Review of Jeremiah Johnson (1972) by Tyler B — 03 Jan 2010

Out of all the old western movies out there this Robert Redford classic is one of my favorites. I feel that not alot of people know anything about it. Its about the famous Mountain Man John Johnson. Its shot really well and has got a good story with layers. It shows his struggles to become a Mountain Man and his goals to trapping beaver. Along the way he gets help from fellow mountain man Bear Claw, and he ends up adopoting a son from a family that had been killed by indians. He gets a squaw wife and builds a home. He helped settlers violate the crow burial grounds by guideing them through it. The crow kill his family and Johnson swears vengeance against them. Its sad, heroic, and even has a little humor in it. Robert Refords perfomance is great and Will Geer who protrayed Bear Claw was outstanding. The Wild West is gone in hollywood and I doubt Mountain Man movies will make a return since they support the fur trade and that does not seem to ever be a popular tend in Hollywood.

So if your curious about Westerns, give this movie a try. It really is a classic, and deserves a little more attention than it gets.