Squanto: A Warrior's Tale

Starring:Adam Beach, Sheldon Peters Wolfchild, Irene Bedard, Eric Schweig, Leroy Peltier, Michael Gambon, Nathaniel Parker, Alex Norton, Mark Margolis, Julian Richings, Mandy Patinkin, Donal Donnelly, Stuart Pankin, Paul Klementowicz, Bray Poor, Tim Hopper, John Saint Ryan, John Dunn-Hill, Selim Running Bear Sandoval, Mark Abbott
Director: Xavier Koller
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

A Heartfelt Performance
Squanto Warrior
This Movie Has Too Much "Inspiration" and Too Little Accuracy
A Decent Piece Of Fiction
Squanto A Warrior's Tale

Squanto: A Warrior's Tale
Starring: Adam Beach , Sheldon Peters Wolfchild , Irene Bedard , Eric Schweig , and Leroy Peltier
Director: Xavier Koller
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0001I55YW
Release Date: 2004-09-07

Description

Get ready for nonstop action in this rousing tale of a Native American who defies incredible odds in his struggle for freedom! Squanto, a young warrior abducted from his homeland and enslaved, must battle impossible hazards on a desperate journey home. Driven by a passion to be free, he risks everything to escape his captors, braving the wilderness and triumphing, finally, as a great leader. A vivid true story of one man's unquenchable thirst for independence, SQUANTO: A WARRIOR'S TALE thrills with high-powered action and inspires with legendary courage!

Customer Reviews:

A Heartfelt Performance.......2007-01-25

This film is based on historical events and this where the inspiration for the tale originates. SQUANTO: A WARRIOR'S TALE is the stuff legends are made of. This is also a Disney film and aimed at family audiences. It contains all the elements to tell a fulfilling story and inspire one to seek out more concerning the actual events that it is based. The film's strength is in Adam Beach's performance. Adam Beach is Squanto. He gives a heartfelt sincere performance projecting all the virtuous qualities of his heritage. Beach projects a sense of nobility in the face of his adversaries that the viewer can admire and take inspiration.

Squanto Warrior.......2007-01-04

Squanto the movie is great. I liked the trip back in time, and Squanto had more common sense than most of the people living in his time. He would have made a good friend. He had some bad luck, but made the most of his situation.We should all do the same.

This Movie Has Too Much "Inspiration" and Too Little Accuracy.......2006-08-29

The producers of this movie should have titled it, "Squanto: How We Would Have Scripted His Life." It took me a while to figure out fact from the fiction regarding Squanto's life. Unfortunately, this movie not only skipped the facts, it added confusion to them.

Let us begin with the facts. There was a Native American named Tisquantum, whom the Pilgrims called Squanto. Squanto was tricked into going to England in 1605. Squanto learned English during his stay in England. Eventually Squanto returned to North America, in 1614, with a pair of English ships. One of the two ships returned to England, leaving Squanto behind. The remaining English captain kidnapped Squanto and twenty-six other Native Americans and took them to Spain to sell them as slaves. Local friars in Spain discovered what was happening and took the Native Americans into custody with the intent of teaching them Christianity. In 1618, Squanto boarded a ship bound for Newfoundland.

In Newfoundland, Squanto was recognized and taken back to England. Squanto returned to North America in 1619 to aid in mapping the coast and in re-establishing trade with Native Americans. Squanto learned that disease had destroyed his village, so he moved in with a neighboring tribe. The following year the Pilgrims landed approximately at the site of Squanto's village. Squanto helped the Pilgrims survive by teaching them how to find native fish and how to fertilize crops.

Eventually, Squanto abused his influence over the Pilgrims and manipulated the local tribes. Massasoit, the local sachem, or high chief, asked the Pilgrims to turn Squanto over to him for execution. Either fortunately or unfortunately, an English ship arrived, distracting everyone. Before Massasoit could force the Pilgrims to turn Squanto over to Massasoit, he contracted a fever and died in 1622.

I think these are the basic facts of Squanto's life. There are some minor disagreements between sources, but most sources seem to generally agree on the details above.

The movie seems to have mixed and matched facts to make a faster-paced, completely fictional story. For example, we see Squanto kidnapped and taken to England, where he wrestles a bear. Squanto escapes and encounters friars, who teach him English. Squanto befriends a hawk, so we get a bit of mysticism in the story. In case you had yet to notice, mysticism and Native Americans sells movies.

Squanto tricks his way back into the New World. Squanto heads off to his village, only to find it gone. Squanto then wanders about in the woods until he encounters another tribe and Pilgrims, about ready to kill each other off. Fortunately, Squanto halts the bloodshed before it really gets started. There is an incident in the movie where the son of a sachem is shot and a Pilgrim doctor saves the child and everyone lives happily ever after; or, as the epilogue tells us at the end of the movie, everyone lives happily for two generations until they forget the lesson of Squanto.

Squanto was a real person. Squanto helped the Pilgrims. Without Squanto, the Pilgrims likely would have all died in their first year in the New World. Stick to those facts and you can hardly go wrong. The movie went well beyond those facts, with a reinterpretation of history that borders on the absurd. If you show your children this movie, warn them that this movie is completely fictional, except for the facts at the beginning of this paragraph. You may also pose a problem for slightly older children. Watch this movie and see how many historical errors you can find with library and internet research. This movie is a possible object lesson to teach children that they should question the garbage that can go into a "historically inspired" movie.

This movie does do one thing well, and that is its general portrayal of Native Americans. Much of what you see, minus the mysticism and some of the details, is relatively accurate. Many of the actors are Native Americans (at least they got THAT right). Had Disney used the same accuracy with the rest of the movie, they would have done fine.

I love movies that have high family values. I love historically inspired movies. However, this movie is beyond inspired and is a completely fictional version of a real human being's life. Why Disney felt they had to go this far is beyond me. Sure, Disney magnified and sanitized Davy Crockett's life, but at least Disney got the gist of Crockett's life correct and much of it was a bit tongue-in-cheek; Disney completely missed with Squanto. Do yourself and your family a favor and avoid this movie.

A Decent Piece Of Fiction.......2006-07-27

If you're looking for historical accuracy, you're not going to find it in this movie. First I'll touch on the good parts.

The Native people in the film are generally portrayed well. Some artistic freedom was taken with costuming (especially in regards to the women) however the language, customs, and spirituality are portrayed fairly accurately. Also, I would commend the, "spirit," of the movie. All in all, it tried very hard to show Native people in a very positive light -- and that is good.

However, the movie was filled with absolute nonsense from a historical perspective. First, portraying the Pilgrims as such sympathetic characters almost made me vomit. These are the people who praised God for wiping out the, "heathen devil-worshipers," to make way for their, "city on a hill." If the Pilgrims hadn't been starving and freezing to death, they would've just as soon shot all the Native people to death.

The true Tisquantum (Squanto) kept the dying English alive. He likely didn't do it for peace. He probably did it to save his own skin. Europeans were wreaking havoc with Native populations from Canada to Florida, causing uprisings and wars and pitting tribes against one another. It was profitable for Europeans to see Native tribes kill each other. Tisquantum had no village left, and he faced being captured and assimilated into another tribe, or just killed outright. The Pilgrims had muskets. It was a matter of opportunity. The Pilgrims just happened to settle in the right place at the right time.

The scenes depicting Squanto communicating with animals was way over-the-top. Native spirituality is compelling enough without introducing that nonsense. It was totally unnecessary. It's pure, unadulterated, Disney hoo-ha.

There is much more garbage in this movie, but I think I've said enough.

Please -- I beg of you -- if you watch this movie with your children, PLEASE make sure they know this is NOT a historical drama. It is FICTION. It didn't happen this way. Learn the true story of Tisquantum and the real history behind the, "First Thanksgiving," and teach it to your children.

Squanto A Warrior's Tale.......2005-05-23

I thought Squanto was one of the best movie i have ever seen . All the auctors were great and the plot was well played . I think this is a must bie movie . I have it on DVD and I love to watch it all the time . So if ur looking for a good action movie and also a family movie ... this is the one you have bin looking for . well hope that u eather are going to bie this movie or u already own this movie and are just looking up what other people think of this movie . I have nothing bad to say about this movie at all . SO i git this movie a 5 stars ! YAAAAAAAA lol

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