The River Wild (1994)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Curtis Hanson

Writer (WGA):

Denis O'Neill (written by)

Release Date:

30 September 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

The vacation is over

Plot:

Meryl Streep takes on a pair of armed killers while navigating a spectacularly violent river.

Plot Keywords:

River | Rafting | White Water Rafting | Knife | Mother Son Relationship

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Wed. July 15	12:30 PM	HBO
Sat. July 18	10:30 AM	HBO
Tue. July 21	9:00 AM	HBO

Cast

Meryl Streep	...	Gail Hartman
Stephanie Sawyer	...	Willa
Joseph Mazzello	...	Roarke
David Strathairn	...	Tom
Elizabeth Hoffman	...	Gail's Mother
Victor Galloway	...	Gail's Father
Kevin Bacon	...	Wade
John C. Reilly	...	Terry
William Lucking	...	Frank
Diane Delano	...	Ranger
Thomas F. Duffy	...	Ranger
Benjamin Bratt	...	Ranger Johnny
Paul Cantelon	...	Violinist
Glenn Morshower	...	Policeman

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some violence and threatening moments.

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

American Sign Language | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo | DTS

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:12 | South Korea:12 | Philippines:PG-13 | Peru:14 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Norway:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

David Foster Productions

Trivia:

An exhausted Meryl Streep balked when director Curtis Hanson asked her to shoot one more scene before filming finished for the end of the day, however, she decided to attempt it. Swept off the raft, she was in real danger of drowning before she was rescued. Returning upriver, she told a pale and shaking Hanson that "in the future, when I say I can't do something, I think we should believe me." Hanson hastily agreed.

Goofs:

Continuity: Raft goes through huge rapid, drops over the falls and should be full of water and have to be bailed. A minute later when the raft is lifted by the cable it is dry.

Quotes:

Wade: I'm in charge now. I could bury you and Roarke tonight. I could do anything I want with you.
Gail: Then go ahead. Don't keep telling me how tough you are, Wade, just show me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in L.A. Confidential: Off the Record... (1998) (V)

Soundtrack:

Cope

For The Most Part A Credible Thriller

THE RIVER WILD is not the most original thriller ever made , it's premise is " a clean cut family bump into a couple of desperate criminals in the sticks and their lives are now in serious danger " but it deserves some credit in not trying to paper over its flaws with ridiculous action sequences or other type of melodramatic plot twists . Perhaps the producers of the recent Jodie Foster thriller FLIGHTPLAN should have watched this to see how a family based thriller should be made ?

Some people may be put off by the fact that there's not much in the way of explosions , car chases or a massive body count and that there's a lot of talking but when you've got a thriller where Kevin Bacon is the bad guy ( And no 1990s movie was complete without Bacon as a bad guy ) if you do have a film that is watchable at the very least . And let me just repeat that this is a film where credibility takes precedence over action . There is a slight flaw where towards the end where one of the characters starts making devices out of stuff lying around ala MCGUYVER but for the most part this is an enjoyable thriller