This movie is in my top 10 movie list. It has a great story of 2 loners who find each other, yet their feelings grow in a slow, natural way, without the gratuitous sex that spoils many love stories. The feminist learns to let the shy guy make a move, and the widowed hero finds another strong, courageous woman he can love. The movie is also a celebration of a people and a way of life, many of us wish we could retreat to. The Indians refuse to be conquered and that in itself feels good. I completely disagree about the voice-over ruining the film, as one reviewer claims. It is extremely important to the story and even if it wasn't central to the plot, it gives the film a mythic quality. The scenery is breath-taking and all of the characters, including Zip and the little Indian girl are memorable and engaging.

After seeing this movie, I keep saying to myself, "You've got to be kidding." Billed as adult fare, this film turns out to have a juvenile level writing and a Disneyesque finish. It was the first feature film written by Tab Murphy, who went on to write Disney films. Despite reasonably decent directing (Murphy was also the director), someone failed to tell him that this was not a Disney cartoon movie. Terrific acting by the entire cast could not save a script that was marginal at best throughout -- and downright unbelievable toward the end. The movie starts with the sheriff needing our hero Gates to track three escaped convicts because the sheriff couldn't do it, despite his radios, off-road vehicles and helicopters. It's bad enough that Gates displays no tracking ability while chasing the convicts; his dog does all the detective work. Worse yet, when the sheriff decides to form a posse and chase Gates into the wilderness (presumably because Gates stole some penicillin form a drug store), he tracks Gates precisely and directly to the gates of an idyllic Cheyenne community that went without detection for 150 years. My wife is Native American and found the idyllic portrayal of Cheyenne life to be no more realistic than the cartoon Pocahontas. And then, after finding his prey (Gates), the sheriff makes an irrational and unwarranted decision to go even deeper into the wilderness, thereby providing an unexplained villain who now threatens the ancient Native American community, even when Murphy failed to include the sheriff on the community's existence in the first place. It all made for a sappy, hyped and juvenile story line lacking any credibility at the end. Mr. Murphy, please stay with the Disney cartoons and not feature films intended for adults.

I love this film. The stunning locations and acting performances were superb. I have been an admirer of Barbara Hershey since her days as one of 'the Munroes' and in this film she does not disappoint. I met Tom Berenger when he came to Belfast and he seemed to be as grumpy a character as the one he portrays in the film. We are very similar that way! I remember reading about a group of native Americans who were not discovered until 1910 in northern California. The idea of a lost tribe being discovered grabs the imagination. I knew something of the background of the Cheyenne tribe from reading 'Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee' and this is related in the film. I have watched the DVD many times and never get tired of it. There are so few films I can say that about.

I have just seen this enjoyable yarn for the first time on afternoon UK commercial TV - not a great showcase . I wonder why I have never heard of it and whether it was not distributed much here. The plot pedigree is obviously "Lost Horizon' and many other films on the "lost tribe " theme but this story was done simply and tastefully, making one long to believe it. I was left wondering if the female academic intended really to document her discovery and how she would do it lacking writing materials and considering the danger of revealing the tribe to the outside world. That would be another story, so the successful reunion at the end of the film was satisfying. Why are such delightful films taken so little notice of and so much Hollywood trash is hyped to the skies?