Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove

I bought this DVD for two reasons. First, I'm a long-time fan of the Bridges acting family. Second, I was a huge fan of Steve Irwin and I thought that the combination of Bindi Irwin and Beau Bridges would be marvelous. For me, it was. I have read the negative reviews of this movie here and, while the plot is pretty predictable (what family-oriented film plot isn't?), I thought that the chemistry between the actors was wonderful and I disagree with the cynics, especially about Bindi's performance. I found Bindi Irwin's performance to be charming and Beau Bridges didn't disappoint either. Together, they are irresistible even in an obvious plot like this one, and the music is lovely as well.

I have no small children at this time and as yet I have no grandchildren. I bought this DVD for myself, and I would do it again. This film is fun and joyous and brought tears to my eyes at the same time. It is engaging and appealing on its own, even with the reference to the "Free Willy" franchise. This film could stand on its own without that title.

Australia should consider Bindi Irwin to be a national treasure, and I found this movie to be absolutely charming.

The fact that this movie is associated with Free Willy 1,2, or 3 is disgraceful! I was excited to see another Free Willy come out but in the end it was a bust. I purchased the movie and wish I could get my money back. The only scenes that focused on Orcas and not Bindi Irwin were computer generated images of whales. Also, Bindi blindfolds "Willy" (the impostor) which I think is a form of animal cruelty. The story was way more focused on Bindi and Beau than orca whales. Also, some people are calling it Free Willy 4 and it is not a sequel, but definitely not a remake. Bring back the original cast and make an actual Free Willy 4 with real whales and passionate human beings who aren't just trying to get their 15 minutes of fame. Bindi's a cute girl and a decent actress, but we watch Free Willy to see whales. We miss you Jesse!!!

I wasn't looking forward to watching the most recent addition to the Free Willy franchise. My choice to rent the movie was a last resort decision but fortunately I do not regret my choice. While the movie was far from a master piece and wasn't nearly as good as the first Free Willy it is still very entertaining. Once I became accustomed to the cliché family film feel of the movie I was able to enjoy the story for what it was. My biggest complaint is that the movie was very different from the other previous Free Willy films to the point where it should have been called something else. This Free Willy movie is obviously made for the younger audience, the acting is overly comedic, the bad situations are always humorously harmful and the entire movie is very predictable. The movie overall just seems much more family oriented then the first film. That is not necessarily negative, I just wasn't expecting the family style to be pushed as hard as it was. In addition to that, the protagonist Kirra took a while to warm up to. I thought Bindi Irwin was simply a poor actor at first but I eventually realized that the acting flaws seemed more like they were caused by the director constantly looking for the overly fun family film style. While the acting seemed flawed, in the end I rather liked the character.

If you enjoy family films then I believe you'll find the movie entertaining, however, if you're not accustomed to family films I suggest you avoid watching the movie, especially if your looking for a movie similar to the original Free Willy.

This movie should not have been made, what is wrong with TV and movie producers these days.

More important it should not be called free Willy 4. Seriously.. its made 10 years later and has nothing to do with the original films and it takes place in like Britain or something. They couldn't have named it something else! And what is with the random penguin.. horrible movie, horrible acting. Just garbage there is a reason why this never made it to theaters. They only reason i tried watching this was because it came in a pack with the 3 original movies I think i might just throw it away.

This is a nice little film that the whole family can enjoy together. It will not deliver any surprises or stun you with Academy award performances. Just a simple story requiring a suspension of disbelief and, perhaps, an open heart.

Bindi Irwin delivers a good performance and it's too bad she didn't continue to make movies as her acting ability was strong even as a child.

The plot is standard family fare - good guys win, bad guys lose and protagonists learn valuable life lessons.

The CGI whale is pretty good by 2010 standards. The robo-whale, however, is pretty dreadful and totally unconvincing.

I agree with many reviewers that the title of the film should not have included the phrase "Free Willy". This film exists in a separate universe and has no connection to the other three films whatsoever.

It's somewhat amusing to hear from the "Free Willy" purists who hold those films in such high regard. They were not the high-concept, altruistic message films these people imagine them to be. Although the production values were higher, all those films were implausible and predictable. The addition of a environmental blurb on the end credits does not raise the integrity of the film.

To those who feel this movie disrespects Keiko all I can say that the orca was exploited from the moment he was captured at about two years of age. He lived a miserable existence in concrete prisons where he was chronically ill from a variety of infections. Warner Brothers exploited him for the movies and even his disastrous release was hyped like a circus sideshow. For all its flaws, "Escape from Pirate's Cove" didn't exploit and harm a living orca.