Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

VividSimon Simply Perfect

Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

mikebridges Like a lot of reviewers here I saw this as a boy. I was sick from school for about a week & watched this on HBO probably 50 times that week. I loved it and always wondered if it was a true story. This movie is mostly narration with a lot of animal interaction. It does have a Disney feel to it. Now at 42 years old (I saw this when I was about 11) it is a little dated but my wife & I were looking for movie on Encore and I saw this. She had never seen it and enjoyed it as much as me and felt sorry for Trapper & Old Timer. It had been 30 yrs since I saw this & the theme song has always been in my mind (even if its outdated by today's standards). Not sure if our kids would like this or not. I'm going to burn it to DVD since this movie is not available. For those interested in the real story look up The Mad Trapper on wiki. Glad to be reacquainted with this movie, Trapper & Old Timer.

Timothy Shary I really enjoyed this film when I saw it at the Saturday matinée during its release, and remember that experience vividly, but watching it now nearly 40 years later, I can appreciate that it has not aged well at all. This was clearly re-packaged to capitalize on the mountain adventure movies of the time, and to that end it has some gorgeous photography, but the story-- and especially the ham-fisted narration-- are just too hackneyed to bear. Even if it's based on truth, which the film clearly asks you to question, especially with its grossly fake documentary stylings, I can't imagine kids today would enjoy its slow pacing, stiff acting, and real animals. If you want to study it as an artifact of truly typical fare for the '70s, it does have its curiosities-- and for that matter, you could look at the "Benji" films too. But there's a reason why the "Benji" films are not considered classics, which is that they were simply bad. So is this.There are far better films from the era to enjoy, even for children.

Mad_Trapper This story has held a special place in my heart for the last thirty-one years. As a boy, I enjoyed stories of mountain men and the wilderness. Books like "Call of the Wild", "White Fang", "The Frontiersman" and "My Side Of the Mountain", influenced me tremendously. I wanted so much to live like a mountain man, but nothing inspired me more to do so, than when I saw this movie on television in 1975. I wanted to be just like "Trapper". However, as I got older I found I was just too domesticated to live like that. Nonetheless, I still romanticize about living that kind of life. I agree with some other reviews of this movie that the storyline has the simplicity that is quite prevalent in "Disneyisque" type movies, but if you can look past the mechanics in which it was made and see the heart of the story, the true themes, then I think you find yourself pleasantly touched. I make it a point to watch this movie once a year. After thirty-one years, I still get a chill running through me when I see torrent of snow rushing down the mountainside and hear the echoing, haunting laugh of the Trapper.-Good luck old-timer and stay free-PS If you want to read more about the true story, I found this link on the Mad Trapper of Rat River:http://www.mysteriesofcanada.com/NWT/madtrapper.htm

Cale Barthold "Challenge to be Free" was one of the first films I saw as a child. It was also one of the first VHS tapes that I owned. I hadn't seen the movie in years, so yesterday I decided to stick the tape in and watch it. Wow. The story is as powerful now as it was the first time I saw it. I think now that I am older I can better apreciate the values that are implanted in the movie. (Self-reliance, The value of Freedom, and the love of nature) It is a "B" movie, to be sure, but it's one that you'll remember for years, especially if you see it as a child.