''Land of No Return'' is a 1978 thriller film written, directed, and produced by Kent Bateman, father of

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He ...

and

Justine Bateman Justine Tanya Bateman (born February 19, 1966) is an American writer, director and producer. Her former acting work includes ''Family Ties'', '' Satisfaction'', '' Men Behaving Badly'', ''The TV Set'', ''Desperate Housewives'', and '' Californ ...

. The film stars

Mel Torme Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...

and

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship ''Enterpris ...

. The film was shot in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

and released theatrically by The International Picture Show Company, whose president at the time was legendary B-movie filmmaker

Bill Rebane Bill Rebane (born February 8, 1937) is an American horror movies, film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for low budget movies such as ''Monster a Go-Go'' and ''The Giant Spider Invasion''. Rebane also ran for the governor o ...

. Alternate titles for the film include ''Challenge to Survive'' and ''Snowman''.

Plot

Zak O'Brien (

) is an animal trainer for the popular

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

series ''Caesar & Romulus'', which has been selected for a "Patsy" Award to be presented in Burbank, California. Zak, along with Caesar (a

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known birds of ...

), and Romulus (a

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

), board his personal plane in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

for the flight to Burbank, but en route at night over the

wastelands, they encounter a sudden blizzard. When Zak's radio and engine fail, he guides the craft down to a crash landing. All three passengers survive, but the plane is destroyed and a struggle for survival begins.

Production

Parts of the film were shot in

References

External links

* 1978 films American independent films 1970s thriller films Films shot in Utah 1970s English-language films 1970s American films {{1970s-thriller-film-stub