''Alien Thunder'' (also known as ''Dan Candy's Law'') is a 1974 Canadian

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

film directed by Claude Fournier and starring

Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (born 17 July 1935) is a Canadian actor whose film career spans over six decades. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films ''Citizen X'' (1995) an ...

. Its original screenplay was written by

W.O. Mitchell William Ormond Mitchell, (March 13, 1914 – February 25, 1998) was a Canadian writer and broadcaster. His "best-loved" novel is '' Who Has Seen the Wind'' (1947), which portrays life on the Canadian Prairies from the point of view of a smal ...

but Mitchell removed his name from the final release due to changes that were made.

Synopsis

Set in 1890s Saskatchewan after the

North-West Rebellion The North-West Rebellion (french: Rébellion du Nord-Ouest), also known as the North-West Resistance, was a resistance by the Métis people under Louis Riel and an associated uprising by First Nations Cree and Assiniboine of the District of S ...

, ''Alien Thunder'' is based on a true story about a

Woods Cree Woods Cree is an indigenous language spoken in Northern Manitoba, Northern Saskatchewan and Northern Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Cree language, Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi dialect continuum. The dialect continuum has around 116,000 speakers; ...

(Gordon Tootoosis in his first film role) who kills a

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian para-military police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert’s Land and North-Western Territory ...

sergeant (Kevin McCarthy) under desperate circumstances. Hunted for two years by the sergeant's resolute partner (Donald Sutherland), the ending brings tragedy for all those involved.

Cast

Production

''Alien Thunder'' was filmed in Saskatchewan's

Battleford Battleford ( 2011 population 4,065) is a small town located across the North Saskatchewan River from the City of North Battleford, in Saskatchewan, Canada. Battleford and North Battleford are collectively referred to as "The Battlefords" by S ...

, Duck Lake, and

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Release

The film was not a financial success. "Suspense is lacking and characters are generally underdeveloped, as is the tension between the Mounties and the Indians." – Natalie Edwards, ''Cinema Canada''

References

External links

* * 1974 films 1974 drama films 1974 independent films 1974 Western (genre) films Canadian Western (genre) films Canadian independent films English-language Canadian films Films directed by Claude Fournier Films scored by Georges Delerue Films set in Saskatchewan Northern (genre) films Royal Canadian Mounted Police in fiction Troma Entertainment films Western (genre) films based on actual events 1970s English-language films 1970s Canadian films {{1970s-Western-film-stub