Movie Review # 362: Iron Will (1994)

Good evening everyone, and welcome to yet another session of movie reviewing. Now, before I go into this particular review, I have some good news, and bad news. The bad news is that my 007 James Bond marathon has been put on hold at least for the next couple weeks. The reason being is because certain circumstances have occurred, which I WILL NOT go into detail on, where I have been unable to continue on with that marathon until around mid to late August, sometime like that. However, once I can get back on the wagon in that regards, my hope is that you guys see the remaining James Bond films reviewed, say maybe six a month, before No Time To Die is released in November. That is unless that new installment gets postponed to sometime next year, at which point, I may extend my marathon out a little further. That will be played by ear. Anyway, the good news is that I have access to Disney+ for a limited amount of time. So you guys may likely see reviews of some of those to fill the gap for the time being. Included in this little bunch is a movie that I rewatched for the first time in a long while with a couple friends of mine last night. It was a live-action Disney film that was apparently released back in early 1994, just a few months before the highest grossed hand-drawn Disney animated film, well-known as The Lion King, graced the theater screens in June 1994. Released in January 1994, the movie is Iron Will.

Plot: Set in the year 1917, towards the end of WWI, a sled dog racer named Will Stoneman (Mackenzie Astin) signs himself, and his team of sled dogs up for a sledding competition that begins in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada after hearing that he could win so much money that he can save his family’s indebted farm, the family, and the dogs. Can Will, and his sled dogs pull off the strength and courage to get the task done in the end?

Now, I remember first watching Iron Will once or twice back around the early 2000s. However, I’m not sure if I had quite as much an appreciation for the film then as I surprisingly do now. Yeah, after rewatching this film again so many years later, I was surprised by how enjoyable the film turned out to be. First of all, this movie is excellent at portraying the difficulties of navigating through dog-racing. Whether it be blizzards, cold nights, or even competitors who don’t play fair as much as they should, this movie is great at showing how realistic these types of situations can be, while also managing to keep some of the family friendliness involved. Besides say maybe Disney films such as 2001’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire, how often has something like that happened, you know? There’s also the characters. When you take a look at any one of them at first glance, it’s possible that you might find some of them to be stereotypical. However, as the movie progresses you’ll discover that that’s not the case at all. In fact, most of these characters have personality to each of their characters, and have some fantastic character arcs as the story progresses. Heck, even some of the dogs get some really good development, especially the leader of the team himself, Gus. There’s also a really good score by Joel McNeely. Like many other good score composers, this guy is superb at using his music to draw the audience in, be it the loud and quick-paced moments, or even the more quiet and subtle moments. Additionally, there are the performances in this film. From actors such as Mackenzie Astin, Kevin Spacey, and David Ogden Stiers to actresses such as Penelope Windust, these people give their all, and basically breathe life into their respective roles. In addition to all of this, Iron Will can teach people some very good lessons. First of all, people can be reminded of how they need to be careful about who to trust, or not trust, as they go through life. There’s also the message about never giving up, even when it may feel convenient to do so. Sure, this message has been used plenty of times in movies over the decades. However, the way that it is used here can be very unique, and appreciated in it’s own way.

Is there anything negative, or disappointing to say about Iron Will? Well, the one thing that seems to keep this film from getting an A+ is that the film could have maybe extended it’s ending by at least a few minutes. Yeah, after what I said about the 2019 Universal Pictures film, Cats likely needing to be extended an extra 30-45 minutes, that’s probably saying a lot. Anyway, there were at least one, or two characters who could have most likely had a little more screen time than they ended up getting in the end. Well, thankfully, this flaw gets overshadowed by all the other fantastic high points that make this film really, really good.

And that’s my review for 1994’s Iron Will. It is a really good Disney film that does well with portraying the difficulties of life around the time of 1917. Not just that, but the majority of characters are great, and the film is overall enjoyable to watch. Honestly, if you have never seen this film yet, I highly recommend that you do see it, however way that you can, ASAP. There are aspects that kids will enjoy, no doubt. However, in other ways, teens and adults will most likely feel really drawn to the film, and immersed in it, maybe even more so than kids. See it on Disney+, regular On Demand, or wherever else, and see what you think!

Final Grade: A