Victoire sur la peur

Before Kevin Bacon tackled the wilderness' harsh rivers in "The River Wild (1994)', he played Vic a spiritually in touch hiking guide who takes some city boys in to the mountainous wilds to learn more about themselves and to push the best out them. But his methods come under the eyes of the boys, with his constant testing of the young, inexperienced lad Alan. But soon enough we find the tables are eventually turned around on just who relies on each other.

'White Water Summer' is a respectably bold and hearty, if unspectacular presentation that Ernest Kinoy and Manya Starr's actively mediative and theme-grown material feels unsure to what it truly wants to be, as it treads between feel-good adventure, psycho-territory and being morally hounded in finding the mental toughness to go beyond your limitations and fears. Jeff Bleckner's direction is well-measured and slickly handled, as the standouts range from the excellent white water rafting scenes and rock climbing views. The harrowing tension within these passages seem to bubble, but Bleckner also gets a great bunch of performances, especially from his young confident cast (Sean Astin, Jonathan Ward, K.C. Martel and Matt Adler) who show binding chemistry. That when a change in Bacon's character begins to show, the suspense and dangerous air kicks in the adrenaline as the boys begin to feel the circumstances change. Astin is impressive as Alan, as he goes head on with stupendously hard-pressed Kevin Bacon. His way is the right ways… don't question it. As he goes on to test them out individually and as a team to become dependant on one and each other. But does it become beyond breaking point to get these results.

What I could have done without was the flash-forward smart-mouth laced narration pockets of an older Sean Astin talking to the screen, while cutting between the central story. They somewhat lessen the impact and became off-putting. Even the soundtrack with its squealing rock tunes became a little overbearing, as it regularly pumped it out. Michael Boddicker's soothing original score does a better job in camouflaging with its surroundings and activities. John Alcott's striking cinematography naturally hovers over the beautiful backdrop getting amongst organic growth and swirling waters to isolate the viewers along with the small party.

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!!!

'White Water Summer' is one of those movies that has enormous potential, but only mines the tip of it, making an often very enjoyable movie that could've been so much better. It is likely Kevin Bacon's least known major studio picture, and, had it received a respectable release, could have been very successful. But it didn't. It opened in only a handful of theaters (after two years on the shelf), and disappeared without a trace, grossing less than a third of a million dollars.

The plot is quite simple. Vic, a twentysomething year old with a love for the wilderness (Bacon- 'Flatliners', 'The Hollow Man') leads a group of four boys (age ranging from 14-17) for a month long trek into the untamed Sierra-Nevada mountain range. As time progresses he begins to stray from the group, and not properly look after the four. The three older boys, Chris, Mitch and George, ignore it, but the youngest, Alan, (Sean Astin- 'The Goonies' and the upcoming 'Lord of The Rings' trilogy) sees right through Vic. Vic begins to target Alan, leaving him hanging on the edge of a rock face, and worse.

My only complaint, even if it is rather trivial, is the helicopter shot ending the climax. It is so contrived that it risks taking the rest of the movie down with it, I have never seen three seconds of film so misplaced.

The direction and cinematography are both excellent. The mountain backdrop through much of the film is a spectacular sight, and every location shown is photographed beautifully. The director chose not to litter the film with cheap emotions, as is the case with 99% of movies with a child actor in the lead (Radio Flyer and Simon Birch come to mind).

Much of the original score is very good, but little of the rock music featured in every other scene works. Overall the acting is remarkable. Bacon shines in his role, which, despite being top billed, is nothing more than a supporting role. The movie belongs to Astin, who makes us care for his character, and hate Bacon's.

It's too bad the film isn't more widely known, as it is very good. Easy to recommend, easy to watch, not too memorable, but still well worth the rental.

7/10

I like this movie for its soundtrack, I have been looking for this movies soundtrack forever it seems. sean astins role is a typical city boy with no real experience of the great outdoors, yes vic (bacon) does push him a little over the edge, but overall I'd give it a solid 7..

White Water Summer is one of my favorite movies from childhood. There are some parts of the movie that would not make sense in our working world, legalities, etc, but its still a great adventure movie!

The whole movie revolves around a young city boy, Who unwillingly agrees to go with "VIC" on an intense adventure camp out in the wilderness with some other boys. Being a city boy, he's usually the last one to get something done right, especially when in very dangerous and perhaps life threatening situations. He learns what he really is capable of, and is able to grow up in one summer, perhaps through a little too much harshness...

The sound track is great, unfortunately, no one made a sound track for purchasing!