froberts73 It's nice to watch this flick every now and then - no cussin', no fussin' - a family where arguments are few and far between-but-although it is praised as a wonderful offering for little and big ones, there are some nervous moments involving some animals who resent the invasion of their turf. The carefully staged scenes involving man vs. animal and/or animal vs. animal could frighten little ones -ooohhh, look daddy, they're beating and biting. What fun.Still, you can't help but enjoy the idea of getting out of the big city and opting for life with Mother Nature and mother bear, the latter justifiably ticked because her cubs have been humanized.The humans in the picture are good folk to watch. Logan, a Brooklyn boy, yet, looks like a rugged mountain man. The wife is pleasant, and the children seem to be having a good time. Like other reviewers, I can't help but wonder why the daughter in this pic was replaced by another daughter in the two follow-ups. There is zilch about her on her web site which contains wonderful information - her name.The movie is certainly watchable, the scenery beautiful and the story - well, it's like a fairy tale.Somebody complained about the speeding in re-building (not building) their humble abode. Shoot, Ty Penningtonhe does it every week. Of course he has a host of experts and several hundred people to help. If Logan is still around they might draft him."The Wilderness Family" is, for the most part pleasant, harmless entertainment unless, of course, you're an animal about to become a dinner.Still, it is far less vicious than city life where you can get snuffed for no good reason.

brad-302 I saw this movie as a kid and loved it. Today, I saw it again with my wife and two kids and loved it. There are aspects that are completely unrealistic (i.e. a welder knows how to build a very nice log cabin, a fast grizzly does not run down the little girl who happens to be ten feet away, the man is not seriously mangled by the mountain lion, the dog is not killed by the wolves, etc.), but what I loved about it was the fact that the family does what so many families long to do--get out of Dodge and head for the high country.People weren't meant to be stuck in a box 24/7 because they are enslaved to a house payment, the monster SUV, and all the other trappings of civilization. Families were meant to hang together and kids were meant to learn from parents--not MTV, the druggies on the corner, or their friends at school. Parents, to your children love is spelled TIME. This film reinforces that notion and illustrates that this misguided idea of quality time being more important than quantity is ridiculous. The pragmatic message from this film is for parents to sell the BMW and buy a Chevy, sell the mansion on the hill and buy the house in the valley, chuck the ladder-climbing job and take the one that allows you to be home for dinner every night. After all, nobody every regretted not spending more time at work, but they did regret not spending more time with the kiddos.I believe that it's a movie that was ahead of its time and I'd love to see a more modern (and more realistic) take on the subject. Besides, it's a good family film, which is a rarity these days. It's not a perfect film by any standard, but the scenery is beautiful and the plot is visionary. That's why I give it an 8 out of 10.

theclaywells I loved this film as a child - and was brought up in the Rocky Mountains, backpacking with my Dad, and can relate to the feeling of wanting to drop everything and "head for the hills."Have seen the movie and its sequel recently, I can still say it is a movie I would love for my children to watch and love. It is wholesome, family value oriented, and in general, a great joy for kids. It makes you want to go out camping and enjoy what little wilderness we have left in the US. While I do have to agree with other posters that you simply can't "up and leave" as they do in this film (ie - no preparation re: hunting, fishing, planting, learning, etc.), you just can't fit all that into a film. And it would bore the kids to death. It is a family/children's film, after all, not an adult action flick.I highly recommend this film to anyone with children.

di_Notte I saw this film from what my father told me about it; I like watching cheese, and from what he'd said, this is CHEESE. As people started moving into the mid-1970s, they were leaving behind the hippie-dippy daze, getting into more sophisticated drugs, then becoming clean corporate slaves. Everyone began forgetting how wonderful the earth was because they were too busy drilling it for oil or tearing down trees to make room for our growing population. This film's answer?? Make a senseless decision involving your entire family by moving into a wooded area you know NOTHING about where there's no help for miles and you have no skills dealing with wild animals, baking from ABSOLUTE scratch, hunting, etc. We went from the streets of L.A. to the hills of the Rockies in less than two minutes. Were there books taken out of the library on survival techniques in the wilderness? Did the family take shooting lessons? Was there any talk on food, such as how are we going to grow a garden or bake bread or fish or hunt? If there was, we weren't allowed to see it. We are supposed to believe that this family knew all this, that they had a thriving garden in the city, that the woman could bake bread without so much as a wooden spoon, and that the father had been shooting at the neighbor's cat regularly. The only reason the mother and father had had kids is for the cute factor alone, though it fails miserably at the feigned feel of it all. The little boy sounds like he's reading lines but can't read yet, and the daughter seems drugged into a dazed happiness about everything. Their dog Crust (is that honestly his name?? Crust???) must have attacked wild animals at home as well, seeing as he attacks EVERYTHING in this film; it's surprising he doesn't mutilate flowers if they move too much in the wind, becoming a threat to the family. Here are some things that make me refuse to have suspension of belief: ~The father fly-fishes. He is NOT going to feed a family of 4 on fly fishing. That's called sport, not necessity. ~The dog survives brutal attacks of wolves, bears, and MOUNTAIN LIONS. Something is wrong when a domestic dog from the city makes it out alive in those circumstances with barely a scratch. ~How much does a contruction worker make? Enough to ensure a plane to bring supplies every so often? How about when he has no more job and makes no more money? ~A 10 to 13 year old girl would never outrun a bear. ~Just from my own opinion, I would have lost all faith in myself, my family, and my dog to be able to survive in this place with the attitude and lack of planning that this family accomplished.Reviews of the plot aside, I'm thinking of starting a drinking game. It's called "Take a shot everytime you see the boom mike."