Flipper (1996)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Alan Shapiro

Writers (WGA):

Ricou Browning (story) and
Jack Cowden (story) ...

Release Date:

17 May 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Adventure

Tagline:

This summer it's finally safe to go back in the water.

Plot:

Sandy Ricks is sent by his mom to Coral Key, a rustic island in the Florida keys, to spend the summer with his uncle Porter Ricks...

Plot Keywords:

Uncle | Summer | Florida Keys | Dolphin | Florida

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Elijah Wood	...	Sandy Ricks
Paul Hogan	...	Porter Ricks
Jonathan Banks	...	Dirk Moran
Robert Deacon	...	Bounty Fisherman #1
Ann Carey	...	Fisherman's Wife
Mark Casella	...	Bounty Fisherman #2
Luke Halpin	...	Bounty Fisherman #3
Bill Kelley	...	Tommy
Chelsea Field	...	Cathy
Jason Fuchs	...	Marvin
Lindsay Treco	...	Little Girl
Jessica Wesson	...	Kim
Mal Jones	...	Russ
Louis Seeger Crume	...	Mr. Dunnahy
Bill Nolan	...	Bartender

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | DTS-Stereo (35 mm prints) | DTS (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:PG (certificate #34460) | Brazil:Livre | South Korea:All | Finland:S | Germany:6 (w) | Portugal:M/6 | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:PG | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Nassau, New Providence Island, Bahamas

Company:

American Films

Trivia:

Luke Halpin played Sandy in the TV series "Flipper" (1964)

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Sandy first sees Flipper in the water and follows him along the dock, he walks on the same section of dock twice.

Quotes:

Uncle Porter: You're going to have to use your brain which is going to hurt because it's the weakest muscle in your body.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Troldspejlet: (#30.9)" (2003)

It's a lot like Casablanca really

Dolphin - cute

Elijah Wood - very very cute, especially when wet and partially nekkid

Paul Hogan - strangely attractive, must have been the leather bondage cuff he wore through the whole movie

Plot - very silly

Cute blonde - romance sub-plot highly unconvincing, clearly no girl can come between a boy and his dolphin and Elijah doesn't even make a vague attempt at kissing her, instead choosing to spend all his time fondling Flipper

Ending - strangely similar to Casablanca, as Elijah says farewell to the finned love of his life...

Lij: Last night we said a great many things. You said I was to do the thinking for both of us. Well, I've done a lot of it since then, and it all adds up to one thing. You're going out into that sea with your family where you belong.

Flipper: eee eee eee

Lij: Now you've got to listen to me! Do you have any idea what you'd have to look forward to if you stayed here? Nine chances out of ten we'd both wind up in SeaWorld. Isn't that true, Paul Hogan?

Paul: I'm afraid the kid is right

Flipper: eee eee eee

Lij: I'm saying it because it's true. Inside of us, we both know you belong with your family. You're part of their life - the thing that keeps them going. If that pod leaves here and you're not with them, you'll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon. And for the rest of your life.

Flipper: eee eee eee

Lij: We'll always have that time under the pier. We didn't have - we lost it until you found the poison barrels. We got it back last night.

Flipper: eee eee eee

Lij: And you never will. But I've got a job to do, too. And where I'm going you can't follow. What I've got to do, you can't be any part of. Flipper, I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of one little boy and his dolphin don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Some day you'll understand that. Here's looking at you, kid.

I'm so moved I may weep.

In summary, approximately 5000 times better than Queen of the Damned, not quite as good as Lord of the Rings.