Never Cry Wolf
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Movie Reviews of Never Cry Wolf
Movie Review: Never Cry Wolf
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the best Disney films ever -- funny and serious at the same time.Movie Review: What happens when you learn the REAL story of the wild?
Summary: 4 Stars
The film Never Cry Wolf is interesting for its portrayal of the Wilderness North and the animals which inhabit it. The portions which show the various activities of the Arctic Wolves in particular I found to be fascinating. But this film was about more than that. Perhaps I should start at the beginning.
At the film's outset, we see a somewhat young, somewhat ideal scientist about to undertake a trip into the wilds of the far north in Alaska, to investigate the disappearance of the wild Caribou herds which used to be so numerous in the region and were now dying out. The U.S. government had sent him to investigate whether or not the Arctic Wolves were responsible for the decline. If so, they would kill the wolves to save the herds.
I would say that the film begins somewhat comically by showing us just how ill-prepared our intrepid protagonist is. He brings cases or beer, numerous scientific instruments, as well as piles of government forms, but quickly finds himself running out of food. Perhaps his unpreparedness physically is a metaphor for how unprepared he is mentally. Really, initially he is just as clueless about what is really going on as the people who sent him. He imagines that the issue is a simple one. Either the Caribou are being eaten by the wolves, or they aren't. Either the wolves are the bad guys, or innocent victims. What he finds out by the film's end surprises him.
I think you could say that the scientist and the various kinds of people he comes across throughout the movie represent various groups and ideologies found in the world around us. The group he represents at the outset (the U.S. government and the people it employs) are most concerned about conservation of natural resources so that they can be exploited in some way later; at least that's the impression I got. The man who takes him out to the wilderness probably represents the average man; more interested in survival and their own prosperity than anything else. The native people are interesting for several reasons. First of all, they are completely foreign to the scientist when he first meets them; an entirely different culture. But as he gets to know them, and they repeatedly help him, he gets to be friends with them and comes to admire their way of life. Theirs is a way of life that endeavors to understand nature and coexist with it rather than exploit it. Naturally, not all natives want things to stay the same way forever, and a native of the new generation has no qualms about killing all the wolves he can to make a few dollars.
In the end the scientist discovers that the caribou decline was the result of disease, not the wolves. In fact, the only thing keeping the herds healthy is the wolves (who thin out the weak and sickly from the herd). Are the wolves the bad guys, evil monsters bent on destroying something precious? Hardly. In the end, human beings seem to be more of a villain than anything in nature. Perhaps the real irony of the story though, is that the scientist came to care about the wolves and their environment more than anything else, taking the view of the old natives. He no longer cared about the issues that people were worried about. He became borderline obsessive about protecting the thing he was supposed to investigate. Interesting how learned the facts about what's really going on in nature can change a person's perspective.
The real lesson I got out of this film was to never make assumptions when it comes to the cause of a problem, and especially in nature. In other words, never cry wolf. Anyone with a strong interest in environmental science and wolves in particular will probably want to give this one a watch.
Movie Review: What happens when meat eaters switch to sugar
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm tired of films in which everything is spelled out. Some great twist is revealed right on cue at the very end, and we're all supposed to reel in shocking surprise. The relationships in Never Cry Wolf are communicated with near silence. The audience sees the bonds strengthen rather than simply be told it. This is a quiet film with as many twists and turns as a typical thriller, and it pays off.
Tyler has been sent to the northern reaches of Canada to investigate the endangerment of the caribou. It has already been concluded that it came about from excessive hunting from the wolves of the region, but since no one has ever actually witnessed a wolf kill a caribou, Tyler has to provide proof.
He accepted the job to find that part of himself that civilization forgot, but as he approaches his destination, the plane practically coming to pieces, he realizes what a mistake it was. Why would they send HIM? He knew he'd be lucky to last a day in the wilderness, let alone the six months for the research. It was probably some beaurocratic mix up, but it's too late to turn back.
He forms an uneasy bond with the wolves he finds. There is a great scene in which Tyler settles a territorial dispute with the wolf on the wolf's own terms, if you catch my drift. Understand that tere is nothing inherently funny about a man peeing on all of his belongings. It's the fact that he does so with good reason and without hesitation.
But there's something deeper going on beneath the surface. This film, in the tradition of Jack London, grapples with the idea of survivalism versus comfort. We see how out of touch the civilized world is from the natural world in a scene where some people discuss selling bottled water from the wilderness, exploiting people's fascination with nature. It seems naive, but we've been fascinated the whole film.
It does not shy from the darker side of the food chain. By the end we realize that survival and morality do not tend to go hand in hand. Tyler's peaceful observance of the wolves is not the natural order of things, as we are led to believe.
This film is quiet, inflective, and visually stunning, a superb piece of intelligent filmmaking. It will move to thought, emotion, and reexamination of your core values.
Movie Review: i love snow and oboe
Summary: 4 Stars
Things I loved about this movie: THE ARTIC landscapes as the movie began took me back to similar views in Alaska. The offbeat attempts at humor worked for me and my wife. We laughed aloud at several points and smiled at others. The cinematography was well done...like the scene of the ancient Eskimo woman in the firelight, the running of the "wolves" on the lake when he first arrives, the blowing of the papers in the wind, the view from the train window with the melting snow on the glass. I think it is a visually stunning film at times, especially if you like the great white north. The footage of wolves is well done. The bit with the oboe playing with the wolves howling is, in my opinion, hauntingly beautiful. The acting seems authentic by all and Charles Martin Smith will be endeared for this film...way to go chuck...and the only downside:I always kinda cringe at seeing the main actor's butt...like, whooooh...didn't see that coming...daggone, cover that thing up...but i see the visceral point the director is trying to make on the caribou hunt....and who hasn't at some time stood naked in the snow warming their wet bum by the fire? Right? Ok, then wanted to, right? come on...anyway...If not for that I would have given this 5 stars. I even read the book after seeing this....interesting & funny book...worth the time.Movie Review: Look out, Mickey, they're coming for you!
Summary: 4 Stars
About a young scientist (played by Charles Martin Smith) who goes to the Arctic to study wolves, their survival, and their effect on the caribou herds (he proves they are not killing the caribou, as it had been assumed). He is a fledgling in the wilds, but learns to become as resourceful as the wolves. He notices the wolves eating mice, and begins to do the same himself - a supreme irony in this Disney film. The first half is excellent, compelling and beautiful to watch; but the second half is marred by an incessant pounding away on a man-as-encroacher bad guy message and a confusing man-as-wolf Indian mysticism presentation. It's wonderfully photographed, though, and the soundtrack is stunning.