By Lee Pfeiffer
While at the pinnacle of his success as a leading man, coming off of major starring roles in M*A*S*H, Kelly's Heroes and Don't Look Now, Donald Sutherland returned to his native Canada to film Alien Thunder (aka Dan Candy's Law). The story, loosely based on a true historical incident, finds Sutherland as Dan Candy, a stalwart Canadian Mountie, who patrols the wild Saskatchewan wilderness areas in the 1880s. There is a famine plaguing the area and the hardest hit are the local Indian tribes. One brave, Almighty Voice (Gordon Tootoosis) is frustrated at having to wait for meager rations from Canadian authorities while his family starves before his eyes. He slaughters a government-owned cow, an action that sets off a major legal problem. Candy and his partner are assigned to arrest Almighty Voice, who fears he will be hanged. Almighty Voice flees into the wilderness and in a confrontation with Candy's partner, shoots the Mountie dead. Candy becomes obsessed with revenge and the film takes on elements of The Searchers, as he engages in a relentless search for the fugitive. Almighty Voice not only has to avoid capture, but he must deal with the harsh elements and care for his wife and newborn child, who are with him. Almighty Voice and Candy's mano-a-mano grudge match extends over many miles and many months, which each man scoring victories and suffering losses. Almighty Voice turns the tables and attacks Candy's domain, burning his cabin to the ground. As the hunt continues, Candy develops a grudging respect for the man he is determined to bring to justice. He also objects when his strutting, martinet superior officer employs a virtual army, including field artillery, to hunt down Almighty Voice.
The film is directed and photographed by Claude Fournier, and his measured style and leisurely pace may turn off some viewers weaned on contemporary action films. In fact, Alien Thunder is more a character study than an actual adventure, although the final sequence - a battle between the authorities and Almighty Voice and his few allies- is excitingly staged and has moments of grandeur that belie the film's somewhat modest budget. Sutherland gives a fine performance as an everyday man who finds himself on an extraordinary quest for vengeance. He makes for a most vulnerable hero, making misjudgments and mistakes throughout his mission. Most of the supporting cast are little-known actors with the exception of always-watchable old pros Chief Dan George and Kevin McCarthy.
The movie is available on DVD through the Scorpion label. There are no extras except an interesting gallery of other film trailers for the company's releases. Alien Thunder is a consistently engrossing film that one can categorize as an overlooked gem.
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