Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

First, I called this a "SPOILER" but this movie is based on an historical event, even though it may be dramatized, if you made it through the 8th grade, you kind of know how it ends. But anyways.I am a big fan of historical films, though it is based on the Donner story, and I would say that, if I had to guess, at least for the emotional reactions, conversations, and such, that is pretty much as good a possible scenario as any. It was well written, and I enjoyed the fact that they tried to give the perspective of all the primary characters. Even if it was one you may not have agreed with, you can still at least gain an understanding of why they chose to do what they did. Very well directed as well. The director was able to get true emotional responses from the actors, making the characters just that much more realistic.I am a former truck driver, and have, many times, been over Donner Pass in the dead of winter. It looks just like where they filmed. And it is STILL just as treacherous.I think, even though I will have to say it is probably more "drama than data" its still a good perspective look into the psychology of those in the party, even if it is only loosely based on historical fact.

According to the actual historical events that took place in the Donner Party, this film only resembles it in name, names of characters, and setting (then, too, not entirely accurate). Not even close. If this movie was named something else, it might have made it more enjoyable (If you can call watching this "enjoyable"). Even naming the movie "The Forlorn Hope" wouldn't have been accurate, but more fitting. Nothing was even said about the parties left behind or the survivors, and with the exception of the text at the end of the movie.This film is dismally plodding, which is about the only thing that resembled the Donner Party itself. Though beautifully shot and scored, and brilliantly acted, I can only give this a 3 star rating due to the script. If named something else to eliminate the historical inaccuracies, I might have only given it one more star.Someone please make a more accurate portrayal of this story! It is an incredible story of survival and hope!

The filming (colors..septia?), background music and sparse, terse script do a great job of setting up spooky suspense. Within minutes the viewer is drawn into this desperate setting! The characters are not overdrawn with background but are set up very well. Indeed, the movie doesn't try to explain the plight, story, etc., of the infamous Donner party but instead is a largely fictionalized account of its infamous group which set out to seek help, long referred to as "The Forlorn Hope".Given the above correction (changing the point of view) the film then takes some missteps, primarily in its depiction of the ultimate vice practiced by the "The Forlorn Hope", which was much too compromised here. Also, the major conflict between the two male leads becomes too black and white; e.g., Glover's character becomes too much of a bogeyman and the protagonist too virtuous. In contrast, TFH's women are under drawn in the second half of the flick.With some work this film could have been a great thriller.

A few years ago Ken Burns made a superb documentary film about the Donner experience attempting to get to California. They were part of a rather large group traveling west but at a critical juncture they chose to attempt a more southerly route, one a promoter promised would be a faster route. As it turned out the promoter had never traveled the route and it in fact turned out to be a longer, more difficult route. Add to that an early and severe winter in the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Donner party and several other parties traveling with them were stranded, without enough food to survive the winter, even after their livestock were killed off and eaten.In preparation for this fictional movie, I viewed that earlier Ken Burns film, which is an excellent historical account, which included still photos and some writings of the original parties.This movie does not cover any of the early parts of the journey, nor does it cover any parts of the aftermath of the rescue of the survivors. It focuses on the brutal winter and how the men and women resorted to cannibalism to survive.In line with the bleak subject, and the winter surroundings, the film is color but printed with a very low color saturation, which makes it look like a black and white film with a bit of color. That part works well. However most of the movie is very slow and difficult to endure, and part of that is because of the uninteresting dialog. We get the point that it was difficult for the survivors to force themselves to eat human flesh, and particularly humans they knew. So why did the audience need to watch that on several different occasions? While the movie has some interesting elements, I found it to be mostly a waste of time. For anyone wanting to know more about the Donner tragedy, the Ken Burns films does that many times better than this movie does. Plus, in this movie we never see any of the Donners, only a short reference to them, encamped a short distance away.I like Crispin Glover, especially for his early role in "Back to the Future", but here as William Foster I found him mostly annoying. However overall all the actors did well, but the script and direction were not particularly interesting. It was a chore watching the whole 85 minutes.