Iron Will *** (1994, Mackenzie Astin, Kevin Spacey, David Ogden Stiers) – Classic Movie Review 9516

Director Charles Haid’s 1994 adventure drama Iron Will stars Mackenzie Astin (brother of Sean Astin) as Will Stoneman, an American farm boy who bids to win a 500-mile dog sled race to get the money to save his family, his mother and their land.

Iron Will is a beautifully crafted and most entertaining live-action Disney movie, set in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1917, with plenty of action, tension and snowy atmosphere, filmed in lovely Technicolor.

Kevin Spacey steals all his scenes as the journalist, Harry Kingsley. Also in the cast are David Ogden Stiers, August Schellenberg, John Terry, Brian Cox, Penelope Windust, Jeffrey Alan Chandler, Michael Laskin, Rex Linn and George Gerdes.

It is a fictionalised version of the 1917 Winnipeg to St Paul dog-sled race, sponsored by the Great Northern Railway.

Iron Will is directed by Charles Haid, runs 109 minutes, is made by Walt Disney Pictures, is released by Buena Vista Pictures (1994) (US), is written by John Michael Hayes, Djordje Milicevic and Jeff Arch, is shot in Technicolor by William Wages, is produced by Robert Schwartz and is scored by Joel McNeely.

Mackenzie Astin in the younger half-brother of Sean Astin, and the son of Patty Duke and John Astin.

John Astin, Gomez Addams in TV’s The Addams Family, was born on 30 March 1930.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9516

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com