
Genres: Advent
Starring: Charlton Heston, Kim Basinger, John Marley, Nick Mancuso, Dale Wilson, Rocky Zantolas, Marie George
Director(s): Charlton Heston
Country: USA
Year: 1982
Available Quality: DivX
IMDB Rating: 5.8 out of 10 (462 votes)
A couple of youngish adventurers go into the wilderness of British Columbia in search of a lost colleague. Their plane crashes and they find themselves at the mercy of a crazed old Scottish miner, who has lived in isolation for many decades searching the mountain caves for a chamber of long lost gold. He is prepared to do anything - including murder - to keep his gold for himself.
Jenny-14 (20 May 2012)
This is a great independent movie the plot was good, and so was thephotography. It was too bad that this movie did not have the advertisingand promotional backing for more exposure and running length time.Because if it had, this movie would have done better and would be betterknown that it is! This movie should have gotten more exposure than it didat the time of release!
west2east (19 May 2012)
Though this review is written 18 years after the fact, this film remainsamong the top of my all time favorites. Introducing the great wilderness inthe manner portrayed within the story was breath-taking and thisintroduction was significant in eventual Canadian and Alaskan adventures.When films can have such an impact on a person, they cannot help but remainclose to the heart. The story was fun & exciting and very well played, yet,hats are off to the big screen impact this film portrayed of the CanadianWilderness.
barb-180 (19 May 2012)
My husband and I have always loved this film. The scenery is beautiful,and Kim Basinger and Charlton Heston were pretty good. It was the firstfilm I'd seen Basinger in, and she made an impression.We always thought it should've gotten more attention than it did. It'sa gripping adventure tale with Basinger and Nick Mancuso, who also doesa fine job, cast as a young couple set off to the Northwest to searchfor a missing friend. That friend was looking for gold.Pretty soon, they're on the hunt themselves, befriended by a quirky oldminer played by Heston. He plays the menacing, enigmatic charactermasterfully. You can never quite tell if he's just sort of quirky fromhaving been alone so long, or if he's dangerously unstable.This movie has held up well over time.
Jonathon Dabell (18 May 2012)
Mother Lode features Charlton Heston in two roles, and was scripted by hisson Fraser C.Heston. It also features an early screen role from KimBasinger. The cast is rounded off by Nick Mancuso, a pretty reliable actorwho always seems to turn up in weak films such as Nightwing and DeathShip.The plot follows Mancuso and Basinger as they fly over the wilderness ofBritsh Columbia in a small light aircraft. The plane crashes in a lake inthe middle of nowhere and the twosome find themselves cut off fromcivilisation. They stumble across a mysterious old Scottish miner who livesin a remote mountain shack and seems to be digging around in the hills forsomething. He seems to be a nasty type, and gradually they learn that he isin search of gold.... indeed he is so obsessed with his unfound gold that hewill kill to keep it a secret.The film is pretty to look at during the early passages, especially when theyoung couple are flying in their plane and the action is beautifully andpanoramically captured by the camera. But the later scenes are undone bydarkness, with far too much action occuring in virtual pitch black darknesswhich makes it tough to see exactly what's going on. Heston gives a wild andrugged performance which doesn't weigh up with the rest of the film, andBasinger is a bit bland in her part. This is OK for a rainy day, but nothingmore than that.
halkat (18 May 2012)
A great movie, my wife and I's favorite since we first saw it in 1982.We liked the name and the character Ian MacGee so much that we namedour first son Ian, who is now 19. Of course, I am of Scottish decent,so I loved the character's accent, and the bagpipes. This movie couldhave easily have had a sequel, such as going back for the gold througha mountain crevasse. One of Mr Heston's finest performances. My firstintroduction to Kim Bassinger, and she remains as my favorite blondebombshell actress. We are also biting at the bit to get it on DVD. Hey,Mr. Heston, if you ever read this, please get this movie on a DVD, itwill sell like crazy!!! Love it, love it, love it.
Christopher Edwards (17 May 2012)
I rented this movie on video in 1984. It instantly captivated me that Iwanted to watch it again, but on returning to the store to rent it I foundthat they had sold it on. I remember this movie as a classic, the titledidn't do enough to sell the film which in my opinion should have beenlisted with the best sellers. The first class acting of Charlton Hestonmadethis one of the few movies on my, to see again list. To those who have notyet seen it, It's a must.
jetsax12 (15 May 2012)
Mother Lode stars Charleton Heston as a Gold Miner in the mountains ofBC for "nigh on 30 year". Nick Mancuso (Jean Dupre) and Kim Basinger(Andrea Spalding) are a couple of adventurous gold seekers. They arealso trying to find out what happened to their friend George. It is agood movie, a nice adventure. WHY IS IT NOT ON DVD? There are a lotworse films released every day. When Charleton Heston died I noticed onthe long list of his movie accomplishments that Mother Lode was notincluded. It made me wonder how many others were not listed and why. Ilook forward to its eventual release. Had I known it would have neverbeen released I would have taped it off HBO in one of its hundreds ofshowings back in 1983. Another movie that seems to have fallen intothis problem is the film "Robinson Crusoe On Mars." It starred PaulMantee, Vic Lundon, and had a cameo by Adam (Batman) West. jetsax12@aol.com
Christopher C. Owens (15 May 2012)
I'm particularly a fan of the Pacific Northwest, including the Yukon andBritish Columbia territories of Canada, and also a fan of old airplanesandbush pilots, so maybe I would have liked this movie even if it didn't haveagood plot or acting. However, I think the plot and acting are good aswell!
Richard Newman (08 May 2012)
Not only do the daylight scenes in this movie visually stun the viewer,but the dark cloak of night or being underground chill to the bone! Thedark look of the film is all the more compelling when terror explodesout of the darkness to grip the viewer by the throat, elicitingscreams! "Stay the hell outta my mine, laddie!" Why don't they listen .. . ???!!! This movie was incredible. The drama was taut, the frights were welldeveloped and the story was compelling. This movie was a perfectvehicle for Charlton Heston who scared the crap out of me in this film.The script was ideal for him and his style and he was completelybelievable in this role(s).Strongly recommended!
ma-cortes (08 May 2012)
A couple named Sean (Nick Mancuso) and Andrea (Kim Basinger) travelinto of British Columbia looking for their friend George. Then theiraircraft crashes and they are helped by a fisherman (John Marley).Later on, they find a Scottish miner named McGee (Charlton Heston)whois searching a mother lode , a chamber full of gold .The film is packed with suspense intensified by greed, thrills, goodperformances and marvelous landscapes. It is a bit slow-moving and alittle boring because is mostly set into caverns and only a trio ofcharacters . Tour-de-force playing by Charlton Heston as a dual role astwin brothers who live in isolation during decades searching the lostgold and emerging a violent conflict among them. The picture is afamiliar venture with Charlton Heston as starring, his son FrazerClarke Heston as screenwriter and even his daughter Lydia Clarke Hestonas still photographer. It is filmed entirely on location in BritishColumbia with nice cinematography by Richard Leiterman, though isurgent a remastering. The movie is produced by Peter Snell, CharltonHeston's usual producer who financed the three films he directed as ¨ Aman for all seasons¨ and ¨Marco Antonio y Cleopatra. Furthermore, heproduced him the motion pictures who directed his son, Frazer ClarkeHeston and starred Heston as ¨ Island of treasure¨and ¨The crucifix ofblood¨. Nevertheless, ¨Mother lode¨is the worst film directed byHeston. Rating : average but entertaining. See this flick if only toenjoy the lush backdrop of British Columbia. It is only for CharltonHeston Heston fans.
Review total: 10, showing from 1 to 10