Forest Warrior (1996)

Filmed on Mount Hood

The reader will forgive me as I indulge in a bit of "I've-vacationed-where-this-film-was-made". For me and my wife, Hood River, Parkdale, and Lost Lake on the North slope of Mount Hood in Oregon is not merely our favourite place to vacation - it's the ONLY place to vacation!

Seeing the film, we recognize places we love to spend every summer that we can.

On our way to Lost Lake, we fuel up at the very gas station that was featured prominently in the film. We've rowed our boat right past the place wher the kids played in the waters of the lake with the baby bear.

The Mountain you see in the film is clearly Mount Hood, the most beautiful of all the Cascade Mountains.

Therefore, if having been to the lovely and serene place where this movie was made, and loving it as much as I do, gives me a built-in bias in favor of "Forest Warrior", then so be it.

Forget about the fact that Chuck Norris, in real life, supports the very politicians who support [and get their support from] the very kind of men his character fights against in the film. Let's just cut to the story.

The young drunk father, a former Sheriff's Deputy [once a real good one, so we are told], is now living in the bottle sinc ehe and his daughter have been bandoned by his wife, and he works in the gas station when he is sober enough to stay upright. The story of his fall and redemption plays well as it's intertwined with the fight that his daughter and her friends wage against a logging tycoon who looks at the forest and sees only dollar signs.

It is this sub-plot of fall and redemption that provides a theme to the film that many others overlook, regardless of whether they praise the film or condemn it.

The careful viewer will recognize Loretta Swit ["Hot Lips" from M*A*S*H]as the owner of the gas station, and mother of two of the boys in the "Lords of Tanglewood" group who later take on the loggers with guerilla tactics, and the help of Chuck Norris as a shape-shifting Spirit Of The Mountain.

Rent or buy this movie, but don't stop there! Follow that with a vacation of your own to Oregon, to Hood River, and Parkdale, and Lost Lake Resort up on Mount Hood. Get a tent and camp up there for a few days, and take it all in for yourself.

Experience the place where this film was made, and then you might feel for yourself what "Forest Warrior" is all about.

July 21, 2008

dvd great for any age this helps children to understand the forrest

this movie is great for children to learn about the forrest if they are unable to get to one and how to appericate what mother nature has given us and to respect it and take care of it. I was raised up there and was happy to see someone make a movie like this. January 8, 2008

Horrific, but enjoyable nonetheless

There's just something about Chuck Norris. Is it the hair? Is it the roundhouse kicks? Is it the lost list of credentials?

Who cares? He's Chuck Norris, and he's as Chuck Norris as he's ever been in Forest Warrior, a story about a group of young tree-huggers who embark on a fun-filled camping adventure to "the mountain." But wait, what's this? Ne'er-do-well lumberjacks and bad, meany business men want to log the mountain. Not if Chuck Norris has anything to say about it.

With the help of the bafoonish fighting skills of the antagonists, Chuck Norris saves the day again and again. And each time is more entertaining as he transforms into a hawk, and a wolf, and a bear, and the omnipresent spirit of the mountain, which is always there to lend a hand when situations get sticky.

The acting is awful, the script is worse, and the special effects are laughable. But honestly, what more can we expect from Walker, Texas Ranger? Clad in ill-fitting leather shirts and wielding the power of 100 men, Chuck Norris comes to the rescue, to yet again save America's youth from the greed of big business. Way to go, Mckenna! October 21, 2006

personal opinion

This movie was geared towards The People's Spiritualty regarding Mother Earth and that life consists of a circle. I plan on purchasing this movie but only when it becomes available in dvd format. May 11, 2005

great family fun

I enjoyed this movie alot. The kids are the real stars, and though protecting the envirnment is one of the lessons the movie trys to show, and even better storyline are the people learning how to pick themselves up and not quit when life knocks them down. The father, played by Michael Beck, coming to realize what is really important. His failing and redemption was a major enjoyment for me in this movie. The kids caring for the mountain habitat is catching. And I thought the hijinks the kids used to stall for time against the bad developers was a riot! LOL!! I didn't mind the fantasy(Chuck's Warrior) parts at all, everyone should be able to dream alittle. December 26, 2004

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