Iron Brothers (2018)

Tate Smith is Abel Iron and Porter Smith is younger brother Henry in this story of two fur trappers eeking out a living in the Rocky Mountains.

Their father died three years earlier, and the prospects for the two young men are bleak.

Game is hard to find. So are furs. The furs they do find don’t fetch the prices they used to.

Things go from bad to worse when Henry gets into an argument with a fur trader named Randall and shoots one of his companions.

Henry winds up on the run; the brothers’ only horse winds up dead.

But the real trouble comes when Abel, hunting for food, comes across two Shoshone Indians by a stream. Feeling threatened, he kills one of them.

Now the brothers are sure to be hunted by the Shoshone warriors moving into the valley.

At Abel’s suggestion, they flee their home in order to survive.

Tate Smith as Abel Iron trying to avoid the Shoshone in Iron Brothers (2018)

Porter Smith as Henry Iron wonders about brighter prospects in California in Iron Brothers (2018)

Review:

Beautiful Idaho scenery and strong performances from Tate and Porter Smith make this a film worth watching.

Henry is the fiesty, argumentative brother, one who believe there must be more to life, perhaps in the California gold fields.

Abel is more pragmatic, partly because he feels responsible for Henry. He promises to figure things out for the two; he’s hellbent on surviving until he can.

The action scenes aren’t all that convincing, and the brothers seem to overcome overwhelming odds more than once.

But the film comes off as genuine and succeeds because the Smith brothers tell a touching story about the bond between brothers and don’t try to do too much with an obviously limited budget.

Two Shoshone turn their attention to Abel Iron in Iron Brothers (2018)

Porter Smith as Henry Iron and Tate Smith as Able, on the run from Shoshone in Iron Brothers (2018)

Directed by:
Josh Smith & Tate Smith

Cast:
Tate Smith … Abel Iron
Porter Smith … Henry Iron
Talon Teton … Indian Brothers #1
Trevor Beasley … Indian Brother #2
Richard Dean … Jethro
Luke Kalmar … Randall

Also with: Bryson Appenay, Ernest Appenay, Terrence Appenay, Walton Appenay, Stephn Barrus, Kalen “Broken Arrow” Hammond, Troy Moss

Runtime: 92 min.

Porter Smith as Henry Iron, wondering if an approaching stranger means more trouble in Iron Brothers (2018)

Tate Smith as Abel Iron, encountering a stranger in the wilderness in Iron Brothers (2018)

Memorable lines:

Henry Iron’s opening narrative: “Though some folks say there ain’t no courage in runnin’, that you’re a coward, that you gotta fight — those folks don’t understand. They don’t understand what it means to take a life. Or to accept that yours is at an end. They don’t know what it’s like to be hunted, to cling on for dear life, to know that death is around the corner. Hell, the only thing that matters out here is makin’ it out alive.”

Abel Iron, after he’s crossed paths with the Shoshone: “Get your things, Henry. We’re leavin’.”
Henry Iron: “Leavin’? Where we gonna leave to?”

Abel Iron: “We can either fight the winter out there, or fight the Indians in here (their cabin). We have a better chance against the winter cause she ain’t hellbent on killin’ us.”

Henry Iron: “Is that what we’re doing? Just survivin’?”
Abel Iron: “There ain’t no shame in survival, Henry?”
Henry: “What about livin’?”
Abel: “Survival is livin’.”
Henry: “Not to me, it ain’t. Survival is like a trail you run up to get to the top of the mountain. Once you get there, you die cause you’re so damn tired.”

Abel Iron: “I guess in the end, you save the things you love, not the things you need.”