Rating: Summary: Almost a great kid's action movie Review: Overall, I really liked watching this movie with kids from 10-13 years old. The bear cub is a cute idea to keep younger children interested but not very believeable since polar bears don't live in the mountains. There is some character development as the boy, Sean, regrets mean things he said to his father and appreciates and uses the skills he has learned from him. There is a strong femaale, the sister, good to see in a kids' movie. The special effects are really quite well done. I only have two real gripes. First is the needless swearing of the "bad guys". Lots of "dammit" all through the movie. Second,the climax, where Cubby takes the end of the rope and supposedly saves the father, is a disappointment. Up until then Cubby has just been a distracting side bar. Just when we are engaged in the most exciting part of the movie and there is an opportunity for the children to really pull off a heroic deed, it is Cubby who grabs the tail of the rope and gnaws on it to save the dad. The scenery is beautiful. There are wonderful shots of a glacier, kayaking on open water, canoeing on a river, and rock climbing that just make me want to hop a plane to Alaska. The writing and editing are well done. The characters are believable for the most part (it is a children's movie, after all). There are a few other minor problems. The father is in the open on a snowy mountain for 3 days with no blanket but doesn't seem to suffer from hypothermia. The police give up the search way to early. And the kids don't leave a note or anything about where they are going when they take off for the Devil's Thumb Pass to find their father. I think parents should watch this with their kids and point these things out as they watch the movie. This can be a good way to teach critical thinking. This is an exciting, beautiful movie with something for everyone in the family. Have fun with it.
Rating: Summary: Almost a great kid's action movie Review: Overall, I really liked watching this movie with kids from 10-13 years old. The bear cub is a cute idea to keep younger children interested but not very believeable since polar bears don't live in the mountains. There is some character development as the boy, Sean, regrets mean things he said to his father and appreciates and uses the skills he has learned from him. There is a strong femaale, the sister, good to see in a kids' movie. The special effects are really quite well done. I only have two real gripes. First is the needless swearing of the "bad guys". Lots of "dammit" all through the movie. Second,the climax, where Cubby takes the end of the rope and supposedly saves the father, is a disappointment. Up until then Cubby has just been a distracting side bar. Just when we are engaged in the most exciting part of the movie and there is an opportunity for the children to really pull off a heroic deed, it is Cubby who grabs the tail of the rope and gnaws on it to save the dad. The scenery is beautiful. There are wonderful shots of a glacier, kayaking on open water, canoeing on a river, and rock climbing that just make me want to hop a plane to Alaska. The writing and editing are well done. The characters are believable for the most part (it is a children's movie, after all). There are a few other minor problems. The father is in the open on a snowy mountain for 3 days with no blanket but doesn't seem to suffer from hypothermia. The police give up the search way to early. And the kids don't leave a note or anything about where they are going when they take off for the Devil's Thumb Pass to find their father. I think parents should watch this with their kids and point these things out as they watch the movie. This can be a good way to teach critical thinking. This is an exciting, beautiful movie with something for everyone in the family. Have fun with it.
Rating: Summary: great adventure for little adveturers Review: Sure this isn't an epic film that will rival the "Ten Commandments;" and knowing the Republican mind of gun toting Charleston Heston I am sure that this was an effort to keep his kid, the director of the film, off the dreaded bread lines in east L.A. But all in all this is a film that has kept my six year old grandson and my eight year old grand daughter glued to the TV/VCR when they come over the house for some fun times. I have a formidable collection of kids' videos, but the one that has just about worn out because it has been viewed so often is our copy of Alaska. This is a soft story of a crisis in a kid's world that challenges the kids involved to rise above it, and eventually with patience, time, ingenuity, and perseverence the problem is solved. What more do we want to have our children and grandchildren see happen? Too much realism destroys dreams, and dreams are what make things happen. Besides Charlton portrays a gun toting bad guy and that is worth the price of the video to see.
Rating: Summary: Just plain silly without meaning to be. Review: The problems this movie faces are more daunting than the teenagers' search for their missing father; the plot is paper thin and equally transparent. That a self-centered and disfunctional family is suddenly cured of all their ills in this moment of crisis is patently false. Worse the movie doesn't instill any respect for the wilderness meaning that any impressionable child that watches might be misled as to the dangers of their activities. The fact that polar bears do not frequent high mountains strains what little crudulity remains, reinforced by terrible film editing which reveals the cub at the end rejoining a ploar bear family group which low and behold is somehow no longer in the mountains, but on coastal tundra. The scene, the lighting, and the film quality all demonstrate totally different animals and locations. Any film editor should have been able to do a better job of blending the clips, but it seems the maker of this movie thought those watching were even less informed than they were and just didn't care. One of the worse films I have seen in ages. My kids even thought this was just plain silly. Those entralled with this movie must check their reasoning powers at the door, because for any thinking person, even kids, it is almost insultingly dumb.
Rating: Summary: Not all bad, but then again... Review: There are some things about this movie and then there are some not so good. The cinematography in this movie is wonderful to look at. There are some cute moments in the film, including the polar bear cub that my wife absolutely adores and wants to take home. The not so good are the young actors in the film that are so syrupy that it's not funny. If you can with stand them, your kids from the ages of 8 and up will enjoy this adventure.
Rating: Summary: Not all bad, but then again... Review: There are some things about this movie and then there are some not so good. The cinematography in this movie is wonderful to look at. There are some cute moments in the film, including the polar bear cub that my wife absolutely adores and wants to take home. The not so good are the young actors in the film that are so syrupy that it's not funny. If you can with stand them, your kids from the ages of 8 and up will enjoy this adventure.
Rating: Summary: Great family viewing-Entertaining, suspense-filled&SCENERY! Review: This adventurous 'happy ending' epic should be viewed by all families--especially if there is ANY sybling rivalry (between opposite gendered) OR stereotyping of who can do what, when,where--WHO goes first. Very well done, I would not change a thing. (need an Alaska II with a grown-up "Cubby"!
Rating: Summary: Excellent adventure yarn Review: This is one of those films that is best enjoyed on the level of a good adventure. The logistics of actual area in Alaska are given wide berth for the sake of the story. Great outdoor scenes, good adventure. The kids will love it, adults will enjoy it. Just don't pick at the seams to much.
Rating: Summary: All right, all right.... Review: This isn't exactly a great movie. I've seen much better, but thankfully, I've also seen worse. The scenery is nice enough (filmed in British Columbia, where I happen to live), but that's about all I liked. The plot was much too far-fetched, what two kids would run around on a mountaineous wilderness, even for their father? I also got sick of the polar bear, his sweetness was just too much. Otherwise, the movie was all right. Not great, but not bad either.
Rating: Summary: Predictable and unbelievable at the same time Review: This movie tells the story of two young people, Jessie and Sean, who have moved to Alaska with their father after their mother's death. Jessie is making the best of the move, but Sean is very unhappy that he has been uprooted from his home in Chicago. When their father's plane crashes during what was to have been a routine flight, Jessie and Sean decide to rescue him. What follows is totally unbelievable, but there is some exciting action during the rescue and the scenery is spectacular. Mostly designed as a children's movie, the scenery is probably the best part for adults.
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