Iron Will

I got the chance to work on this movie on the special effects crew as a local hire. It was a really interesting how we shot the movie, and how it ended up being put together. Makes you understand how important the editors are. Things that we shot weeks apart and in different locations ended up in the same scene in the movie. w Wen he goes off the cliff I am hiding just over the lip holding a safety line. It was extremely cold the first couple of weeks shooting - it was shot mostly around Duluth Minn, then it got warm and everything melted and we spent HOURS spreading potatoe flakes to make snow. The final scene of the movie - most of the snow was trucked in to cover the streets.

Growing up on a farm in South Dakota "Will Stoneman" (Mackenzie Astin) is worried about the financial impact of his going to college will have for his family. Then one day his father "Jack Stoneman" (John Terry) is killed in an accident and needing money to prevent his mother "Maggie Stoneman" (Penelope Windust) from having to sell everything, he decides to enter a dog race in Canada which offers $10,000 to the winner-which is a hefty sum in 1917. Yet, even though he is quite familiar with dog sleds , the brutal nature of this race is like nothing he could have imagined and it will take everything he has just to survive. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that there was indeed a dog race held that year which started in Winnipeg and finished in St. Paul, Minnesota. But that's about all this story gets right. So to suggest that the story was embellished is an understatement in and of itself. Regardless, this film does have a "feel good" quality about it and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

The Grey Rating: Iron Will A flexible rating system used to determine the quality of a movie based on a methodical comparison with the film masterpiece, The Grey.

+ Winter and cold conditions.

+ Hypothermia

+ Water in sub zero temperature

+ Survival in arctic conditions

+ Perseverance of the protagonist against overwhelming odds

+ Savage canines (not wolves exactly)

• Definitely overdone

• Predictable

• Lack of Sir Liam Neeson

I like this movie for its' basic "realism" It looks like America might have looked in 1917 attitudes included. The irasible Storekeeper who Will works for pretty well sums up the local attitude after the Newspaper man Kingsley sent arrives " Where's the box? " He asks, assuming young Stoneman has died in the course of the race. " Don't You get the Newspapers here ? " the shocked reporter responses and passes him several.

I enjoyed Mackenzie Astin's performance, but it didn't surprise me, He's Sean's brother and the son of John Astin and Patty Duke who both did a fair bit of acting. David Ogden Stiers' character was almost strictly Charles Winchester. I also liked Kevin Spacey's reporter out for the "big story" who in a sense was the biggest underdog of all... Imagine getting to page One in the midst of a World War from the K 9 section. uplifting , though not too believable. There's also that scene where wealthy gambler Angus McTeague visits Will in the dog shed and offers him 3000 dollars to drop out of the race. The Boy is sorely tempted and after He leaves, lead dog Gus gives him a almost disgusted look and Will says " I didn't take it... did I ?" No. young Stoneman is not cowed by anyone or anything but Gus the dog and is not all that nice... just human. Could it really happen ? doubtful, but then it is Disney.

Awesome movie, In the same league as Rocky. Just too good. A must watch.

After his dad "buys the farm" in a tragic dogsledding accident, it's up to young Will Stoneman (Mackenzie Astin) to pay off the mortgage. And there's only one way to do it: Win a $10,000 prize in a 500-mile dogsled race. David Ogden Stiers is the railroad magnate who puts up the prize money, and August Schellenberg is the sage Indian who helps the plucky lad develop an iron will to win.

There was one more hero in this movie apart from Mackenzie Astin, the Dog "Gus" which in the movie was his father's favourite dog. The dog was really terrific.