The Mountain Men

Comic booky adult Western about – you guessed it – mountain men

Two bickering mountain men in 1838 (Charlton Heston and Brian Keith) are fun-loving best friends who haven't seen each other for a couple of winters and the former is disheartened to discover that the market for beaver pelts has gone sour. Together they trap, fight Blackfeet and party at a mountain rendezvous. When Tyler (Heston) acquires a Blackfoot woman named Running Moon (Victoria Racimo) her ex, a ruthless warrior named Heavy Eagle (Stephen Macht), wants her back and will kill to get her.

"The Mountain Men" (1980) has a bad reputation with critics, but is generally appreciated by Western fans. Due to its subject matter it's not a conventional Western. There are no saloons, quaint Western towns, Sheriffs, Marshals, cavalries, cattle drives or quick-draw shootouts. "The Mountain Men" takes the topic of 1972's "Jeremiah Johnson" and mixes it with the tone of 1953's "Hondo" and, more so, 1977's "Grayeagle." It's mostly like the latter two in the way the AmerIndians are depicted -- wild and savage. Their portrayal, albeit somewhat cartoony, is neither politically correct nor politically incorrect. It's basically just the way it was. They were either peaceable or brutally hostile depending on the people with whom they were dealing. For instance, the Crow are friendly toward the mountain men whereas the Blackfoot are hostile. In any case, if you favor the aforementioned Westerns, you'll probably appreciate this one.

I can understand the criticism of the film in that there are bits in that the first act that tempt the viewer to tune out. The very first scene wherein one aged mountain man on horseback tackles another just for fun is Exhibit A. There's no way anyone would risk breaking bones in the high country just for kicks, particularly the elderly. Exhibit B is when Tyler fails to immediately go back and apprehend his pack animals, which contained his only possessions on Earth and his very...