Although Charlton Heston does a fine job directing and starring in a project that his son Fraser created I think that this was a film Robert Mitchum should have done. With Mitchum's superb ear for accents and mimicry of same I'm sure the crazy Scotsman that Heston played would have really been special. I'm sure Heston had to work hard to get the right inflection.Nick Mancuso and Kim Bassinger are a pair of 20 somethings who go to some wild rural country in northern British Columbia looking for a geologist friend who went missing. Mancuso of course is also thinking of the gold he was looking for, in fact he's hoping to discover a legendary Mother Lode. Bassinger ain't immune to gold fever either.When the rickety plane the two are in makes a forced landing, they meet both a kindly John Marley and later Charlton Heston, a crazed Scotsman prospector who will do whatever it takes to keep outsiders out and if they get in, see they don't get out. Heston who is usually gaunt and serious playing historical figures gets a real good chance to bug out like crazy playing one of two villains in his career that I've noted.Director Heston really took the brakes off on this one. I've never seen Charlton Heston chew scenery before. But here he feasts on it like a steak dinner at Peter Luger's.For a different Heston, his fans might want to see Mother Lode.

The unplanned crashing of a pontoon plane is most definitely the high point of this pointless movie. There really is a lot to dislike here. Once the gorgeous opening flying sequence ends, a dark and tedious movie begins. All the characters are unlikable, except John Marley, and all he seems to do is pop up out of nowhere for no particular reason. Charleton Heston's Scottish accent is nothing but a damn annoyance, while Kim Basinger's acting is another damn annoyance. The story, what little there is, reminds me of cartoon characters chasing each other around a dimly lit mine. There is the usual crisis of the minute, and the entire film is so totally unrealistic and unbelievable, that it becomes a meaningless viewing experience. - MERK

A couple named Sean (Nick Mancuso) and Andrea (Kim Basinger) travel into of British Columbia looking for their friend George. Then their aircraft crashes and they are helped by a fisherman (John Marley). Later on, they find a Scottish miner named McGee (Charlton Heston)who is searching a mother lode , a chamber full of gold .The film is packed with suspense intensified by greed, thrills, good performances and marvelous landscapes. It is a bit slow-moving and a little boring because is mostly set into caverns and only a trio of characters . Tour-de-force playing by Charlton Heston as a dual role as twin brothers who live in isolation during decades searching the lost gold and emerging a violent conflict among them. The picture is a familiar venture with Charlton Heston as starring, his son Frazer Clarke Heston as screenwriter and even his daughter Lydia Clarke Heston as still photographer. It is filmed entirely on location in British Columbia with nice cinematography by Richard Leiterman, though is urgent a remastering. The movie is produced by Peter Snell, Charlton Heston's usual producer who financed the three films he directed as ¨ A man for all seasons¨ and ¨Marco Antonio y Cleopatra. Furthermore, he produced him the motion pictures who directed his son, Frazer Clarke Heston and starred Heston as ¨ Island of treasure¨and ¨The crucifix of blood¨. Nevertheless, ¨Mother lode¨is the worst film directed by Heston. Rating : average but entertaining. See this flick if only to enjoy the lush backdrop of British Columbia. It is only for Charlton Heston Heston fans.

Mother Lode stars Charleton Heston as a Gold Miner in the mountains of BC for "nigh on 30 year". Nick Mancuso (Jean Dupre) and Kim Basinger (Andrea Spalding) are a couple of adventurous gold seekers. They are also trying to find out what happened to their friend George. It is a good movie, a nice adventure. WHY IS IT NOT ON DVD? There are a lot worse films released every day. When Charleton Heston died I noticed on the long list of his movie accomplishments that Mother Lode was not included. It made me wonder how many others were not listed and why. I look forward to its eventual release. Had I known it would have never been released I would have taped it off HBO in one of its hundreds of showings back in 1983. Another movie that seems to have fallen into this problem is the film "Robinson Crusoe On Mars." It starred Paul Mantee, Vic Lundon, and had a cameo by Adam (Batman) West. [email protected]