Orky : Le Petit Dragon du lac

On vacation at a beautiful lake in British Columbia, Ashley (Sarah Wayne) and Joshua (Joshua Jackson), the children of workaholic radio host Jack Black (Mark Harmon), learn about its mythical inhabitant, a sea monster named Orky. Soon, the kids learn that Orky is not only real, he's attempting to communicate with humans to warn them that an evil corporation is illegally dumping pollutants into his home. They try to save Orky with the help of an elderly Native American (Frank Sotonoma Salsedo).

Very beautiful and passionate, how not to love Orky's cute face, cute, the script is all cute, the children are adorable (I'm suspicious, I love movies with brats), the dose of humor, that meeting of anonymous crazy adults children, cute, all very magical and charming, with that cute moral lesson about nature preservation, respect for culture and appreciation of traditions...

What a great movie!

Saw this on HBO recently (11-15-2001) for the second time and it was wonderful. While not quite as good as "The Boy Who Could Fly", which is in a special class all it's own, I rank this movie right up there.

Sarah Wayne as Ashley Black especially stole our hearts. It is a shame that this is the only movie she has ever done according to IMDB's records. This little girl holds quite a bit of the movie on her own merit. Her smile captivated our entire family; her acting was excellent.

This is a decent, well centered story concerning a family at loss and their rediscovery of themselves in the community they are visiting to "get away". Through the magical help of a rather large friend, the local resident Indian shaman and local lore, miracles can happen.

A reflective, spirited movie ultimately about love and caring about others that lifts the heart and spirit of anybody who watches.

Well worth anybodies time. Two thumbs way up!

I enjoyed this movie, and still give it an 8, even though I wish one important aspect of the story had not been omitted: That of the clean-up of the hazardous waste. Without this facet addressed, Orky's survival is dubious. It is not a deal-breaker for me, but I am wondering why this important scene or dialogue was ignored.

I particularly liked the Native American mythology that was in the movie. The comments by Uncle Kipper about man being able to turn to animal and vice-versa established some important context to Orky and the communication and message it compelled some humans to take heed of.

We never did find out why Orky ripped the arms off of the two "gentlemen". Oh well. Perhaps the Japanese submergible team could have played a larger part in the movie, too.

Mark Harmon did a good job characterizing the transformation that he experienced. The ending was an excellent twist, and one that I did not forecast. The scenes of group therapy were good.

Although I wish we had witnessed the waste clean up, I will not detract a star for that.

One evening in 1995 I was bowling with some friends. The DJ announced that there was a red head-pin being shifted around to all of the lanes.

When the red head-pin comes to your lane and you bowl a strike, then you win something. As luck would have it, the red head-pin came my way and I bowled the perfect strike.

The prize was two movie tickets for a sneak showing of Magic in TheWater. I was in for such a treat and didn't even know it yet. The movie itself was great, it really brings out the kid in all of us. It's just good clean fun for the whole family.

Then there was an unexpected twist. Just as the end credits started rolling, two figures emerged on the stage just in front of the screen. Rick Stevenson and Sarah Wayne introduced themselves to everyone and hung out for a while afterward at the theater. That was really fun, My Mom got to talking to Sarah's mom and Sarah and I got to talking. It was really a fun experience and one that I'll never forget. By the way Sarah, thanks for the Oreos!

Rick Stevenson was great too, he did a good job of putting together a movie on a less than Steven Spielberg-sized budget. He also seemed to really enjoy making movies. I still to this day own an autographed movie poster (Autographed by Rick & Sarah). Thanks to both of you for the opportunity and for a really great memory. I give this one 11 on a scale of 1-10.

I seldom worry too much about wasting three dollars, but I will always regret the time and the three dollars I wasted seeing this in a theater years ago.

The actors must have had some major bills to pay to accept their roles in this junk. The story is as hackneyed and cliched as any I have seen anywhere. Children definitely deserve better than this. Even THE MIGHTY KONG was better than this!