The Adventures of the Wilderness Family

source: The Adventures of the Wilderness Family

This movie cycled on after the movie I was watching finished. My pup (1yo) was immediately drawn in by the beginning sequence and was glued to the TV for the entire run-time. I've never seen him do this before! Would recommend for dogs of all ages

source: The Adventures of the Wilderness Family

This is a feel-good, family movie of the television era of Little House on the Prairie. We watched a lot of crap back then and enjoyed it immensely. If you have no preconceived ideas of being thrilled and scared, and understand that this is a movie pushing why so many of us 'up and left' society and joined communes and built squat toilets escaping from the 'burbs'. My 11 year old thoroughly enjoyed it, though she too could see through it (and also see the microphone in heaps of scenes - delightful). We will now watch the second one and be just as delighted, entertained and taken back to a simpler time. Not just in the movie, but remembering the seventies in general.

The family is living in pick up on Sunset Boulevard, so they charter an air flight Tooele lake in a wilderness region? there were a couple moments during this film where I actually was filled with rage at the screen writers and producers. Seriously, why are they living on Sunset Boulevard in a pickup? What's that about? I'm giving it 4 stars because the characters are mildly okay. However, the opening scene is a good example. Why is he angrily shouting at his poor wife? Why are the kids in the back of the pickup on a busy city street and they are throwing their full weight against the pickup rear gate? I kept expecting it to burst open and pour them onto the asphalt. What kind of busted life lef them to be so derelict in for Lauren? And yet to be able to pack up everything and hire a charter flight? Their actions are so irresponsible that it blows my mind. I lived through the 60s and 70s, so I know that people had these types of romantic delusions about wilderness. But you die in the wilderness. These people would never have the skills to survive. They can't even fish.

This is the movie that made me want dogs for the rest of my life, the way he goes all out for his family. I have'nt seen this movie in 30+ years but the scene where dog gets into it with the bear and the cougar and the wolves have stuck with me. I wish I had more human friends like that. This was back when we had family time, every Sunday My Mom, Brother and I would watch a Disney movie after dinner. Those where the days. We also used to watch Alfred Hitchcock and The Creature feature (scary stuff without all the effects)and we used watch Wild Kingdom(I still do, but it's not the same)good story telling has definitely taken a back seat to the green room and all the computer graphics.

I teach 5th grade and show this movie to my kids each year. I loved it as a child and they all love it as well. It's nothing fancy (and the little girl crying tends to get old) but it's a good movie. It tells the story of a family who packs up and leaves the city to live in the mountains. They start in an old cabin and build their new home. Ther are no fancy effects. It was definitely not a high budget movie, but one to be enjoyed time and time again. My only complaint is the portrayal of the wolves. It showed them as vicious creatures attacking the little girl (even though Boomer explained what happened later). I always take the time to talk to my kids about the truth. This is definitely a movie I will watch over and over and continue to show my students. Best of all, it's a real movie with real people (not a cartoon) and there's not a cuss word to be found!

It's nice to watch this flick every now and then - no cussin', no fussin' - a family where arguments are few and far between-but-although it is praised as a wonderful offering for little and big ones, there are some nervous moments involving some animals who resent the invasion of their turf. The carefully staged scenes involving man vs. animal and/or animal vs. animal could frighten little ones -ooohhh, look daddy, they're beating and biting. What fun. Still, you can't help but enjoy the idea of getting out of the big city and opting for life with Mother Nature and mother bear, the latter justifiably ticked because her cubs have been humanized. The humans in the picture are good folk to watch. Logan, a Brooklyn boy, yet, looks like a rugged mountain man. The wife is pleasant, and the children seem to be having a good time. Like other reviewers, I can't help but wonder why the daughter in this pic was replaced by another daughter in the two follow-ups. There is zilch about her on her web site which contains wonderful information - her name. The movie is certainly watchable, the scenery beautiful and the story - well, it's like a fairy tale. Somebody complained about the speeding in re-building (not building) their humble abode. Shoot, Ty Penningtonhe does it every week. Of course he has a host of experts and several hundred people to help. If Logan is still around they might draft him. "The Wilderness Family" is, for the most part pleasant, harmless entertainment unless, of course, you're an animal about to become a dinner. Still, it is far less vicious than city life where you can get snuffed for no good reason.

A couple of hippies living in Los Angeles who were forced to grow up and get jobs when they had kids, decide they've had enough of the smoggy city and pack up their family to move to the Rocky Mountains. Once there they play with bears and befriend a grizzled old mountain man. That is, when they aren't running for their lives from wolves or a big grizzly named Three Toes. Ah, the Wilderness Family. Despite its laughable premise, it's actually one of the better of the "getting back to nature" genre of family dramas that popped up in the 1960s and 1970s, when the times they were a-changing and people thought by the 1980s the world would be overpopulated with unbreathable air and no natural resources left. Really, there's not much wrong with the idea of living the natural life and getting away from the crowded cities. But these movies were often so irresponsibly naive, treating living off the land like it' s a cake walk and there are just as many Disney-style friendly wild animals as there are ones that will kill you. Oh and they never talk about bugs. As anyone who has ever been camping can attest, bugs are the worst. Nature's PR guy should get a raise for keeping bugs out of the brochures. And I don't want to even get into understanding why these movies all seem to have old men wandering around the mountains being friendly with kids. Like I said, this movie is one of the better examples of this genre. At least here it is shown that you have to work to live in the wild and there are some dangers, unlike the completely unrealistic "My Side of the Mountain," where a kid goes to live in the wilderness and befriends animals and a creepy old guy who plays a flute. That kid had it easy but there is some effort made here to portray the struggle it takes to live in the wild, although this is still far from realistic. The cast here is decent, led by Robert Logan as the stubborn hippie dad and George Buck Flower as the mountain man. Corny hippie soundtrack oddly works. As always with these types of films, the best part is the scenery. No sets or cheap CGI fakery going on, just real grass, trees, rivers, mountains, and animals. It adds an authenticity to things missing today. Plus, who doesn't love a good view? This was followed by two sequels that are pretty much more of the same.

I thought this movie was a fine, clean motion picture with action and adventure. I appreciated the high moral values portrayed in this entertaining film. If you are looking for a picture to enjoy with your family(small children included) for an evening, then I would recommend this one.