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Challenge to Be Free

Play trailer Poster for Challenge to Be Free G 1976 1h 28m Adventure Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 0 Reviews 72% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
A tracker (Jimmy Kane) leads a manhunt for a mad Yukon trapper (Mike Mazurki) who has accidentally killed a state trooper.
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Challenge to Be Free

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member the director, ford beebe is one of my fave serial directors gettin it done cheap but still good Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member After reading the description I thought this is a movie I have to see.I searched it on the internet & found out it was based on the same story Death Hunt was based on which made me want to see it even more.Let me tell you straight away, if you're expecting another Death Hunt, forget about it.This movie version is the complete opposite of what Death Hunt was.After watching it or what I was able to watch of it, I'd say skip this movie & watch Death Hunt instead.Challenge To Be Free reminded me of some of the Disney movies I was forced to watch as a kid (I don't know why but at the time I HATED Disney movies) I watched about 35 minutes & after nodding off a bunch of times,I gave up & let sleep take over.Normally I'd fight sleep but this time I just did not care.If you want to watch the family friendly version of the story, watch Challenge To Be Free.If you want to watch the adult version, watch Death Hunt.I don't know about you but I prefer Death Hunt myself Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member I love this movie. He's definitely the maddest Mad Trapper there ever was. The part where he's playful with the bear and laughing his head off, then you see he's getting all cut up -- my jaw hit the floor. The movie doesn't have a lot going on besides the Trapper being a curiosity, but it's worth a watch for that. You won't forget it, that's for sure. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member Its like one of those nature films that Disney used to make. The whole thing is narrated in that style. The story concerns a guy known as "Trapper", he lives in the wilderness and he is friends with many of the animals out there. A series of events lead to him being chased across the winter wilderness by hunters on a charge of murder. The first half of the film is well paced and humourous the second half is Trapper being chased, which tends to drag. I did however find myself routing for Trapper in hope of escape in his 'challenge to be free'. This film also features a cool theme song with the lyrics "A legend was he, he had a challenge to be free!" An enjoyable 90 minutes, probably best watched on a lazy sunday. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Marc L This movie has haunted me all through my life. After seeing it when it was released on commercial TV in 1976 as a child and again on cable in 1983 as a teenager, I decided to give up on any pursuits of a conventional skill set and learn how to trap animals, pan for gold and live in the wild like Trapper. The end results was that I found I was just too domesticated for that kind of lifestyle and living life as a 'loner' is no way to live. It was a great surprise when I found out years later that the movie was 'loosely' based on a true story that had been researched by Dick North who wrote a book about it called 'The Mad Trapper of Rat River Valley'. This movie (which was actually going to be released in theaters in 1972 under the similar title 'The Mad Trapper of the Yukon'.) was somewhat of a simplistic almost 'Disneyesque' version of the book. It's one of those movies where most people I know who see it say 'Meh.', but for me it symbolizes a defining moment in my life. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 07/13/19 Full Review Audience Member This is possibly the most amazing movie ever made. Challenge to be Free brings the all the realities of living in the arctic to the big screen. You will laugh with Trapper as he plays tricks on his animal friends and cry with him as he is persued by his arch nemesis Frenchy. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Challenge to Be Free

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis A tracker (Jimmy Kane) leads a manhunt for a mad Yukon trapper (Mike Mazurki) who has accidentally killed a state trooper.
Director
Tay Garnett
Production Co
Alaska Pictures
Rating
G
Genre
Adventure
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 1, 2012
Runtime
1h 28m
Sound Mix
Stereo
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