Against the Wild (2013)

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

We watched this at home on DVD from our public library. The good thing is the 'PG' rating, it is refreshing to watch something without bad language, sexual situations, or violence.The less good thing is the scriptwriter/director isn't very good. The dialog is often very cheesy and some of it seems out of place for the situation. The two kids, about 11 or 12, are OK playing brother and sister, but they are just adequate actors.The gist of the story is simple, two kids are going to visit their dad who works in the Canadian wilderness, bringing along backpacks and hiking shoes for a fun weekend. But the company's small seaplane develops engine trouble and they crash land in the forest, not too far from water. The pilot is badly injured, the two kids and their dog set out to find help.Meanwhile emergency services begin a search for the downed plane as the parents show up at the planning site. But the kids are off to find help and, with the help of the dog fight off wolves and a bear.CJ Adams is the son, Zach Wade. His sister is played by Erin Pitt as Hannah Wade, looking like a dead ringer for a very young Hayden Panettiere. The only veteran I recognized was Natasha Henstridge as the mom, Susan Wade, and she emoted properly but the script didn't give her much to work with.OK, so it isn't a high quality movie but it is cute, like an extended family TV episode of some sort. It is entertaining if you are in the mood for this kind of movie.

A very bad and very formulaic film. May entertain very small kids and adults in comas but that's about it. Very standard dad works to much, family is strained, kids feel abandoned, kids get in trouble, family fights, family comes together flick set in the wilderness. To avoid spoilers ( not that there are any surprises in this film ) I'll just say that the kids seem to do everything wrong in this movie while the adults take incredibly unrealistic actions. Adding to this are the standard convenient plot complications; phone doesn't work, sprained ankle, etc. Acting is standard made for TV quality with fairly poor cinematography. The efforts to hide the unrealistic portions of the plot are more obvious then the plot defects they are covering. Avoid unless treating insomnia.

I agree with everything PrarieCal had to say. What a colossal waste of time and effort. Never before have I witnessed a movie more heavily weighted down with clichés. However, I will, generously mind you, award it one star for the scenery.As horrible as this movie is my biggest gripe doesn't even stem from how bad of a film it is, it stems from how bad the information about the wilderness and wilderness survival is. If indeed the boy truly was a former Cub Scout he should be stripped of any related badges because he did Nothing right that had to do with the most rudimentary of survival skills.There was just so much wrong with this movie...but I will limit myself to three examples which ought to give you a pretty good idea of the degree of thought that went into this flick...1. My favorite moment of the film....the parents are waiting at search and rescue's command central for any word of their kids who have been missing in the wilderness for days...the father bursts into the mothers tent and spouts "Great news hunny!!!" with a massive smile on his face...."Charlie is going to be okay!"...Charlie being the pilot who had crashed the plane stranding the children but who was no longer with them and, weirdly, who had already been found and who they already pretty much knew was going to be okay. Any normal mother would have first punched him in the nose then burst into tears.2. The kids have matches. Having seen the search and rescue helicopters they know people are looking for them and despite being surrounded by woods and supposedly possessing the training to know how to gut a fish and create a travois never think to light a single signal fire....okay.3. My third example is possibly the only reason I would recommend anyone check out a moment of this film because you will be treated to, yet another clichéd moment, that features the most obese raccoon I've ever seen, quite possibly weighing 4x what a wild raccoon could ever hope to attain...sadly, I am serious, the poor critter could barely move, same goes for the prerequisite grizzly....But, simply put and to be brutally honest? There is no reason good enough for anyone to watch this movie, not even a 3 year old.

Very predictable in every way the plot was a dead give away. The cinematography was lacking in every way. the way they used the radio was lacking in radio procedure IE the lack of call sign or unit number. also the seen where the bear was after them and all it took was one bite from the dog to scare that 200 pound bear way, totally UN believable. the dialog was very weak and had no depth to it the acting was sub par at best this movie is a good waste of time for an hour but that is all it is worth, I have never been so disappointed in a movie in my life this film earned a 0 out of ten Stars . a total looser and a waste of time I would say don,t waste your time with this film. leave it on the shelf and walk away.