Wizard-8 I have a feeling that many people who might give "Man In The Wilderness" a try will feel cheated at the end. A lot of the advertising material (and the DVD box) suggest the movie is about a man seeking revenge against his former friends. Well, that's sort of the truth, but the actual execution is a lot different than you might think. The central character doesn't actually start his pursuit of his former friends until two-thirds of the movie has passed. Up to that point, the movie is more of his survival after being badly wounded. And when he does manage to catch up to his former friends, what he does will probably let a lot of bloodthirsty viewers sorely disappointing. But I enjoyed the movie all the same. Seeing the wounded central figure struggle to survive was quite captivating. There are some haunting and striking shots here and there of the cold and deadly wilderness. If there is a big problem with the movie, it is that the Native American leader that Harris' character encounters twice speaks some narration that would have made some things much clearer had we been able to understand him (he speaks his native language without subtitles.) Also, the flashbacks Harris' character has of his past doesn't really end up adding much to the movie. If the movie still sounds appealing after what I've said, it's probably safe for you to give it a spin in your DVD machine.

aberkelm This movie was idiotic, ridiculous and hard to watch. The long drawn out scenes were just painful (and I enjoy slow movies), the 'survival' shots weren't realistic and the whole ending was just…. strange. Indians sure do like being shot in these stupid movies don't they? I'm pretty sure they wouldn't just keep charging at men with rifles and cannon, lose scores of men but not actually really attack. Also pretty sure they had projectile weapons. And what was up with the stupid boat? The true story would have been far more interesting and there are other movies from this time frame that are way better… I wouldn't bother watching this one.

FightingWesterner Richard Harris is horribly mauled by a grizzly bear and left to die in the primeval forest of 1820's America, by trapping expedition captain John Huston. The injured Harris is forced to go to extraordinary lengths in order to survive and catch up with the rest of his party.A very offbeat, handsomely produced outdoor adventure, Man In The Wilderness is a story that's told primarily in pictures, with very minimal dialog. This moody, sometimes cerebral film might not be for everyone, though others will find it quite satisfying.Richard Harris delivers a great performance, despite the fact that the script only allows him to speak five times during the movie, three of which were near the end. He's forced to convey emotions mainly through body and facial expression.Some favorite scenes are when the trappers are pinned down by the weather and begin to imagine a vengeful Harris, coming out of the wilderness to get them, and of course the fascinating climax and finale.The film's basic premise was borrowed four years later, in the bad drive-in movie Apache Blood. That film is not recommended, whereas this would make a pretty good double-bill with A Man Called Horse or Jeremiah Johnson.

sol **SPOILERS** Out hunting for food for the members of his expedition Indian scout Zachary Bass, Richard Harris,is suddenly attacked by a grizzly bear who savagely mauls him. Coming to Bass' rescue the frontiersmen of his expedition gun down the grizzly but not after the bear just about did Bass in.With both massive claw and bite wounds as well as having lost a near-fatal amount of blood it's decided by the leader of the expedition Captain Filmore Henry, John Huston, to give him a proper and Christian funeral but there's only one catch! Bass, as badly injured as he is, is still clinging on to life!With the two frontiersmen Fogarty & Lowire, Percy Herbert & Dennis Waterman, watching and waiting for Bass to finally kick off they turn tail and run at the sight of a group of Arikara Indians in the area leaving Zachary Bass to his fate. It turned out that Bass' fate was to survive and live to see his new born son whom at the time he never expected to live to see at all!Inspiring and touching story of how Zachary Bass defied the odds and survived in the bitter and frozen woodlands an mountains west of the Missouri River. Bass not a religious man who was very cynical of life-due to hie own life experiences-found a reservoir of new strength to help him struggle through life's hardships. Which turned out to be a combination of belief in himself as well as that of an Almighty omnipresent and benevolent higher power: God.Fighting off wolves and mountain lions for food in order to survive Bass soon becomes strong enough to make his way to the Missouri on foot just before Captain Henry's expedition. It's there that Bass finds himself in the middle of a life and death battle between Captain's Henry's men and hundreds of Arikara Indians lead by their chief Henry Wikoxon.***SPOILER ALERT*** With most of Captain Henry's men killed by the rampaging Arikara Indians and it looking like curtains for those still surviving another miracle, one of many, happens in the movie to have Chief Wikoxon call his warriors off. Chief Wikoxon's great respect for Bass whom, in what Bass went through, he considers to be one of his own.P.S The film "Man in the Wilderness" is actually based on a the true story of frontiersman and Indian scout Hugh Glass. Glass like Zachary Bass in the movie did survive a Grizzly attack and was left for dead by those in his expedition only to fool them surviving against impossible odds. Glass lived to be 53 years old, 13 years after that incident in the wild, only to be killed in 1833 together two fellow frontiersmen in an ambush by the Arikara Indians on the banks of the Yellowstone River.