Legend of the Northwest essentially follows the misfortunate trail of a German Shepherd named Bearheart. Though certainly a family film it's canine protagonist Bearheart appears to endure more suffering than his associates in other dog centered films such as Benji the Hunted, The Adventures of Yellow Dog, or Firehouse Dog even. The poor beast is yelled at, his only loved one taken away, repeatedly clubbed with the butt end of a rifle, shot, abandoned, then shot at some more. Talk about a tough life.
The core of the film plays out like a family friendly version of an EC horror story. Bearheart's kindly old master operates a trading post and makes the mistake of taking in 2 trappers with bad intentions. Suffice to say it doesn't end well for the old man and the image of Bearheart laying over his master's corpse for a prolonged period evokes Sir Edwin Landseer's famous painting "The Old Shepherd's Chief Mourner". At any rate Bearheart is soon on the trail of the men responsible for his now solitary existence. This portion of the story plays out and the film then continues on to show Bearheart's attempt to live alongside human folk once again.
Today's young audiences (the film was rated PG) would more than likely find the film lacking, no CGI, no MTV style editing, no over the top action. Just good old fashioned film-making. That's not to say the film is on par with Old Yeller and without flaws, it's pacing could've been tightened up a bit, but it's a worthy addition to the crowded canine genre.
The core of the film plays out like a family friendly version of an EC horror story. Bearheart's kindly old master operates a trading post and makes the mistake of taking in 2 trappers with bad intentions. Suffice to say it doesn't end well for the old man and the image of Bearheart laying over his master's corpse for a prolonged period evokes Sir Edwin Landseer's famous painting "The Old Shepherd's Chief Mourner". At any rate Bearheart is soon on the trail of the men responsible for his now solitary existence. This portion of the story plays out and the film then continues on to show Bearheart's attempt to live alongside human folk once again.
Today's young audiences (the film was rated PG) would more than likely find the film lacking, no CGI, no MTV style editing, no over the top action. Just good old fashioned film-making. That's not to say the film is on par with Old Yeller and without flaws, it's pacing could've been tightened up a bit, but it's a worthy addition to the crowded canine genre.