Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2005
Charles Bronson and Lee Marvin appearing in a film together? The machismo factor must be through the roof...but this isn't the first time these two legendary Hollywood tough guys appeared together. They previously worked together on The Dirty Dozen (1967) and the The Meanest Men in the West (1967), which was actually two episodes of the TV show The Virginian put together to make a feature length television movie. Directed by Peter Hunt (On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Assassination), Death Hunt (1981) stars, as I mentioned, Charles Bronson (formerly known as Charles Buchinsky...I guess Buchinsky wasn't `Hollywood' enough, hence the change) and Lee Marvin (his original name), who was once on director Steven Spielberg's short list to play the character Quint in his 1975 film, Jaws (think how different that film would have been with Marvin instead of Robert Shaw). Also appearing is Andrew Stevens (Night Eyes, Munchie), who was once married to actress Kate Jackson of Charlie's Angels fame, Carl `Apollo' Weathers (Rocky), Ed Lauter, whom you may remember as Captain Knauer in the 1974 Burt Reynolds film The Longest Yard (which is currently being remade starring Adam Sandler, scheduled for released in '05, further proving creativity is dead in Hollywood), and Angie Dickinson (Big Bad Mama, Dressed to Kill), in a role originally offered to Joan Collins, but she turned it down due to a lack of bitchery within the character.
The film, based on a true story (but denounced by many Canadian historians for its' misrepresentation of the facts), takes place in the Yukon Territories in the year 1931. It centers on Albert Johnson (Bronson), a lone trapper who becomes a fugitive, pursued by the doggedly determined Sgt. Edgar Millen, RCMP (Marvin), essentially for a crime he didn't commit. After a run in with a group of less than savory individuals, lead by Hazel (Lauter), Johnson is accused of murder, and the curmudgeonly Millen, with his rookie Mountie (Andrews) in tow, investigate the allegations. Millen suspects Johnson acted in self-defense, and tries to convince Johnson to come peaceably, but a trigger happy member of the posse (one of Hazel's men) spoils those plans, inadvertently bringing the fury down on their collective heads as Johnson, who we learn later, is a WWI veteran, extremely proficient with weapons and trained to survive in nearly any terrain, leads the group on a bloody chase across the snowy, arctic tundra.
In watching Death Hunt (I dislike that title, and I think it was probably chosen due to the popularity of Bronson's 1974 film Death Wish), I couldn't help notice the similarities with the Sylvester Stallone film First Blood (1982), released a year later.
Both films share a lead characters that;
1. have a military background
2. a loner type seeking the solace of living life of seclusion, preferably away from civilization
3. finds himself in trouble with the law for essentially a crime he didn't commit
4. becomes a fugitive, and the subsequent target of a massive manhunt, which he successfully manages to fend off and elude
Also, both films share a scene where the main character, backed against a cliff, leaps from the cliff onto the top of a tall tree, making their way to relative safety (well, Rambo did get that big, nasty wooden sliver in his arm). The main difference between the two films is that of the law enforcement characters played by Marvin and Brian Dennehy. Dennehy was obviously played up to be the antagonist, thereby garnering a sense of sympathy for the character of Rambo (thereby providing justifications for his actions), while Marvin's character of Edgar Millen is much different. Millen has an inherent understanding and respect for Johnson, leaning towards the belief that Johnson probably acted out of self-defense, but due to forces out of his control (that of a bloody thirsty mob) is now forced to bring Johnson in anyway he can, as it's his duty. There doesn't appear to be any real animosity between the characters of Millen and Johnson, only a mutual understanding that each is doing what they must, either out of a sense of duty or sense of self preservation. The performances weren't necessarily outstanding, but each actor, all professionals, came across well. It's not like Bronson brought anything new to his role, but his character seemed pretty straightforward. Marvin did get a chance to add a little depth to his character, but I always thought his career sort of petered out after The Dirty Dozen...but what a long, successful career it was...the characters played by Weathers and Dickinson (who was the only female character in the film, not counting Buffalo Woman, the local heavy-set prostitute who spoke no English) almost seemed extraneous. The story is pretty straightforward, and moves along well, with lots of action and a nice bits of violence (plenty of guys get shot up, but one in particular gets it right between the eyes, to which we get a nice shot of the bullet exiting the back of his head). The one thing that I did find hard to swallow was a scene where a group of armed men have Johnson's log cabin surrounded, and he's successfully fending them off, to which they decide to use dynamite, literally blowing the cabin to smithereens. Assuming he's dead the men begin to converge on the wreckage, only to be met by an unscathed, armed to the teeth Johnson, who reduces their numbers by a few. Seriously, he didn't have a scratch on him, yet the cabin he was holed up in was completely obliterated. He did dig a couple of trenches within the cabin to better facilitate firing upon those surrounding him, but they weren't that deep.
The widescreen (1.85:1, enhanced for 16x9) picture presented on this DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment looks really good and the audio comes through clean and clear. Special features include a trailer for the film, and a insert containing a reproduction of an original poster for the film.
Cookieman108