants sledging through snowdrifts on their husky-drawn sleighs are a lot of fun. It's just a shame that there's no real meat on the bones, and that the ending is lacklustre to say the least. NORTH STAR fizzles instead of bangs, and that's why this wintry western has been long since forgotten.
North Star is a good adventure movie. I enjoyed the setting of this movie, a frozen Alaskan wilderness and gold mining boomtown making a unique backdrop for a western. The scenery was excellent. I've said the writing was too good. Thanks for sharing. private tour louvre
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