Customer Reviews

The Call of the Wild - Dog of the Yukon [VHS]

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I must admit I am a Rutger Hauer fan, and have been ever since "Ladyhawke" was released in 1985. And as an English teacher, I am always looking for new videos to augment my literature units. This superb version of Jack London's tale of unconditional love, survival of the fittest and London's belief that all living creatures including man are capable of reverting to their wild beginnings has been the perfect visual companion to my teaching the novel "Call of the Wild" for the past two years - and it has Rutger Hauer to boot! Exquisitely photographed in muted tones, "Call of the Wild" tells the story of Buck, the handsome Newfoundland, who is kidnapped because of his massive size from his pampered life in California, and endures horrific hardships, numerous owners, and self-discovery as he is taken to man's "holy grail" - the Klondike Gold Rush. Rutger Hauer protrays John Thornton, the grizzled but kind man who saves Buck's life and introduces Buck to the unbridled joy of unconditional love. Richard Dreyfuss narrates beautifully, giving the viewer an opportunity to actually experience bits and pieces of London's exquisite prose. Although a number of film versions have previously been made, this version is by far superior! Not only is Buck accurately represented by the actual breed that London wrote about, but the screenplay follows the story most faithfully. Except for the brief insertion of a saloon girl to romance Thornton for a moment and the minimizing of a number of Buck's owners, this film visually portrays the fear and growth and finally the trust and love that Buck experiences. I do recommend, however, that to fully experience the depth of London's metaphor, the book should be read! It is an excellent way for children to understand that films come from the written word and to possibly help "turn them on" to reading. Additionally, although the story depicts cruelty to animals which is an important element in London's plot, the film exhibits a large disclaimer at the beginning of the movie explaining that absolutely no animals were harmed in the making of the film. As an avid animal lover and advocate, I could NOT have viewed nor could I recommend the film if this had not been done. However even if the book is not read, this is an outstanding adventure film suitable for the family. After viewing, you might even start a discussion with your children about greed, love and sacrifice!

After teaching the novel in my classroom, the usual clamor went up: Is there a movie to this book? I saw two other versions and was unimpressed (they were both filled with a lot of swearing, and the story lines were very different from the book), so I was very pleased when I found this version. The story line follows the novel VERY closely (only leaving out a couple characters like the Scotch half-breed cook, and adding a love interest for John Thornton), and the narration (by Richard Dreyfuss) uses lines straight out of the novel. I will add that the violence is very realistic (some blood, lots of snarling and yelping), and there is some swearing (nothing worse than "hell" and "damn"), but this is a faithful version that is well-filmed and I feel very appropriate for a middle school classroom or higher.

I am a huge fan of Jack London books, White Fang didn't go close to the book but this movie did. I've seen other Call of the wild movies but this one was the best!

I must admit that I am a Rutger Hauer fan, and have been ever since "Ladyhawke" was made in 1985. Additionally as an English teacher, I am always looking for new videos to augment my literature units. This excellent version of Jack London's tale of unconditional love, survival of the fittest, and London's belief that all living creatures including man are capable of returning to their wild beginnings has been the perfect visual companion to my teaching the novel "Call of the Wild" for the past 2 years - and it has Rutger Hauer to boot!! Beautifully photographed in muted tones, "Call of the Wild" tells the story of Buck, the exquisite Newfoundland, who is kidnapped because of his massive size from his life of luxury in California and endures tremendous hardships, many owners, and self-discovery as he is taken to the gold rush in the Klondike. Rutger Hauer portrays John Thornton, the man who saves Buck's life and introduces Buck to the unbridled joy of unconditional love. Richard Dreyfuss narrates beautifully, giving the viewer an opportunity to actually experience bits and pieces of London's exquisite prose. Although a number of previous film versions have been made, this version is by far the best! Not only is Buck actually the breed of dog that was in London's story, but the screenplay follows the book the most closely of all the versions! Except for the brief insertion of a saloon girl to romance Thornton for a moment and the minimizing of some of Buck's many owners, the film visually portrays London's story as accurately as I feel is possible. I do recommend, however, that to fully experience the depth of London's metaphor and themes, the book should be read!! At the very least, it is an excellent way in which to help children understand that film comes from the written word and to help "turn them on" to reading!! Additionally, although the story depicts cruelty to animals which is necessary to the plot's progress, the film exhibits a large disclaimer at the beginning explaining that absolutely no animals were harmed in the making of the movie!! As an avid animal lover and advocate, I could NOT have viewed nor could I recommend the film if it had not! I still cry during "Old Yeller"! However even if the book is not read, this is an outstanding family adventure film after which the topics of greed, love, and sacrifice can be discussed!

Pretty true to the book, except the dog isn't a husky or a German Shepard, as in most versions. In this movie, they used my favorite breed of dog to play Buck -- a Leonburger, a rare breed from Germany. This super intelligent, beautiful dog carried the whole movie. The human actors aren't half bad, either, and run pretty true to my vision of what their characters would have been like. The narration by Richard Dreyfus is very good, and Rutger Hauer's character is terrific. I've seen it three times on cable, and love it so much I am buying it, mostly because I love that awesome dog!

In contrast to many Hollywood movies which rely on special effects, this version of The Call of the Wild, is a low budget movie made by a Canadian television group, but it is the best adaptation, and there is tremendous depth. In this movie, the environment in the North, the psychology, and the literary style of Jack London, are brought to life in a very authentic manner. More than 50 % of the original book is narrated verbatim by Richard Dreyfuss, but this neither slows down the movie nor subtracts from the action: on the contrary, this narration actually adds special texture to the movie and brings to life the laconic depth of Jack London's writing style, adding literary value to the movie. Both the dog and Rutger Hauer in the movie are good representations of the two protagonists in the original book. But as another commentator mentioned, it is highly recommended that you should first read (or re-read) the original book before this movie. As a disciple of Jack London who has read this book many times (both in print and also on audio tape), I can say that this movie is only slightly less perfect than the book, and you can watch this movie for spiritual renewal every year (to renew the uncompromising depth, authenticity, courage, and sense of adventure of Jack London.) I also agree with one of the commentators that some of the most violent dog fights were censored, perhaps because they did not want to make this an R rated movie, but at the same time, it would have been difficult to re-create the most violent dog fights without actually harming the animals, and this is one thing the directors of the movie were not prepared to do (as they stated in writing at the beginning of the film.)

I think that this moive was almost as good as the book. Alltough they followed the book very closely I think they should have put in more detail on the dogs. I mean the dog fights did happen and I think people should be exposed to that suff, it happens in the real world. Otherwise it was a VERY good movie and they showed lots of detial. I would recamend it to you.

"The Indians in this frozen land tell of a ghost dog which runs at the head of a wolf pack. - They are afraid. For it has more strength than any wolf, more cunning than any dog. No one knows from whence he came or why he stays."

Gold was found in Alaska, the rush to obtain it required a strong constitution and many dogs to do the work that horses usually did in the states. The environment bred harsh attitudes. Also in the testing of ones mettle one finds their true potential.

Buck (larger than most dogs) goes through many lives, trials, and tribulations finally realizing his potential. On the way he learns many concepts from surprise, to deceit, and cunning; he also learns loyalty, devotion, and love. As he is growing he feels the call of the wild.
You do not have to have read the book to follow the story. However being film much is accelerated and leaves less time for character and drama buildup. A few characters are removed but the main characters do not have to be modified to fill in the gaps.

For those that have read the book you will notice the narration is word for word extracted from the book. You may also recognize the narrator's voice as that of Richard Dreyfuss. The dialog was modified to cover much of the narration that was left out or the descriptions that were not portrayed.

A few stories were left out or modified for brevity. The main difference is a lot of the blood and guts were replaced with inferences and a story where he gets the stuffing beat out of him is replaced with a threat of being shot. My only disappointment was leaving out the part where Buck, as wild as he becomes, periodically visits the place of John Thornton's demise.

The story follows the book as expected. Not every detail would be transferred from the book into the movie. And I knew that and yet I really enjoyed it. I've never expected it to be that good. It was no worse than the book and some scenes with the dead dogs felt realistic. The music is exceptional. I've searched for it but found no soundtrack or anything. Was pretty upset, just like about the fact that I can't get it on dvd.

This is a gem and the finest adaptation of Jack London's book. Every character played (even the spoiled Mercedes and her idiot brother) bring the movie to life. It is not a special effects movie and many would probably not care about this type of movie and I am a person who loves Harry Potter yet I come back to this over and over. It is in the same category of Thunderheart and Never Cry Wolf.