Jeremiah Johnson (1972)

93% of critics liked it
(14 reviews)
85% of users liked it
(11,741 ratings)

Years before Kevin Costner danced with wolves, Robert Redford headed to the mountains to escape civilization in Sydney Pollack's wilderness western. Around 1850, ex-soldier Johnson (Redford) decides that he would rather live alone as a mountain man in Colorado than deal with society's constraints.… More Years before Kevin Costner danced with wolves, Robert Redford headed to the mountains to escape civilization in Sydney Pollack's wilderness western. Around 1850, ex-soldier Johnson (Redford) decides that he would rather live alone as a mountain man in Colorado than deal with society's constraints. After a series of setbacks, he meets grizzled mountain veteran Bear Claws (Will Geer), who teaches him how to survive. Jeremiah strives to live as peaceably as possible in the rugged environment, trading with the native Crow tribe, adopting a boy (Josh Albee) after his family is massacred, and even marrying the daughter (Delle Bolton) of a Flathead chief in order to avoid confrontation. He settles into a mountain home with his family, but the U.S. cavalry, complete with a puritanical Reverend, interrupt the idyll to compel Jeremiah to lead them over the mountains and through a Crow burial ground to rescue white settlers. After the Crow kill his family in retaliation, Jeremiah's frenzied moment of payback precipitates a long-running vendetta, turning him into a legendary Indian killer at the expense of his original ideals, on the way to a final moment of grace. Spectacularly shot on location in Utah, the film captures both the appeal and the challenge of the landscape that Jeremiah chooses over civilization. With an unglamorous performance by Redford and a story that questioned white colonialism while mythologizing the man of nature, Jeremiah Johnson appealed to its 1972 audience and became one of the biggest hits of the year. Wavering between heroicizing Jeremiah for surviving and damning him for killing, Jeremiah Johnson took its place among the Vietnam-era cycle of critical westerns, like Arthur Penn's Little Big Man (1970) and Robert Altman's McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), that condemned civilization for corrupting the wilderness and preventing individuals from going pacifistically native. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 48 min.
Directed By: Sydney Pollack
Written By: Edward Anhalt
Genres: Western, Action & Adventure

In Theaters: May 12, 1972 Wide
On DVD: Oct 30, 1997
Studio: Warner Home Video

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff, Variety
Director Sydney Pollack has given a skilled, observant mounting as he carefully allows the man to grow in experience and knowhow.
Roger Greenspun, New York Times
There are momoments of great beauty and terror and deeply earned pathos. There are as well such not-so-incidental pleasures as John Rubinstein's lovely and serviceable musical score, and a cast of excellent supporting actors.
Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
Pollack's attempts at myth-making yield the same results as his attempts at most anything else. Jeremiah Johnson is boring, overlong, and pointless.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Beautifully photographed in the remote mountains of Utah.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Beautifully photographed in the wilds of Utah, this film unfortunately doesn't know when to stop; it feels consumed by a self-concious desire to be arty, and offers a treatment too cool for its subject matter.
, Empire Magazine
Pollack does right to put his faith in one man and a whole lot of mountains. The result is impressive.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Like other films of the 1970s, Pollack's saga combines nostalgia and cynicism in equal measure, thus pleasing both right-wing and left-wing viewers, not to speak the delight of seeing Robert Redford at his most handsome in a cowboy attire.
Tom Milne, Time Out
A flawed but immensely appealing film.
Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan
Gritty, gorgeously photographed mountain man tale.
, Film4
Pollack and Redford collaborated successfully, their earnestness yielding some handsome, if over indulgent, movies such as this factually based adventure.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
A very entertaining film that doesn't flinch about how tough life was for the early settlers.

Read all 11 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Bob S

closet favorite
moon r

A remnant of the late sixties culture that spawned the viewpoints here, here is western take on Robert Frost's road less traveled. More a character study than out and out shoot-'em-up, Pollack reasons that even if a man were to draw apart from the cares of civilization… More
A remnant of the late sixties culture that spawned the viewpoints here, here is western take on Robert Frost's road less traveled. More a character study than out and out shoot-'em-up, Pollack reasons that even if a man were to draw apart from the cares of civilization sooner or later that civilization - or another - would draw him out again. No man is an island. A decent piece of work.
familiar s

I was expecting a thrilling mythological/adventurous flick, but the movie turned out to be quite the opposite of what I'd in mind after reading its synopsis. For me, it served as an exercise of testing my patience. The cast was good, but the script was uninteresting. It may be a… More
I was expecting a thrilling mythological/adventurous flick, but the movie turned out to be quite the opposite of what I'd in mind after reading its synopsis. For me, it served as an exercise of testing my patience. The cast was good, but the script was uninteresting. It may be a classic for some, but as far as I'm concerned, it's an utter disappointment. Well, you can't always get what you want, can you? Hope the next one turns out to be a worthwhile experience. Until then......
Ken S

Watchable, but far from anything amazing. Redford wanders out into the middle of the wilderness and then hardship ensues. Then he pisses off some Indians, and they send their warriors one at a time to kill him because...the script says so.
Randy T

High on my list of the best westerns ever made!!
Cassie H

Great movie about a man living off the land through the winter this movie had great music as well.
Daniel P

Alternating between genuine moments and the filming equivalent of hoky John Denver songs, it's pretty easy to change the channel on this one. Maybe it's watchable without commercials. [Real rating pending.]
Dean M

Robert Redford plays Johnson, a simple man who has no taste for cities. I see him as he grows from his first feeble attempts at survival to a hunter who has quickened his senses with wild meat and vegetation - a man who is a part of wildlife of the mountains. Gives a sense of… More
Robert Redford plays Johnson, a simple man who has no taste for cities. I see him as he grows from his first feeble attempts at survival to a hunter who has quickened his senses with wild meat and vegetation - a man who is a part of wildlife of the mountains. Gives a sense of humanness to a genre that had, up until its release, spent time reworking the same myths.
xGary X

Rugged adventure in which Robert Redford turns western survivalist and gets back to nature. It's handsomely shot in beautiful locations and Redford is as watchable as always, but it's reliance on personal drama instead of cowboy vs indian shoot-outs may not be to… More
Rugged adventure in which Robert Redford turns western survivalist and gets back to nature. It's handsomely shot in beautiful locations and Redford is as watchable as always, but it's reliance on personal drama instead of cowboy vs indian shoot-outs may not be to everyone's taste.
Jeffrey M

Amazing cinematography work set againt pictureesque sceneary, a great musical score, excellent script, and strong performances (especially from Redford) make this a turly memorable western/frontier movie. It doesn't attempt to simplify or reduce the hardships of mountain life,… More
Amazing cinematography work set againt pictureesque sceneary, a great musical score, excellent script, and strong performances (especially from Redford) make this a turly memorable western/frontier movie. It doesn't attempt to simplify or reduce the hardships of mountain life, and has a surprisingly nuanced and fair view of the relationship between indians and settlers. It also has a philosophical tone, one that is organic to the material and subtle. Gritty, realistic, and enigmatic, Jeremiah Johnson is certainly one of the best 'westerns' (using the term loosely) of the 70s. 4.5/5 Stars
Matthew Y

Less Indians more Woodsman please. The first half of Jeremiah Johnson is a near flawless film accurately depicting the trials and hardships of the legendary Mountain Men of the time. Will Geer gives well needed comic relief, from a very seriously toned film, and is always genuine.… More
Less Indians more Woodsman please. The first half of Jeremiah Johnson is a near flawless film accurately depicting the trials and hardships of the legendary Mountain Men of the time. Will Geer gives well needed comic relief, from a very seriously toned film, and is always genuine. Later when the film focuses on Jeremiah's unrest at the hands of the Crow Indians the film loses a bit of the magic it had in the beginning. After all we've seen Frontiersmen vs. Indians hundreds of times, I wanted to see more about the lives of the Mountain Men. Overall still a very good film by Robert Redford.
Bill C

Johnson was really a turning point where Redford turns from being a Hollywood tool to being an actor/man apart from the rest. The story follows him as a beginning mountain man to the point where he becomes a myth. Through his trials in the movie he becomes more and more one with the… More
Johnson was really a turning point where Redford turns from being a Hollywood tool to being an actor/man apart from the rest. The story follows him as a beginning mountain man to the point where he becomes a myth. Through his trials in the movie he becomes more and more one with the land. He befriends certain meso-american tribes, but becomes a trial for young men becoming braves for other tribes. As a measuring stick of his growth Will Geer plays a Older Mountain man Grizzly Claw. The meet several times in the movie many years apart. Kevin Costner really tries to reincarnate the feel of this movie when he made Dances with Wolves, however the cinematography and acting are a pale comparison.
nefnie l

I'm not a big western fan. I don't think I've ever seen one western all the way through. I actually rented this as a part of a deal. The first part was ok, man leaves civilization to go into the mountains to live. He goes through a learning process of how to… More
I'm not a big western fan. I don't think I've ever seen one western all the way through. I actually rented this as a part of a deal. The first part was ok, man leaves civilization to go into the mountains to live. He goes through a learning process of how to survive in the great outdoors. He unwillingly becomes part of a family, having a son and wife kind of thrusted on him by different individuals he's come across. Just when they have become a real, happy kind of family, in comes part two. Part two is brutal, yet captivating, as we watch him consistently battle Indians one-by-one and become a legend around the mountains. Great scenery completes this picture, but I could have done without the cheesy music (was that due to it being made in the 70's or because it's a western?). Not too shabby for my first western.
Jonny C

Good movie. Not your typical western, with more emphasis put on drama, rather than Cowboys vs Indians. Redford plays a ex-cavalry soldier, who becomes a mountain man. It all goes well until he pisses off clan of Indians, who then go on hunt for his scalp. Jeremiah Johnson is… More
Good movie. Not your typical western, with more emphasis put on drama, rather than Cowboys vs Indians. Redford plays a ex-cavalry soldier, who becomes a mountain man. It all goes well until he pisses off clan of Indians, who then go on hunt for his scalp. Jeremiah Johnson is beautifully shot, with some memorable moments, and Redford is fantastic in the lead role.
Kevin L

A very good movie.
Leo L

Interesting.
Moe E

Based on the exploits of Liver Eater Johnston...Robert Redford is, Jeremiah Johnson. Recently purchased the DVD and enjoyed it as much today as when the movie was originally released. Bear Claw: "But don't get me wrong; I loves the womens, I surely do. But I swear, a… More
Based on the exploits of Liver Eater Johnston...Robert Redford is, Jeremiah Johnson. Recently purchased the DVD and enjoyed it as much today as when the movie was originally released. Bear Claw: "But don't get me wrong; I loves the womens, I surely do. But I swear, a woman's breast is the hardest rock that the Almighty ever made on this earth, and I can find no sign on it. "