[Jeff Higgins]

As a somewhat enthusiastic student of the era, and of all things relating to the Rocky Mountain fur trade era, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It was difficult to find fault with anything regarding the setting, the men, their equipment, their methods - any of it. The only thing that bothered me was their use of the term "tree nigger" - in literally dozens of sources, from first hand accounts to biographies of the men involved, I never ran across that term. Ever. "Bug's Boys" was the chosen label for the Blackfeet and pretty much every tribe they ran across. "Bugs" was the Devil himself - so, the "Devil's Boys". You can see where they got to feeling that way...

As far as survival under those conditions, with that equipment - everything portrayed in this movie is entirely accurate. Nothing far-fetched or the least bit unbelievable about the manner in which they made their way in the wilderness. The story of Hugh Glass is very well documented in a number of historical accounts; he really did spend months literally crawling out of the wilderness after having been mauled by a bear. The only inaccuracy in the movie was the presence of his son - he was not there. It was another grown man in addition to Bridger and Fitzgerald. Jim Bridger was very real, and recounted this story himself - Glass let him live because he was just a kid (17 years old) and on his first trip.

So, yes - a very accurate portrayal of the men, the times, and the location. The most accurate I have ever seen. Yes, Keith and Heston were great in The Mountain Men and Redford was great in Jeremiah Johnson (the real man's name was plain old John, by the way), but this one brought the authenticity to a whole new level.