Great Bush Pilot Movie: Snow Walker

Waldo Pepper's Circus · Fri Mar 12, 2004 9:25 pm

I went to see this movie, not really knowing what to expect. It is a great movie and I highly recommend it. Basically, a bush pilot in Yellowknife heads ends up crashing a Norseman after blowing a jug and losing his engine. He only manages to survive on the tundra thanks to an Inuit girl he had on as a passenger. I know it sounds cheezy but its very, very realistic and you might even pick up some Inuktituk along the way. The only fault is of course his sudden plummet to the ground after losing the engine but you'll just have to pretend he glided gracefully as its not really a big point in the movie; the plane is disabled beyond repair....Its funny, but the bars look the same in Yellowknife now as in 1953:)

corn-shoot · Post by **corn-shoot** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 11:19 am

Sounds pretty good actually...and if you're in the mood for cheese, check out "The Bush Pilot"; it's even older, uses a Norseman as well, which makes it worth seeing!!

185_guy · Post by **185_guy** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 2:17 pm

" his sudden plummet to the ground after losing the engine" Yea, that sounds about right for a Norseman!!!

enroute · Post by **enroute** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 12:48 pm

snow walker

anyone interested in finding out more about this movie can check out this weeks issue of macleans magazine.

i still haven't seen this movie, but will be sure to put it on my "to see" list.

gotta jet

red003 · Post by **red003** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 6:17 pm

the bush pilot: saw that a long time ago at an nfb film thingy. so corny. my personal favourite scene was when the new pilot crashed the norseman while carrying nitro. bam!

ya gotta love it.

5x5 · Post by **5x5** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 4:56 pm

Just rented the movie last night and did enjoy it also.

However, it does bug me how movie-makers portray flying. It's no wonder many people are afraid of small airplanes. The way the plane thrashes about the sky, the plummet to the ground and the skipping off the water would scare the bejeezus out of anyone. (even though the pilot was stated to be the best pilot around)

Go Guns · Post by **Go Guns** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:39 pm

Great movie. As a point of interest, large chunks of the movie were shot near Churchill and Rankin Inlet. The remaining pieces I think were shot someplace in BC (Merritt I think). Look for Gillam Air's Islander (GSAD) near the beginning of the movie.

Regruntled · Post by **Regruntled** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:47 pm

Thompsonav8rboy wrote: Look for Gillam Air's Islander (GSAD) near the beginning of the movie.

Ya, they stiffed Harvey for $2000 on that charter, after keeping the airplane for longer than was agreed. (they had it in a hangar surrounded by trucks, there was nothing I could do about it) I think everyone should sneak in for free, or get Sulako to download it for them and send the savings to YGX, to help Harvey recoup the costs.

You know the scene where Barry Pepper rides in on a motorbike? I pushed him in but they cut me out of the scene...

Ya, it's weak, but hey, I had fun!

bandaid · Post by **bandaid** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 7:06 pm

The movie is worth renting just for the scenery. I have tried to read Farley Mowatts books and found them impossibly boring, which lead me to the surprise ending which was that he had written the story.

snoopy · Post by **snoopy** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 7:06 pm

Kuby's Aircraft supplied the wrecked version of the Norseman.
The worst part of the movie is the prolonged agony of the impending crash - I mean c'mon. The pilot was flying at a few hundred feet when all hell breaks loose, then the glide angle changes to a steep earthward plunge that miraculously lasts at least 10 minutes. I never was very good at math, but the glide angle thing just doesn't compute. Then the airplane flies over every useful scrap of water before skipping onto a series of lakes where the pilot "fights for the survival" and barely staggers into the air again to repeat the performance several times. Kind of like the death scene in Cyrano de Bergerac. And what was with all that fishtailing with the rudder?
The funniest part of the movie was all the cursing and swearing and beating up the airplane after the pilot crashed, and the expression on the girl's face.
Anyway, good movie!

ahramin · Post by **ahramin** » Tue Sep 21, 2004 2:42 am

Hey! Cyrano has a great death scene!

Big_Oaf · Post by **Big_Oaf** » Tue Sep 21, 2004 6:47 am

My favorite hollywood screw up is the fact that anytime an aircraft decompresses....IT MUST LOOSE ALL LIFT / POWER AND PLUMIT TO THE EARTH IN A STEEP DIVE!

scubasteve · Post by **scubasteve** » Tue Sep 21, 2004 10:52 am

I'll take some abuse for this but on the View today is an actor from a new movie called "Lost" about survivors of a plane crash in the south Pacific...one clip showed a wing fall off post crash on the beach causing a huge explosion. There is also some cabin shots of people flying around in the crash...be interesting to see this one as well.

scubasteve · Post by **scubasteve** » Tue Sep 21, 2004 10:55 am

My mistake...its a tv show not a movie

merlin · Post by **merlin** » Thu Sep 23, 2004 10:11 am

Don't tell anyone but I also saw the same clip on The View yesterday. It looked like a lot of cheese if you ask me.

Snow Walker was a pretty good movie. I LMAO twice though... once when the Norsman lost its engine and fell out of the sky.... and then when he was getting eaten alive by thousands of bugs, now that was funny.

flyboy · Post by **flyboy** » Thu Sep 23, 2004 3:14 pm

I flew the director of Snow Walker up to Churchill for a private firstscreening/premier of the movie in Churchill. He was a pretty nice guy. He asked myself and my colleague what we thought of the crash sequence...he seemed to know the answer before we replied. Artistic licence and all that was the excuse.
We then explained, as was mentioned by someone else here, that it scares people from flying when the see that. Now I've never had an engine failure (knock on wood), I don't expect a Noresman to come screaming out of the sky like in the movie.

Anyways..my 2 cents... good movie worth seeing.

gorgesailor · Post by **gorgesailor** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 2:57 pm

I'm sorry boys and girls - but this movie absolutely sucked! How much more inaccurately could an engine failure be depicted? I laughed my ass off before turning the thing off the screen. You would think that by now directors and their "artistically licenced" counterparts who come up with these shot sequences would do a little research before making a movie containing rediculous scenes such as this.

Although, when swarms of mossies make the main character freak out and run around like an idiot to the end result of falling and knocking himself out, it just made me realize the degree to which directors are trying to strrrrretchh thier stories.

If anyone is looking for a decent movie to watch containing some realistic bush flying, go rent "Never Cry Wolf". At least Farley Mowatt's exaggerated story comes to life in somewhat of a realistic sense in this one! (plus, the book the movie is based upon has the original recipe for mouse stew!! yum.)

Cheers,
GS

The Barrel Man · Post by **The Barrel Man** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 7:12 pm

Saw the movie just after I returned from flying a Caravan out of Baker Lake and Chesterfield inlet. It was the first time in the Arctic for me so the movie is a good reminder of the area. Never Cry Wolf has the best Beaver scene ever (She's to much weight Tyler!). The crash in Snow walker was kind of foolish but what can you do, Its Hollywood.

Beaver Driver · Post by **Beaver Driver** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 10:54 am

Had an old bush pilot ask this question:

If you have an engine faliure in a Norsman, how do you tell where you're going to land?

Answer: Look straight down and a little bit back.

Anyone notice that when they sent the guys out looking for the Norsman the boss told them to take the Stinson, but in the next scene they're flying a beaver. Yet all throught the movie every time there is a shot of the hanger you see a Stinson parked there.

I only noticed because I was working for the company that supplied the Beaver and was watching for it. They wanted me to go up there to relieve the pilot that was flying it. It took over three weeks to film the 30 seconds that had the Beaver. I opted to attend a Springsteen concert instead. Turns out that flying for a movie is about the most boring thing you can do in an airplane.

Axial Flow · Post by **Axial Flow** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 6:46 pm

After watching the crash sequence I was dissapointed in the attention to detail and realism.

But in the next scene what does he pull out of the back...

A case of coke he was hauling to a community. Couldn't made it more realistic myself

Great Bush Pilot Movie: Snow Walker

Great Bush Pilot Movie: Snow Walker

Good Movie?