Rangan V – Google

The book by Jack London tugged at my emotions when I read it as a schoolboy. The film version turns out to be an equally moving experience ! Our story unfolds in the Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s, Yukon, Canada where strong sled dogs were in great demand that set unscrupulous dog-catchers in search. Buck, a 140-pound St. Bernard–Scotch Collie mix breed, was a pampered pet of the Mayor of California but ill-luck strikes when he gets lured into a trap, to be shipped off to Yukon. Joining a pack of dogs that pull the sled to deliver US Mail and cargo hundreds of miles away to god-forsaken frontier posts, Buck comes to grips with the new, harsh reality. Shattered but spirit intact still, Buck learns to take the stoic reality in his stride, earns his stripes to become the leader of the pack. Among humans who see these creatures as mere beasts of burden, Buck finds a compassionate, old loner John Thornton, played by Harrison Ford, to whom the canine offers respite from the bitterness of his last days. Together they set off far and wide, a journey that takes them through idyllic landscapes, the snow-capped mountains of Alaska, gurgling rivers with trouts aplenty and the thick forests, home to bears, wolves and foxes. How Buck discovers his true calling, sheds that thin layer of civilization and becomes one among the wild in the forest, returning to his roots, forms the rest of the story. Chris Sanders, the Director is dexterous in depicting canines as expressive as humans - you can see the moods Buck goes through ! Outdoor adventure, pristine beauty of nature the gritty life and summing up with 'the circle of life', the film captures it all and leaves you enthralled.