Against the Wild (2013)

Two siblings and their devoted dog become lost in the wilderness and must learn how to combine their skills, trust their instincts and navigate a terrain as beautiful as it is untamed.

Director:

Richard Boddington

Writer:

Richard Boddington

Stars:

CJ Adams, Erin Pitt, Natasha Henstridge

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
CJ Adams	...	Zach Wade
Erin Pitt	...	Hannah Wade
Natasha Henstridge	...	Susan Wade
Ted Whittall	...	Robert Wade
John Tench	...	Captain Walker
Rainbow Francks	...	Charlie Foster (as Rainbow Sun Francks)
Jennifer Gibson	...	Sheila
Sarah Deakins	...	Sergeant McCoy
Shawn Storer	...	Eric
Greg Campbell	...	Bill Peters
Chuck Willcocks	...	Jimmy
Barney	...	The Bear
Houston	...	Chinook

Storyline

Zach Wade, a mischievous kid who - along with his younger sister Hannah and their devoted dog Chinook - becomes lost in the wilderness when their small plane has engine problems and must make an emergency landing. Their mom and dad are frantic, and rescue teams are searching. But for the next few days, Zach, Hannah and Chinook must learn how to combine their skills, trust their instincts and navigate a terrain as beautiful as it is untamed.

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Plot Keywords:

salmon | cave | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for action and peril

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 March 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Avontuur in de wildernis

Filming Locations:

Lions Head, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Against the Wild Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

In most of the out-of-doors scenes, when the dog Houston (an Alaskan Malamute) playing Chinook is with Zack and Hanna, one of them is holding onto its collar. The first day on the set, Houston ran off for an hour chasing a squirrel and another time he just couldn't be found and the filmmakers were talking about taking him out of the scene when he wandered back. One of the DVD Outtakes shows him running off.

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Goofs

(at around 9 mins) The shots of Zack and Hanna riding in a seaplane to visit their father on Lake Wipissing were taken inside a stationary plane with computer effect scenes seen through the side windows, but most of the computer effect shots were taken with a camera pointing in the direction of flight while the windows on which they are displayed are side windows looking perpendicular to the direction of flight, resulting in the plane appearing to be flying sideways in various shots.

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Connections

Followed by Against the Wild 2: Survive the Serengeti (2016)

User Reviews

Why?

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.