I have seen people panning this movie but it's a KIDS movie with a million dollar budget. It's an exciting adventure appropriate for the 10 and under crowd. Cheesy to the max, with mediocre writing, I still recommend it. I don't think they make movies like this anymore. Mickey Rooney is always fun to see in action. We found it in the $3 movie bin. Totally worth it if my youngster enjoys it. If you are in drama class, take notes on plot holes and overacting. Reminds me of movies like 'escape to grizzly mountain' and 'the white wolf.' I think this movie is supposed to be set in Yellowstone but the bad guys seem to think it'll be a lark to get to the border of Mexico? Contains a conservationist message from a First Nations shape-shifter played by Don Shanks who goes uncredited in the movie.
7 Reviews
BAD; almost not worth commenting on
ryangilmer00715 February 1999
I saw this movie because a friend/acquaintance was/is in it. However, this is the only thing I believe the movie has going for it. There is bad acting, bad plot, bad ..... I'm sure there is some redeeming quality (like no gratuitous violence), but the movie really is not worth viewing.
Likely to insult the intelligence of even kids
Wizard-818 February 2016
Warning: Spoilers
"The Legend of Wolf Mountain" was an early effort by prolific family filmmaker Craig Clyde. Unlike most of his other family movies, here he managed to wrangle up a few actors with some name value (Bo Hopkins, Robert Z'Dar, Mickey Rooney). However, it seems that getting those three actors blew most of the budget, because this movie looks really cheap and tacky despite taking place almost entirely in the wilderness. Actually, the low budget isn't what really sinks the movie. For starters, there's the script (that Clyde co-wrote) and the direction. I admit it gets to a good start, setting up the situation in the first ten or so minutes, but after that point, it doesn't take long for the movie to get really slow and boring. There's very little tension or danger felt anywhere in the movie, and the little there is doesn't seem right for a family movie (escaped convicts firing shots at little kids?) It doesn't help that the three juvenile actors not only give really bad performances, they also suffer from miscasting; one young boy is repeatedly declared to be "fat", but he's not the least bit tubby. Though come to think of it, the adult actors aren't that much better. Watch Clyde's later effort "The Long Road Home" instead.
While 4.2 is very bad, the film is actually much worse.
planktonrules20 December 2022
You know a film is bad when you keep watching it only to decide whether or not to give it a 1 or a 2! "The Legend of Wolf Mountain" is a truly terrible film and I cannot imagine anyone other than kids enjoying it...perhaps ages 7-10, but probably not older and not any younger either! This makes the film for a very select audience. Younger kids will likely be terrified by the violence and older ones will hate it because the film is so bad.
Early in the story, three really annoying grade school kids are accidentally kidnapped by two escaped convicts running from the law. One of the cons is a real psycho and wants to murder them...the other repeatedly says "Why? What's the point?!"...and this really is true. Since the cops were chasing the crooks, spending time trying to catch the kids after they escaped really made little sense. But if that's not worse, it soon begins to make NO sense! This is when a Native American wolf spirit who can change form to look like a stereotypical Indian comes along to help the annoying kids.
The only reason I originally began watching the film was to see Mickey Rooney, who sadly isn't in the movie all that much. Instead, the weight of the picture rest on three non-talented kids...a HUGE mistake by the producers. Focusing on the adults almost exclusively would have made for a much better story. Overall, a really annoying film with annoying kids and designed only to entertain a small segment of the viewers. Otherwise, avoid it at all costs. You know a film is bad when you find yourself rooting for the criminals to catch and snuff the kids...and I cannot imagine that I am alone here!
By the way, in the final scene with the gun, even if the clip had been removed from the gun, the gun likely WOULD have shot the boy, as it's hard to imagine criminals NOT loading the chamber of the gun.
I'm giving it a 2 simply because a few non-demanding kids will possibly enjoy it....possibly.
Early in the story, three really annoying grade school kids are accidentally kidnapped by two escaped convicts running from the law. One of the cons is a real psycho and wants to murder them...the other repeatedly says "Why? What's the point?!"...and this really is true. Since the cops were chasing the crooks, spending time trying to catch the kids after they escaped really made little sense. But if that's not worse, it soon begins to make NO sense! This is when a Native American wolf spirit who can change form to look like a stereotypical Indian comes along to help the annoying kids.
The only reason I originally began watching the film was to see Mickey Rooney, who sadly isn't in the movie all that much. Instead, the weight of the picture rest on three non-talented kids...a HUGE mistake by the producers. Focusing on the adults almost exclusively would have made for a much better story. Overall, a really annoying film with annoying kids and designed only to entertain a small segment of the viewers. Otherwise, avoid it at all costs. You know a film is bad when you find yourself rooting for the criminals to catch and snuff the kids...and I cannot imagine that I am alone here!
By the way, in the final scene with the gun, even if the clip had been removed from the gun, the gun likely WOULD have shot the boy, as it's hard to imagine criminals NOT loading the chamber of the gun.
I'm giving it a 2 simply because a few non-demanding kids will possibly enjoy it....possibly.
Destined to become a MST3K classic
troyryanwood19 December 2022
The main thing this movie has going for it is that it features nearly the entire returning cast of the MST3K classic 'Soultaker' though they apparently blew their entire Joe Estevez budget on Bo Hopkins (playing the exact same small-town hick sheriff he always plays) and... holy crap, is that Mickie Rooney?!? Dear god man, why? Who did you owe money to?
Anyways, I really hope this one gets picked up for a future season of MST3K, since it's got that perfect mix of competence/incompetence where the acting is terrible, the dialogue is clunky and most of the smaller parts are obviously just the director's friends or members of the crew, but not so terrible that the movie becomes completely unwatchable. You could tell they were striving for humor and wacky adventure and wonder... but fell short of every single goal.
The plot is basically "what if we ripped off 'Home Alone' and 'The Wizard' but set it out in the woods where we could film without a permit?" A series of escaped cons decide to steal an idling car without checking the back seat for three kids first, then proceed to lose kids, car, and the money they stole in that order. The kids themselves are *gratuitously* 90's and spend most of the film bickering, humiliating Robert Z'Dar, and recklessly endangering themselves (One of them fails so hard at sitting on a log that he somehow ends up falling backwards and rolling all the way into an entirely different biome so that he can dangling off a cliff), only to be occasionally rescued from their own stupidity by a (I suspect) not actually real Native American spirit guardian who was a man... who came back as wolf... but who occasionally has the ability to shapeshift back into a man.
Being a wolf spirit tasked with defending a specific mountain from the forces of evil may sound like a pretty cool gig, and one that would probably allow you plenty of free time, but it appears that if you have a choice between coming back as a wolf spirit or a human spirit, there is *ZERO* advantage to being a wolf since you immediately lose your ability to see over barriers higher than 2 feet and opposable thumbs.
If there's one message to take home from this movie it's that wolves, it turns out, completely suck, and they should totally change the name to Human Mountain.
Anyways, I really hope this one gets picked up for a future season of MST3K, since it's got that perfect mix of competence/incompetence where the acting is terrible, the dialogue is clunky and most of the smaller parts are obviously just the director's friends or members of the crew, but not so terrible that the movie becomes completely unwatchable. You could tell they were striving for humor and wacky adventure and wonder... but fell short of every single goal.
The plot is basically "what if we ripped off 'Home Alone' and 'The Wizard' but set it out in the woods where we could film without a permit?" A series of escaped cons decide to steal an idling car without checking the back seat for three kids first, then proceed to lose kids, car, and the money they stole in that order. The kids themselves are *gratuitously* 90's and spend most of the film bickering, humiliating Robert Z'Dar, and recklessly endangering themselves (One of them fails so hard at sitting on a log that he somehow ends up falling backwards and rolling all the way into an entirely different biome so that he can dangling off a cliff), only to be occasionally rescued from their own stupidity by a (I suspect) not actually real Native American spirit guardian who was a man... who came back as wolf... but who occasionally has the ability to shapeshift back into a man.
Being a wolf spirit tasked with defending a specific mountain from the forces of evil may sound like a pretty cool gig, and one that would probably allow you plenty of free time, but it appears that if you have a choice between coming back as a wolf spirit or a human spirit, there is *ZERO* advantage to being a wolf since you immediately lose your ability to see over barriers higher than 2 feet and opposable thumbs.
If there's one message to take home from this movie it's that wolves, it turns out, completely suck, and they should totally change the name to Human Mountain.
Can 2 cons really be this stupid?
helpless_dancer20 March 2001
Here we have 2 criminals fresh from a breakout from a maximum security pen. When their getaway car develops a flat tire the clever duo rips off a government car which has 3 12 year old kids in the back seat. Off to the mountains go the thugs where they reluctantly turn their hostages loose. After finding no way over the mountain, the pair turn back only to have their car sabotaged by the kids. A foot race then ensues as the 2 mentally challenged felons chased the kids all over Wolf Mountain for 2 days instead of simply walking out, stealing a car, and heading south. Morons? To be sure! This is a good, exciting picture for the young ones in the family. Let them watch and find out if the crooks find and kill the kids, or if the mysterious spirit of Wolf Mountain foils their dastardly deeds.
Feel the spirit of Wolf Mountain!
somethingtotallyoriginal25 November 2005
After having the pleasure of seeing Wind Dancer and Little Heroes, I knew before seeing it it would be another great Craig Clyde movie... Raeanin Simpson or not. Instead it stars another cute girl. And this time has bigger stars appearing in it. The likes of Bo Hopkins and Mickey Rooney. They are nice to see but you don't always need big stars to make a good movie. There's other good, convincing actors in it.
It also features two hilarious/odd looking escaped convicts. "Get back down on the floor or I'll splatter your brains." He tells the innocent little girl riding in the backseat. The guy looks like Jaws from the James Bond movies and is bent on killing the three kids the whole time. It is a lot of fun.
It's a great movie cuz it demonstrates how a girl can lead the group and triumph. In most other movies we routinely see the man using his head and mussel (Journey To The Center Of The Earth, etc) while the girl helplessly drags behind. But not here, we see the opposite. And thats what makes it interesting, adventurous, unique and sweet.
It's not as good as Wind Dancer or Little Heroes but it has its moments. Thank you Craig for making quality movies.
It also features two hilarious/odd looking escaped convicts. "Get back down on the floor or I'll splatter your brains." He tells the innocent little girl riding in the backseat. The guy looks like Jaws from the James Bond movies and is bent on killing the three kids the whole time. It is a lot of fun.
It's a great movie cuz it demonstrates how a girl can lead the group and triumph. In most other movies we routinely see the man using his head and mussel (Journey To The Center Of The Earth, etc) while the girl helplessly drags behind. But not here, we see the opposite. And thats what makes it interesting, adventurous, unique and sweet.
It's not as good as Wind Dancer or Little Heroes but it has its moments. Thank you Craig for making quality movies.
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