White Water Summer (1987)
When the experienced guide Vic accompanies the city boy Alan and his three friends on their first wilderness experience, he not only hopes to teach the four boys lessons about the wilderness, but about themselves. Vic pushes them to the limit. Soon after alienating the boys, Vic finds himself in desperate need of help and must rely on his students in order to survive.
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I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.
Alan (Sean Astin) is a city boy from NYC. His parents send him off to camping and wilderness survival with Vic (Kevin Bacon). Alan has reservations but is too scared to object. They are joined by three other boys. Alan is not a happy camper clashing with the strictness of Vic. The reward is a mountain climb.Alan is whiny which keeps me from fully liking this movie in general. Vic is the kind who throws a baby into deep water. Neither is worth the rooting interest. There is a way to play both of these characters to create some sympathy for them. This fails to find the sweet spot and the emotional conflict comes off clunky.
I LOVED this movie when I was a kid and it's so funny how my perspective has changed as I have gotten older. I was all about Sean Astin as the hero and that Kevin Bacon was the bad guy and now that I am older...I see Kevin Bacon's perspective and I am seeing all that he was doing to help Sean Astin and how Sean was just a crybaby. Crazy what time and wisdom does when you get older. If this is your first time watching it in the era you probably won't like it at all. The music doesn't fit the movie, but it fits the 80's era of teenage movies. I do enjoy the story and most of the characters actually make sense through the entire movie. Is the movie good...no, but is it great nostalgia...YES!!!
OK, I have to admit this movie was like meeting someone that gives you a good first impression... but you later realize they are a lying sociopath. I give it a 4 for the acting. Speaking of sociopaths... was that Kevin's motivation for being cruel? If not, I have no idea what was. This guy barely knows these kids, but is so interested in "teaching them a lesson" that he constantly endangers their lives to do it. What was the lesson by the way? You're lucky for being alive? Did it bother anyone else that Sean Astin's character is not only left to hang off a cliff by Kevin but also by all of his so-called friends, one of whom makes a lame attempt to go back and retrieve him but is easily thwarted by the Baconmeister. With friends like that...If you want a good "in the woods with dangerous guy" movie, I recommend SHOOT TO KILL with Sidney Poitier, Kirsti Alley and Tom Berenger.
When I was watching the credit at the end, I was surprised that this film was also partly filmed in New Zealand just like the movie "without the paddle". I didn't know that they started shooting at NZ so early.Overall, this is a nice movie to watch. The white water scenes were very good. You can hardly tell who is the real actor, and who is the stunt man. Of course, I watched it from a VHS tape, so the picture quality is not very good.I wish that I had a summer trip like this one, that would be so memorable. Fresh air, lots of fun, and personal growth. Movies about Summer camps and trips are always fun to watch.