Alaska (1996)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Fraser Clarke Heston

Writers (WGA):

Andy Burg (written by) &
Scott Myers (written by)

Release Date:

14 August 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Family

Tagline:

A missing father. A desperate search. An unforgettable adventure.

Plot:

Jake Barnes and his two kids, Sean and Jessie, have moved to Alaska after his wife died. He is a former...

Plot Keywords:

Mountain | Polar Bear | Poacher | Alaska | Pilot

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Thora Birch	...	Jessie Barnes
Vincent Kartheiser	...	Sean Barnes
Dirk Benedict	...	Jake Barnes
Charlton Heston	...	Colin Perry the Poacher
Duncan Fraser	...	Koontz, Perry's Pilot
Gordon Tootoosis	...	Ben, Quincy General Store
Ben Cardinal	...	Charlie, Quincy Air Service
Ryan Kent	...	Chip
Don S. Davis	...	Sergeant Grazer
Dolly Madsen	...	Mrs. Ben
Stephen E. Miller	...	Trooper Sam Harvey
Byron Chief-Moon	...	Chip's Father (as Byron Chief Moon)
Kristin Lehman	...	Florence
Adrien Dorval	...	Burly Fisherman
Ed Gale	...	Animatronics Bear Cub

MPAA:

Rated PG for some mild language and adventure/peril.

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:All | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:F (Ontario) | Finland:S | Germany:6 (w) | Iceland:L | Spain:T | UK:PG | USA:PG (certificate #34327) | Canada:G (Nova Scotia)

Filming Locations:

Purcell Range, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Goofs:

Errors in geography: In the initial opening scene we see Jake Barnes flying his Super Cub south over glaciers and high rocky mountains, a feature only seen in the geography of South Alaska. When he checks in via radio, he confirms his location as being one in south-central Alaska. We then see him flying over a group of polar bears. Polar bears are only found along the northern coast of Alaska and Canada and on the Arctic Sea, not in the mountains of south Alaska (almost 1000 miles away).

Quotes:

Charlie: Nice landing, Jake, that's a stiff cross wind.
Jake Barnes: Any landing you can walk away from is a good one.
Charlie: I bet you didn't say that when you were flying 747's for a living...
Jake Barnes: Yeah, I could say anything I wanted, as long as I didn't spill any drinks in first class.

Movie Connections:

Features Street Fighter: The Movie (1995) (VG)

Breathtaking scenery...

This movie is visually stunning. In a nutshell this movie is about a father who is a pilot and delivers toilet paper around the Alaskan wilderness. His plane crashes and his kids go out to search for him after being angry at the authorities for not doing enough to find their father. They free a cute little polar bear cub who has been caught by a poacher and the polar bear helps them find their lost father. The storyline isn't anything special and basically we have all seen a movie like this many many times. You know the..'kids go out to rescue mother/father/uncle/grandpa and get into lots of life threatening situations with cute animal in toe, but everything is a just fine and dandy in the end'.

Was good to see Dirk Benedict who played Jake Barnes in Alaska, in something as I loved him in The A Team all those years ago. Thora Birch plays the part of Jessie Barnes his daughter and does the kind of acting job that we have come to expect from her... excellent. Vincent Kartheiser plays Sean Barnes the typical anx ridden/angry teenager who comes good and to the aid of his father.

If you like visually beautiful movies and don't need them to be intellectual masterpieces, then watch Alaska