Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog (1995)

Dog owners and lovers need their heroes too. And they have one – more than one – in this movie. "Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog" is unlike any other dog story. For starters, it's not just a boy and dog story. There have been some very good ones of those – "Old Yeller," "Where the Red Fern Grows." Nor is it about humor, mysteries and dog detectives as in the Lassie and Rin Tin Tin serials. This is also an adventure story, a father-son story, a family story, a survival story and a story about the sea and the wilds. To describe too many details would detract from the enjoyment, so I won't go into the plot. But with all of this, "Far From Home" has some of the most spectacular scenery and cinematography in any movie made from the late 20th century to the present. The setting of the film is along the Pacific Coast of British Columbia – probably Vancouver Island, although it isn't specific. The ocean and coastal scenes were shot in the Pacific Rim National Park, along the middle coast of Vancouver Island. The island is the largest on the west coast of North America. It stretches 290 miles from South to North and 50 miles at its widest. It covers 12,407 square miles. Vehicle travel to and from the island is by ferries that run between ports on the B.C. mainland and the State of Washington in the U.S. While Victoria, the provincial capital of B.C. is located on the southern tip of the island, and some other towns of size run halfway up the inside passage, most of the land is rugged and heavily forested. Another key filming location was Hope, B.C., and the nearby Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park. Several movies have been filmed at least in part in Hope since the first Rambo movie with Sylvester Stallone – "First Blood" in 1981. The nearby canyon is where the scene was shot with helicopter gunmen shooting at Stallone. One can imagine that certain shots in "Far From Home" were also filmed there. Hope is a beautiful place to visit. The Fraser River runs by the town, where the Coquihalla River joins it. The nearby canyon park has the Othello Tunnels with very scenic walking trails over an abandoned rail line. Just be sure to visit during July and August – the low rain times. The town gets 75 plus inches of rain a year, and it is often misty, foggy or just plain wet much of the other 10 months of the year. "Far From Home" is not a kid's movie, but kids of all ages will enjoy it – from 6 to 96.

Personally this has many memories for me, as I was friends with the editors son when I lived in Vancouver in 1993 and was lucky enough to see it being edited. I still have a cut from the reel somewhere. It brings back many memories, both from seeing the film 1st hand and also from viewing the fantastic scenery of British Columbia which has great childhood memories.Over all, it's a well shot film with some good long outdoor shots. The story is a little clichéd but what else can you expect from a family film! The dog does an amazingly good job as do the actors. They were only in their early teens when it was shot so I've gotta hand it to them for doing such a good job considering they were the main characters. There are some moments where they the supporting actors lack fluidity in their delivery and let's be honest, the concept isn't ground breaking.If your looking for a good, well filmed family film look no further. One of the lost gems in film history.

Angus is learning to drive in his father's pickup truck (with comic results), so he must be in his mid-teens. A mysterious dog shows up at his house, and he wants to keep it, but his parents say it must belong to someone. They reluctantly agree to keep the dog at least until its owner is found, if there is one. The dog causes problems and Angus is reminded he must be responsible for the dog. One day the father is making a delivery on the boat CORMORANT, somewhere on the Pacific coast, with Angus and the dog. The weather gets rough unexpectedly, and the boat capsizes. The father is rescued quickly but does not know what happened to his son. Angus and the dog managed to get in a small boat Angus helped build, along with some supplies, and they make it to shore. But the area is very isolated, and even though search planes fly over several times, Angus can't make his presence known. He is there for many days with the dog, but despite his age Angus has learned many survival skills (earlier in the movie Angus and his younger brother camped out in the back yard and we saw the father teach some of these skills; the father also gave Angus a knife that had been given to him by his father) and gets along quite well. After a while the food situation gets so bad Angus even eats some of the cookies his girlfriend Sara made him. The dog helps some, even chasing away wolves and later a bobcat (these were the only scary scenes, but nothing that should bother parents). Angus later starts moving toward civilization. The search team shows signs of giving up, but as in most movies like this, the parents will not let them. This was an okay movie. No standout performances, and nothing to make it better than any other movies like it, but the boy's ability to take care of himself was nothing less than amazing.

There should be more of this kind of film. This is one that the family could watch and enjoy. I find the best movies need not to have all of the bad language to make them enjoyable. It may be that someday the film industry may get the message.