BandicootBurn Based on the novel with the same name by American author Jack London, the film follows the book's eponymous character, a wild wolf-dog hybrid. The story begins with our star Jack (played by Ethan Hawke) who is searching for his deceased father's claim in the 1890's. Most of the film involves Jack and his new partner Alex (played by Klaus Maria Brandauer) overcoming various challenges and hostility from both animals and people until they do eventually make it to his father's claim and the journey was well worth it. The acting is very solid from everyone all involved and even though at times it can be quite violent (for the animals at least) you can't help but be astounded by the production values and amount of time they must have spent training these animals up to produce such realistic fight scenes.Finally, this is definitely an enjoyable film to watch for both children and adults with some of the most beautiful scenic photography I have ever seen!

Robert J. Maxwell I wasn't expecting much from a "family movie" that was awarded only two stars out of four by my TV guide but it's really quite well done. The location shooting in Haynes and Skagway, Alaska, is stunning. The narrative is clear -- parallel stories of a wolfish dog and a young man that come together at the end. Fine performances by everyone concerned. The dog wrangler should get a medal. Jed, who plays the dog, White Fang, deserves an academy award, and Bart the Bear does too for best supporting character. This may be the best adaptation of a Jack London novel that's ever been done.Jack London himself was quite a character in the early 1900s. He was an oyster pirate in Oakland, traveled to Asia, lived in the artists' colony at Carmel, and made his way to Alaska during one of its periodic gold rushes. He later took to hard dope and died at an early age but before that, he produced some marvelously evocative stuff. His sketch of a ferry crossing from San Francisco to Sausalito in a heavy fog could have been described yesterday instead of 1904.That ferry crossing is the opening of "The Sea Wolf," which may show his talent at its best -- until the love interest is introduced, at which point the writing plunges into purple. His short story, "To Build a Fire," is the first short story I remember reading in high school and I was duly impressed."White Fang" is equally gripping. The movie, not the story, which I haven't read. I did manage to run across an excerpt some years ago -- the scene in which White Fang gently closes his jaws around Jack's forearm and signal mute acceptance of their bond. It's a touching moment in a story filled with touching moments."White Fang", alas, has a stereotypical villain in James Remar, a fine actor. He's the bad guy who cons an Indian out of the dog and taunts the dog constantly to keep him angry enough to win the illegal dog fights that Remar has entered him into. The Indians didn't treat dogs with any familiarity. They weren't pets. They were work animals and did what they were told. "We are their gods," says Grey Beaver. They were indifferent but not cruel.Klaus Maria Brandauer deserves applause too. He's an admirable actor whose career may have been stymied by his unprepossessing looks. His eyes are slanted at an odd angle that gives him a sort of feline expression. But he gets the job done and, as Jack the novice, Ethan Hawke pulls his weight, so to speak.Alaska is great. Four time zones. And in the summer the sun never quite sets, yet everything stops just as if night had fallen. The birds stop singing, the forest and the towns quiet down, and everything seems asleep although it's sunny enough for rainbows to form at three in the morning.Dogs are great too. They evolved from European jackals and were domesticated in Europe about 20,000 years ago. It's doubtful that they were pets. They were helpmates, as they were to Jack London's Indians, helping to trap large game animals, guarding the camp against intruders, perhaps saddled with packs, and living on scraps of food. They're social animals. They hunted in packs. That's probably why they're so much easier to "read" than cats, who were solitary predators.Anyway, a nice job.

jcstothemax i remember watching this film when i was kid back in 1991. I was and still am a lover of Wolves, and this film really got to me. I just purchased the DVD last night, and am so excited to re-live what was once my all time favorite movie. The acting and the scenery in this film are amazing, i can still remember sitting in my bedroom watching Ethan Hawke's character walking up that huge slope to get to the top and meet with the people he is going to mine gold with. Along the way White Fang comes along and helps him and protects him. It is one of the greatest movies having to do with the gold mining and wildlife. White fang was my hero as an animal as i was growing up, and i had always wished that i could find a wolf, and live in alaksa with it by my side.

Jessica Carvalho This is one of my childhood favorite movies. =) We can see the young Ethan Hawke, many years before meeting Uma Thurman and marrying her. In 1898, Jack is an orphan who move to Alaska in search of a gold mine left by his father.In the beginning, he has some problems in Alaska, because of the weather and the difficulties of the wild life. But soon he and Alex become friends and partners in the gold sector. Alex teaches Jack how to search for gold in live in Alaska, and Jack teaches Alex how to read and to write. After some time, Alex and Jack meet the Indian native Grey Beaver, who was the responsible of taking care of the little wolf that he gave name White Fang. Jack starts to like White Fang,specially after W.F. saves him from a bear. When Grey Beaver goes to the city he has some problems and needs to sell White Fang for a guy named Smith ( Richard from'' Sex and The city ''). Smith wants White Fang because he likes dog fights to win money.He teaches White Fang to be angry and suspicious about men, and this will only stop when Jack saves White Fang from Smith and the dog fights and takes care of him, beginning a friendship with the beautiful wolf.:)