The Adventures of the Wilderness Family

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.

This movie was on repeat when I was a kid and shaped my dreams heavily. It was pure magic back then.

I just watched it for the first time as an adult (Who has spent a lot of energy on wilderness skills and lives in the woods) with my kids and... the magic definitely seems to be relegated to my childhood. Sadly, I spent the entire time poking holes in the plot.

That said, If anyone knows where exactly the lake where it filmed was, I would love to know. It would be a childhood dream to be able to make it out there. I saw somewhere that it's in Gunnison National Forest in CO but that's the most detail I've been able to get.

An urban family looking for getaway from the hassles and tiring of city life and rush-hour traffic , furthermore an ill daughter , for these reasons they turn into pioneers on the rugged Rocky mountains . The film depicts an agreeable family , formed by a father (Robert F Logan) , mother (Susan Damante Shaw) and sons (Holmes , Larsen) who leave civilization for the freedom of the Rocky wild . But they soon encounter troubles in paradise and that the wilderness may be more harsh than grumpy bosses and the difficulties of the city . As they must escape some violent animals and learn to survive .

This is an enjoyable film filled with adventures , familiar feeling , beautiful songs , wildlife and breathtaking landscapes with majestic scenarios . The movie is plenty of animals such as bears , moose or elk , mountain goats , deers , raccoon , wolves , some of them are uncultivated and other tamed as a dog that defends and saves them in several occasions . Sensible score with wonderful songs fitting to environment . Spectacular outdoors and acceptable photography , though being necessary an urgent remastering because the film-copy is worn-out .

This movie seems to be the first of a series , these are the following : ¨Further adventures Robinson family (1977)¨ by Frank Zuñiga from the producers of the first part and turns out to be a predictable retread ; ¨Mountain of Robinson family (1979)¨ in which the family is determined to return to wilderness and moves to the Rockies . In similar style and also offering a pleasant scenery are : ¨Sea gypsies ( 1978)¨ in that a sailing crew is shipwrecked off the Aleutian Islands and ¨Across the great divide (1976)¨ in which two orphans must cross the dangerous snow-covered Rocky mountain in order to claim their inheritance , being based on facts happened in 1876 . All films are mostly starred by Robert F. Logan , Susan Damante Shaw and usual appearance as secondary actor the likable George Buck Flowers and being produced by Joseph Raffill ( father of Stewart Raffill who habitually results to be the filmmaker of the series) and also financed by producer Arthur Dobbs . This family-oriented tale about modern-day pioneers who head for life in nature will appeal to wilderness buffs .

So many bad reviews! Why? I loved this as a kid-OK so maybe now it's not my favorite but being that this movie stayed with me as a kid and helped fuel my interest in movies I'd say there was plenty of good to this.

What I liked best about it was the adventure. In these times, a movie like this would never be made at all, or at least not without computer generated monsters chasing the family and lots of car chases. The best thing about this movie is it's earthiness and tranquility. The feeling of being in the middle of nowhere-I can appreciate all types of environments but there is something so beautiful about being in the country when it's perfectly still with just yourself and the environment. In this movie that feeling is created beautifully, it touches the nature and quiet, country feeling. The scenery and country feeling created is beautiful.

It is also not boring at all as this family struggles to make it out in the middle of nowhere.Lots of wildlife and lots of Action packed adventure.Lots of adversities to overcome. And as mentioned, the cinematography is great-you'll feel like your out there in the wilderness too!

I'm not saying this is the best movie in the world-but for those who can appreciate a story revolving around a family and their struggles out in the wilderness it's great. I was enamored as a kid. I wanted to be out there with them! I think this is a good movie and would give it at least an 8. Of coarse it wont appeal to everyone but shouldn't be forgotten either.

The kids will enjoy this enough, but parents beware! This will be a difficult two hours. The cinematography is passable, it's just the dialog and the acting that make this movie tough to tolerate. The family -- the father, really -- grows tired of the big city, so he decides to lug his family into some beyond-isolated mountain valley. How the actual decision to leave is made is just annoyingly laughable.

The credits base the story on actual events, but given the range of things they throw at you, you wonder just how much artistic license the film takes. How many times can you be attacked by a bear and not figure out something is wrong? If you are watching the movie via VCR, DVR or DVD, slow-mo on the window during the bear-attacks-the-cabin scene and you'll see a man in a really bad bear costume.

The film meanders from plot twist to plot twist without any real direction and by the time you've made it through the fourth or the fifth twist, you begin to hope it ends soon. But it doesn't.

I remember seeing this movie on TV when I was a kid, and I am sorry I saw it again. You just don't watch a movie with a critical eye when you're 7. Unfortunately it didn't live up to the memories.