ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Borserie it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

eragonbookfan Hike! Hike! Hike!!! The Hunger Games ain't got S*** on this movie! I was privileged, I repeat, PRIVILEGED to have grown up with this film! VERY appropriately rated as a "Disney" film, yes! Families all around can enjoy this film! Along with "Balto", this flick introduced me to the sport of dog sledding! Also introduced me to many big Hollywood names, like Kevin Spacey, Brian Cox, Brian Ogden Stiers (RENOWNED for Disney movies), and especially August Schellenberg (R.I.P). They all played their appropriate roles. Although, I'll admit, I don't often like Kevin Spacey as an actor - always seems to act as antisocial & controversial characters. Also don't forget Richard Riehle, the guy who says "If you're late again, you're fired", near the beginning of the movie; classic character actor of the century (in over 300 films!!!). Plus, I like the idea of John Terry playing Will's father, and just all-round playing father figures - he's just so kind & likable.I'm utterly surprised to this day why this film is so overlooked & underrated! After all, 1994 *was* the big year of MANY big blockbuster films; maybe that's why it was so overlooked. Mackenzie Astin, the brother of Sean Astin (Sam from Lord of the Rings), is great in this film! Such an under-appreciated actor! IMO, he's even hotter & more talented than Leo DiCaprio. He plays a REAL ACE in this movie - I fully realize just how well-written his character is! If more people in the world were like his character, Will Stoneman, the world would be a much better place to live!A 6.5!!!?????? SERIOUSLY!??? This flick should switch around ratings with "Never Cry Wolf", which is a '7.6' a horrid & disappointing film that was downright BORING & ridiculous & uncomfortable to sit through, and should be totally removed from the "Walt Disney" category!!They're just so many good things in this film. The train always gets fabulous shots, too. That scene on the bridge of trying to outrun the train will always seem to scare me. LOLThe frostbite in this movie really sends shivers down my spine - after all, it was the movie that introduced me to the reality of "frostbite". Just looking at Stoneman at the end of the movie, he looks messed up! He gave everything he had to finish that race!I mean it, if I ever go on live TV, I'll make sure to bring this movie with me to show on air, just to give it the attention it deserves & needs!Disney Channel! Get this film on the air sometime! Or at the very least, Disney, re-release this movie so that we can again see the true story about Will Stoneman on the big screen!Beautifully directed, beautifully shot, and beautifully acted!9/10!!

moonspinner55 Midwestern farm kid in 1917 enters a grueling Winnipeg, Canada-to-St. Paul, Minnesota dog-sled race. Live-action adventure from the Disney Studio, scrubbed clean with good intentions, seems to have come off the same conveyor belt as "The Journey of Natty Gann" and "Homeward Bound". It's old-fashioned and inoffensive, despite clichéd villainy and an impossibly corny slow-motion climax (not to mention gaps of logic so wide, you could drag a dog-sled through them!). Mackenzie Astin (real-life son of actor John Astin and actress Patty Duke) is fairly good in the lead, though the movie is poorly directed and edited, without an ounce of honest inspiration. ** from ****

ztwise_3 Based on a true story, this journey begins in South Dakota in 1917. Will Stoneman is a 17 year old young man who loses his father. Will is left with devastated until one morning he notices a flyer of the Carnival Derby (a dog sled race from Winnipeg, Canada to St. Paul Minnesota) in which his father was thinking of competing. After getting his mother, Maggie Stoneman, to comply, she gets Ned Dodd, an Indian who lives with the family, to get Will straight into training. Once Will arrives to the competition, he is greeted with a ridicule of laughter, yet do they know how bad he wants to win. Will that be enough to get Will from the beginning to end of the race and win, in one piece through the meanest, toughest stretch of land, and weather conditions that he has yet to embark on?

tuckman12345 Here's a "feel good" movie that I showed to a bunch of 8th graders who are "way too cool" to ever like something with a plot so contrived. I have seen it at least 10 times in the last two years. It has never failed to produce emotional responses, at least as early as when Gus gets savaged by the bad guy's dog, and Will takes out a gun (obviously thinking of putting him down), and most certainly when Will slugs the guy late on that evening. It has the predictable villain, and other events that most people could forecast, but I had kids who otherwise are apathetic standing up and cheering as the events unfolded. My conclusion: kids seem to be cynical and jaded, but when you give them a reason to be optimistic, they have hope and are uplifted. "Iron Will" inspires me; particularly when I see its effect on middle school students. I would rate it even higher if I couldn't predict many events in the movie. This really works well with other Iditerod/dog stories.