Wild America (1997)

Three brothers who are obsessed with animals are given permission from their parents to travel around America with a camera documenting wildlife.

Director:

William Dear

Writer:

David Michael Wieger

Stars:

Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Devon Sawa, Scott Bairstow

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jonathan Taylor Thomas	...	Marshall
Devon Sawa	...	Mark
Scott Bairstow	...	Marty
Frances Fisher	...	Agnes
Jamey Sheridan	...	Marty Sr.
Tracey Walter	...	Leon
Don Stroud	...	Stango
Zack Ward	...	D.C.
Claudia Stedelin	...	Annie
Anastasia Spivey	...	Donna Jo
Leighanne Littrell	...	Tanna (as Leighanne Wallace)
Amy Lee Douglas	...	Julie Anne
Sonny Shroyer	...	Bud
Rachel Fowler	...	Sarah
Jennifer Crumbley	...	Betsy

Storyline

Three brothers - Marshall, Marty and Mark dream of becoming naturalists and portraying animal life of America. One summer their dream comes true, they travel through America, filming alligators, bears and moose.

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Plot Keywords:

bare chested male | bare chested teenage boy | barefoot male | rattlesnake | buddy film | 

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Taglines:

take a ride on the wild side.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for language and some adventure peril

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Stouffers' car is a 1957 GMC Suburban.

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Goofs

When the boys are filming Marshals antics at the beginning of the movie, they use a Kodak Brownie 8mm camera. The Brownie was a spring wound camera. As the film was exposed the spring unwound and the winding key, visible on the side of the camera would turn. In this movie it doesn't. Further, the camera held only two minutes of film and the spring wind would expose less than one minute. Many of the sequences are longer than that. When they upgrade to 16mm we see them watching their first footage. They use a Bell & Howell 500 series sound projector. It's threaded wrong with the film coming off the back of the feed reel instead of the front. At the end of the movie they use the same projector to show their "unfinished" film and they use the same reels of film. Their complaint that they didn't shoot enough film to give a show is justified. Only 4 or 5 minutes of film is on the take-up reel when the show ends. Also, an equal amount is on the feed reel, unshown, even though they have apparently shown all the film they had.

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Quotes

D.C.: [he and Marty both challenge each other to a very life-risking car race two times, and he loses both times; and college girls such as Donna Jo and Tanna are watching them] Let's go again!
Donna Jo: Like hell you'll go again!

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Crazy Credits

Right before the credits roll: On April 6, 1977 "The Predators" aired on NBC narrated by Robert Redford. Marty went on to produce the acclaimed series "Wild America". Mark became an Emmy award winner and one of the foremost wildlife filmmakers in the world. Marshall recently complete a documentary about endangered snails. He is now looking for bigger game. (Then a postcard of "Mom and Dad" saying "Greetings from Hawaii) And Agnes spent two glorious weeks on the beaches of Hawaii while Marty Sr. combed the island for car parts.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Men in Black/Wild America/Out to Sea (1997)

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Soundtracks

Magic Carpet Ride
Performed by Steppenwolf
Written by John Kay and Rushton Moreve
Courtesy of MCA Records
By arrangement with MCA Special Markets & Products

User Reviews

I still love this movie...

When I heard that Jonathan Taylor Thomas was doing a movie with Devon Sawa at the height of my teenybopper stage, needless to say I was excited. The weird thing is that I still love this movie now. The plot follows the three Stouffer brothers, Marty, Mark, and Marshall, following their dreams to get out of their small town and dead-end future as mechanics and go out and film animals. Not just any animals, though, the "biggest bad-a**es of the animal kingdom," which results in a few thrilling, sometimes comic adventures for the three brothers. The brothers want the piece de resistance of their film to be an infamous cave where a group of bears are reputed to sleep together, the rumor that actually starts their trip and leads to the biggest adventure of all. This movie is full of hope that dreams can come true, as cheesy as that sounds, and is even better as it is a true story based on the naturalists behind Wild America. Great shots of animals, as well (not counting fake bear suits).

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 July 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Wild America

Filming Locations:

Banff, Alberta, Canada

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,810,586, 6 July 1997

Gross USA:

$7,342,923

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$7,342,923

Company Credits

Production Co:

Morgan Creek Entertainment, The Steve Tisch Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1