Alaska (1996)

I watched this film when I was (where else?) in Alaska. I was eleven at the time. My sister and I couldn't believe how bad this movie was. I saw more holes in the plot of this film than I care to say, although I think one deserves special mention. When the younger sister is forced to hold up the two older males, I had to stop watching. For all those people who justify this film by saying that is "for kids", you are wrong. No one should have to suffer through this film. This makes "cheaper by the dozen" look sophisticated. I admit the the scenery in this film is nice. But scenery should not be the only reason for watching a movie. The plot is thin, the characters are annoying, not to mention stupid. I'm a city person, and even I know that travelling in a boat repaired with duct tape is a bad idea. The bear was cute, but became annoying as the movie wore on. To sum up, even mere children can see the rediculousness of this corny, horrible film.

Watched this on TV because I really wanted to see Thora Birch acting at 14. SPOILERS follow (but nothing you won't work out for yourself five minutes into the movie).There's lots of nice scenery, and some decent animal training, but it's poor for lots of reasons – it views like silly cutesy kids schmaltz, maybe because that's what it is. Birch is good – not as dazzling as she is today, but you can see it coming. Charlton Heston has always been a fine actor and a great star and, in a feeble role as a comedy heavy, gives an acting masterclass to everyone around him.There's one ghastly vomit-inducing moment which shows how lightly some of these hack movie-makers regard the characters they've created. OK, setup: Dad's a pilot who's just taken a job in Alaska, daughter Birch loves the outdoor life up there, slightly older son hates it, wants back to Chicago and never stops moaning. As soon as Dad's plane goes down, we know the rescue services are going to fail, the kids will have to get the job done, and the whole point of all this will be to get son reconciled with Dad. Setting off, all is sensible enough. The girl knows how to kayak, the boy doesn't, so he screws up, complains about aches and pains etc. And we carry on more or less like this (trying to ignore the comedy poachers and the cutesy baby polar bear). The girl's strong, resolute, sensible and resourceful, the boy's initially hopeless, but toughens up fast into a worthwhile companion. And then comes this moment. I wondered what was going on when, after they've both carried big rucksacks all the way, suddenly, for no reason, hers is gone. Just a continuity error? – I wish. They're climbing this mountain, the kind of thing they've been doing for days, when out of nowhere (and right out of character) girl suddenly whines: 'I can't climb any more. I'm tired,' setting up boy's macho return: 'Come on, I'll carry you if I have to.' The boy has to be transformed from incompetent wimp to tough-guy hero, the tough-guy needs a feeble girl to look after, and if we have to sacrifice the brave strong character we created earlier – hey, she's only a girl, after all, right?Don't pay to rent this, but if you see it on TV – did I mention it's got Thora Birch?

Hard to figure the negative comments about this film. It is geared to an elementary school audience who will find it very entertaining. But it is also good family viewing because the scenery is terrific and the polar bear cub is very cute. Since there was never a conspiracy to keep the demographic identity of the target audience a national secret, those complaining about its lack of sophistication were just too lazy to check it out before actually viewing it. The film delivers exactly what it promises so there is no real basis for that kind of criticism.The editing is first class; especially on the canoe down the rapids sequence where the second unit stuff is perfectly cut into tight shots of the two stars. Thora Birch turns in another excellent performance and Vincent Kartheiser shows that even before "Angel" he modeled his acting on William Shatner (this is not a complement).There are a number of plot holes but nothing that really matters. One interesting thing is the scene where the bear cub helps in the rescue effort by pulling the rope with his teeth. Seldom can you point to a "single" stupid detail that drastically dumbs down a film but that is the case here. Lose that one moronic shot and the film gains about 20 IQ points and could add a couple years to its target audience.

The clean cut stuff. Oh, don't forget the whole "family sticks together" moteef. Got to love it. The way I say this movie was through my family. You know, if you want to teach a lesson, that's fine. Why through this movie?The movie "Alaska" is alright. It's not horrible. But if a family member is lost in Alaska, which is one of the biggest states, would you go searching for them? In freezing weather, with polar bears? It's almost impossible to find that person. It was just a little hard to believe, that's all. The acting is alright. It's nothing too special to watch. I'll give it credit for it's moral lesson though.6/10