Never Cry Wolf
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Movie Reviews of Never Cry Wolf
Movie Review: "Keep movin, Tyler. Gotta keep movin."
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the most beautiful and sympathetic movies ever made about wolves, Alaska, and the Inuit, I could watch this movie over and over and not get tired of it. A mid-level analyst who just happens to be in the right place at the right time (he has his doubts early on)is chosen to go North to investigate the Arctic wolf and its impact on the caribou population. Along the way he encounters a host of intriguing characters, including a crazy-like-a-fox entrepreneurial bush pilot looking to make some sort of big score, a number of wacky bit players who I can easily imagine were not actors, but the real deal, and every bit as eccentric as they appeared; and an endearingly sage old Inuit of few words but many eloquent silences.
The investigator, Tyler, is not at all sure that he's up to the demands of the job, but forges ahead regardless, played with practical flair by Charles Martin Smith, a perfect choice for the lead here. I would be at a loss and panic-stricken if left alone on a frozen lake in Alaska, as his character Tyler is; Tyler takes it all in stride, trusting it will all be good in the morning, even though it is established early that for all the fact that he was chosen for this mission, he goes into it with a deep-seated terror of wolves.
After the assistance of the old Inuit man in getting centered on his path - and the abrupt disappearance of his benefactor, who has a way of coming and going that magicians would envy - Tyler finds himself deep in the bush country and immersed in the world of wolves before he realizes how completely they have taken him over. Knowledge and observance quickly negates his fear, and he is brought to a serenity of spirit and understanding of his place in the world that makes me wish I had the courage and stamina to go out and try it too.
A caveat: there is a culinary moment in this movie that might cause the squeamish some distress. Do what I did at the crucial moment; look at the ceiling, or recite to yourself, "It's only chocolate, it's only chocolate." You'll know when it gets close; they don't spring it on you; and it IS just chocolate.
Highly recommended for the whole family.(Oh one more caveat; if skinny-dipping adults offend you - briefly skinny-dipping, and not flagrantly overt - then maybe this isn't your movie.)
Movie Review: Contemplative journey
Summary: 5 Stars
For me this movie is a winner because of the uncomplicated way in which it makes its point. The awesome sweeping landscapes and the isolation of the man are haunting. There is beautiful footage of wolves. In terms of film-making it does for the wolf what Peter Mathiessen's book The Snow Leopard did for the snow leopard, i.e. it gives them an aura of mystique. But there is enough reality check to balance that, and the point about the wilderness being invaded and exploited and changed by man is very subtly made. This is an underplayed film because it doesn't need drama; the landscape is enough.
I also can't resist a rejoinder to a quote another reviewer produced as follows : {Vilhjalmur Stefanson, a famed explorer, said, "An adventure is a sign of incompetence . . . If everything is well managed, if there are no miscalculations or mistakes, then the things that happen are only the things you expected to happen, for which you are ready and with which you can therefore deal."} .....
...To which, with due respect to Mr Stefanson, I would respond that on the contrary, true adventure occurs when something unplanned and unscripted takes place, when you happen upon a road you didn't know was there and take it, when something you do NOT expect happens and you experience and and learn from it. Mr
Stefanson may have been a great explorer, but by his own definition I doubt that he had much adventure, so he perhaps is not quite qualified enough to lecture on the nature of adventure - or if he did have adventure, he didn't see it as such, which is sad. Here's a take on him from Jon Krakauer : ''Stefanson was a guy who bragged that he never had adventures. He said that if you have an adventure, you're doing something wrong, that if you really plan things out in the vein of Amundsen, you don't have adventures. (Now, having said this, Stefanson relates sort of proudly how he almost got ambushed by a polar bear. Stefanson had plenty of adventures!)''
Movie Review: A dance with the Caribou - and a GREAT film!
Summary: 5 Stars
Most everyone I know who's seen this film joyously remembers one of its scenes: a wonderful sequence in which the half-inspired, half-delirious Farley Mowat (called "Tyler" for purposes of this film) dashes back and forth with a caribou herd as they veer across the greening tundra in a remote Alaskan valley. There are few moments in film more nicely done, more mad and extraordinary and beautiful than that brief run and the simple-but-powerful percussion score playing behind it.
I'll leave to others reviewers to explain for you exactly WHY Mowat does his "Naturalists Gone Wild" take -- and it does make wonderful sense in the context of the unfolding story!
I'll share only this: be ready for one of those small, most-special, slightly startling moments that define fine cinema. As a young, single man in 1983, I chose to take the most beautiful and intelligent woman I knew to see this newly-released movie, chose this above all others, precisely because I knew that the "Caribou run" scene would move her deeply (it did, to my later joy that night). But the important part was that I was moved even more; I remembered the beauty and joy of that dash-with-the-Caribout for two decades, 'til one night I was lucky enough to see it replayed on cable and rediscovered it, just as brilliantly photographed, as magical, and as exhilarating as I'd remembered from first viewing.
SEE this movie, or, rather, indulge yourself in this film nougat -- and it will repay you with sights and emotions well beyond what this much-neglected movie's "ratings" might have led you to expect. Have fun! And, Disney, you have a brilliant-cut gem, here -- get it a new mounting, prepare new DVD's from a new print! -- hell, re-release it! What a fine film you made, and what a silly decision to look right past it for these 25 years since.
Movie Review: Never Cry Wolf-Disney Dvd
Summary: 5 Stars
This video is excellent! The cinematography is superb, combined with a story that starts slow but builds speed as it progresses. I do not have children, and I enjoyed this movie immensely. But should you nhave children, they would like it as well. Just a really great, wholesome movie that anyone from 5-100 will like. Especially those that love wilderness or specifically Alaskan type wilderness stories. Remniscent of Jack Londons books, but with a more modern storyline. With the price at Amazon, you just can't go wrong. And their service is incredibly quick. Don't even bother with ---Bay, Amazon.com is the way to go. I will now get all my movies through them! Tulpan is a great foreign film. Filmed by a Russian filmaker, set in the Tibetan Steppes, this movie is another great film. Snow Walker is a film to be seen. Set in the 1950's, another adventure set in the Alaskan wilderness. Filmed by the same filmaker as Never Cry Wolf, I believe????
Farley Mowat??? Anyway, a plane crashes and the pilot finds his true self with a native American girl he crashes with (his plane). Another modern western is Tom Berenger in "Last of the Dogmen". A little sappy perhaps, but a neat little story. Sorry to digress from the original subject, "Never Cry Wolf". Great little movie, great price. Check it out for the family or for yourself and significant other. I believe most if not all of these films are available on Amazon.com at great prices and excellent service. Don't bother with the lousy competition! Amazon is the way to go!!!!
12-24-2009 Marvin L. Sloan
Movie Review: Spoiler warning
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a lovely film. That is proven by the fact that it must be 20 years ago that I watched it, only once, and I still remember some of it quite clearly. I was reminded of it by an amazon friend's review of a mouse trap; the review included rodent cooking recipes.
Why 'spoiler'? Well, some people's appetite may be spoiled by the idea of eating mice.
Also, the idea of mouse consumption is one of the highlights and lessons of the film. So I am reducing the suspense here.
The hero, a zoologist, is dispatched to the far north of Canada to research the effect of wolves on the caribou population. He finds out that wolves actually live on mice. In order to prove the possibility that a large mammal can live on mice, he does it himself for several weeks. We watch him preparing mouse stew, mouse satay, and so on. His access to spices is naturally limited, so one can imagine a far larger range of dishes with proper shopping opportunities.
Another situation that stuck to my memory was related to translation, one of my permanent subjects of interest. We see our hero in the process of preparing his lunch, when a group of local people (what am I expected to call them?) walks by. They start investigating what the white man is doing. One of them translates. The leader of the group, something of a venerable chieftain, embarks on a long monologue. The zoologist asks: what does he say? The translator says: he says, good idea. The prototypical 'lost in translation' situation. I have experienced it so often!