Shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Wounded is another one of the films that prove you can successfully integrate activism into entertainment while still producing a superb film.

Wounded opens with a pair of wilderness rangers/game wardens chasing a huge grizzly through the woods. They tag the bear, then follow their tracking signal to the site of a grizzly slaughter.

An FBI team arrives to track and apprehend the poachers. They explain that the illegal animal trade brought in $2 billion last year and the poachers have gone high-tech. They are using helicopters and night-vision devices. They have receivers that pick up the collared bears' tracking signals. Within a few months, these poachers will have killed all of the 203 collared bears in this wilderness area.

The team finds a poacher ready to kill a bear. Julie Clayton (Madchen Amick) wants to save the bear, but the team leader says the poacher will only get two years if they arrest him before he shoots the bear. If they wait until he does shoot the bear, they can put him away for a long time. Julie cannot stand to watch the bear die and fires a warning shot ... with disastrous results. The poacher, Hanaghan (Adrian Pasdar) kills the entire team. He kills Julie's boyfriend, ranger Don Powell (Richard Joseph Paul), after Julie throws down her pistol, then picks up her pistol, shoots her twice, and leaves her for dead.

Julie is air-lifted to a hospital, undergoes surgery, and survives. Angered at the FBI for sending them into a situation without knowing what to expect and bitterly hungry for revenge, she adamantly refuses to give the FBI a description of the poacher. As she works through physical therapy and counseling, the FBI sets her up as bait.

A chance encounter teams suicidal Julie with burned-out, alcoholic Detective Nick Rollins (Graham Greene). A friendship begins.

Meanwhile, the poacher, who firmly believes that you never leave anything wounded, stalks and harasses Julie, who is all too willing to keep her mouth shut about their cat-and-mouse game for just one shot at him.

Wounded is soft activism concealed within a first-rate movie. This suspense-thriller will immerse you in the world of the hunted. It takes you on an adrenalin-charged emotional rollercoaster from the backcountry wilderness to the inner-city streets.

This cast is amazing! There is not a weakly-portrayed character in this entire movie. All stir deep responses and provoke strong like or dislike from the viewers. Pasdar is the JR Ewing of poaching -- he is the guy that you love to hate. Agent Eric Ashton (Jim Beaver) is his FBI equivalent. Yet once you hear their story and the motivation behind their reasoning, you understand and perhaps even empathize with them. But you still will love to hate them.

The music is wonderful. This film contains some spectacular flute music. It is surreal and sublime. Ross Vannelli orchestrated the music magnificently. He gives us the ideal amount at the precise time to drive our emotions. The soundtrack includes music performed by "Coven," who brought us the classic "One Tin Soldier" featured in the 1971 activism classic Billy Jack.

If you have not experienced Wounded, I urge you to get it today. This is a movie that will stand your hair on end. It made me cry. It is a powerful story that is played to the limits by an amazing cast. You will not regret this purchase.