T. C. Christensen

Based on a true story (you can find the news accounts on-line), the story details deviate from the record, but stay true to the general plot-line A psychopathic maniac has a grudge against the town, and a belief that he will be resurrected after detonating the bomb,
with the hostage children as his subjects. The bomb detonates accidently; he shoots his wife after she is engulfed in flames, then kills himself. The children (a large number if not all; the reports are unclear) testify that angels told them what to do and channeled the blast away from them. A bomb expert concurs that what happened is impossible -- no one but the perps died in the blast, the fire, or the randomly detonating ammunition, including the teacher shot in the back.
The movie script, focuses on the (real-life) hard-headed sheriff's investigator with kids at the school, who has lost his faith in God (not clear if that is true or a plot device, but it gives the writer a chance to "investigate" the explosion).
The children are shown as praying during the ordeal and the whole town as faithful Christians, but it obscures the fact that most were Latter-day Saints (Mormons); however, no one else sings the song presented in the denouement, or has buildings and pictures exactly like those depicted, so there you are.… (altro)

Substance: Authentic settings and period costumes are the mainstay of this dramatizations of journal accounts from members of the Wiley and the Martin LDS handcart companies (combined to simplify the filming), which were caught in winter storms crossing the plains to Utah. There are too many characters to have a really coherent narrative, although they center on the journal of Levi Savage jr.
The screenplay leaves too much to the knowledge of the watcher, so if you are not conversant wit the history of the Donner Party (a secular group preceding these events by some years), and not familiar with LDS doctrines and history, some of the events will not be really comprehensible. Likewise, anyone not inclined to credit miraculous events will probably be unmoved, although most if not all were verified by multiple witnesses.

This is primarily a faith-promoting docudrama for Mormons, but the production quality is very high for the genre.… (altro)