Dove Review

“The Giant of Thunder Mountain” is an interesting adventure, which features a giant, some precocious kids, a beautiful mountain surrounded by woods, and a bear. What’s not to like? Richard Kiel stars in this story, which is set in the autumn of 1896. The giant, named Eli, who lives on Thunder Mountain in a cabin, is feared by the townspeople in the valley. However, a young girl named Amy (Noley Thornton) and with her brothers Tommy and Ben visit the giant, and Amy befriends him. She convinces him to come to her home one evening for dinner, and he does. Amy’s mother, Alicia (Marianne Rogers), is amazed at his height, but he is a gentle soul who fixes her cuckoo clock before he leaves. Amy convinces Eli to attend the carnival in town with her, which proves to be a disaster.

Unfortunately, a carnival man named Hezekiah (Jack Elam) and his two sons learn that Eli has gold nuggets in his cabin. Hezekiah and his sons cause a lot of grief when they go up to his cabin and grab Tommy and Ben, who were there to visit. Eli is away with Amy and saves her from the same bear that killed his parents years ago. Eli is wounded, fighting the bear, and Amy runs for help. Due to a misunderstanding, the town folk think Eli was trying to harm Amy and her brothers, and they pursue him with the intent of harming him.

How will the story end? Your family will have to watch it to find out. “The Giant of Thunder Mountain” is a suspenseful movie that features themes of being gentle, trusting God, and forgiving others. We present this film with our Dove Seal for ages 12-plus. It includes a few violent scenes, but none are gratuitous or overly graphic.

Dove Rating Details

0

Faith

None

0

Integrity

A flashback scene shows a bear mauling a man's father, and the mother goes outside and the bear moves toward her; a man lifts up another man and drops him to the ground, because he was cheating a young girl; bear attacks man, who has bloody hands; man hits bear in head with a wooden stick and knocks him out for a moment; gun held on man; boy is knocked out with the butt of a gun; boy is grabbed and put in a gunny sack; man kicks sack; men threaten to drown boy in the sack; man is shot in leg; man's leg is caught in a bear trap, but another man frees him; blood on log; men set another man's cabin on fire, and it burns to the ground; a part of a tree is thrown at men; a man hits a big man with a chair, but it doesn't hurt him.

1

Sex

Man cuddles intimately with a saloon girl for a few seconds.

1

Language

Dummy-1; Big Oaf-1; "You're ugly"-1; "You big freak"-1; "Big Chicken"-1

2

Violence

A flashback scene shows a bear mauling a man's father, and the mother goes outside and the bear moves toward her; a man lifts up another man and drops him to the ground, because he was cheating a young girl; bear attacks man, who has bloody hands; man hits bear in head with a wooden stick and knocks him out for a moment; gun held on man; boy is knocked out with the butt of a gun; boy is grabbed and put in a gunny sack; man kicks sack; men threaten to drown boy in the sack; man is shot in leg; man's leg is caught in a bear trap, but another man frees him; blood on log; men set another man's cabin on fire, and it burns to the ground; a part of a tree is thrown at men; a man hits a big man with a chair, but it doesn't hurt him.

2

Drugs

A man drinks from a flask; tavern scenes; men drink; man smokes; a boy drinks alcohol accidentally, thinking it's water, but he spits it out; a comment about a glass of port.

0

Nudity

None

2

Other

Boys steal gold nuggets; men steal gold nuggets; man tricks girl into thinking the nuggets are not worth much; a man is deceptive at a carnival; men steal from family; people judge a giant man harshly; tension between characters.