User reviews

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.

This was a movie I had watched many times at my uncle's house during Easter or Thanksgiving family gatherings over the years...decades ago. So when I had seen that it was on demand for free on my TV today, I thought-"Why not?" As much as I like the movie, certain things just really bothered me about certain aspects of it. Even back then to this day. Kevin Bacon swears on his methods, yet is pretty reckless as a supposed mentor of the kids he takes on this trip. He teaches "Survival",yet punishes a great survival tactic (because he felt upstaged). Yes I understand the arguments of "teaching his way" and "listen to authority"...even his "don't destroy the wilderness" philosophy. For him to endanger the lives of these kids whose parents have trusted him just from a single slide-show of what they'll be going through is just irresponsible of them, and I don't know one single parent who would agree to such a thing.....but then we wouldn't have this movie now, would we? After many years of not seeing this,and seeing it one more time I have to say I still like it though. Definitely a good 80's flick to catch if you get a chance.

I enjoyed this movie. I couldn't say it's a particularly great movie, but there's nothing really bad about it either. It's a perfectly acceptable way to while away 90 odd minutes. You won't be bored.

The two big names in the cast are Kevin Bacon and Sean Astin - both before they hit the big time and, in Sean's case, before he left his teens. watching Sean's character here, you'll wonder how he ever made it to Mordor!

The movie is hard to categorize. It's not really a family movie, although teens will enjoy it. It's not really aimed at adults either, though I suspect many will find it acceptable. The movie makers also seem to have a bit of problem in deciding what they're going for here. They can't seem to decide if Kevin Bacon's character is a tough mentor, an eccentric frontiersman or a raving psychopath. They also have Astin doing narration straight to camera, breaking the 4th wall. Were they going for a Ferris Bueller meets Deliverance feel?? I'm not sure and I don't think they were either.

The locations are good and the action sequences are fine. Acting is up to scratch but the soundtrack is seriously dated. As I said, this is nothing special but it's also nothing bad.

All in all, this movie is just an acceptable way to spend an evening if you can't be bothered looking for something better.

'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 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!!!

I just saw this movie on cable and I had never heard of it. I love Sean Astin and don't see him in enough movies these days. I actually wanted to know if Kevin Bacon was going to freak out and kill Sean's character, he was a little whiny wimp at first. The only thing that I didn't like was the little interjections that Sean's character kept making to explain was was going on.

Kevin Bacon is a "crystals and angels" spiritualist who leads a pack of teenage boys into the mountains, and then pulls some really weird stuff in an attempt to teach them to be men.

Sean Astin is quite young here, and demonstrates his incredible acting talents, even then. In fact, all the performances are exemplary, and the story is interesting. The photography is absolutely beautiful, and even the score is wonderful. The rock songs don't seem to quite belong, but in the 1980's, that didn't seem to matter much to anyone.

This used to serve as a motivational movie for me, but lately, I find I get more motivation from Monster Squad. For one, you do have to suspend your belief for prolonged periods, knowing all along that things would not have worked out as they did.

All in all, it's a good Sunday afternoon movie, but not much more than that unless you're a film student.

It rates a 5.8/10 from...

the Fiend :.

Alan (Sean Astin) is a city boy from NYC. His parents send him off to camping and wilderness survival with Vic (Kevin Bacon). Alan has reservations but is too scared to object. They are joined by three other boys. Alan is not a happy camper clashing with the strictness of Vic. The reward is a mountain climb.

Alan is whiny which keeps me from fully liking this movie in general. Vic is the kind who throws a baby into deep water. Neither is worth the rooting interest. There is a way to play both of these characters to create some sympathy for them. This fails to find the sweet spot and the emotional conflict comes off clunky.

Shot in 1985, White Water Summer has some of the most beautiful nature scenery shot in that era. Thanks to the brilliant camera work by Stanley Kubrick cinematographer John Alcott.

Kevin Bacon plays Vick, a man who takes four teens into the rugged Sierras for a whitewater adventure to make men out of them. After the boys get on his nerves, he lets his job go to his head. It is, at times, a poignant young-men-against-nature film. And at other times it seems to appeal to only one crowd: boys in their early teens.

After relizing that his film was under 80 min., director Jeff Bleckner called the whole cast and crew back to shoot more scenes.

Really captures the late-80s with its rock soundtrack (including music from Bruce Hornsby and The Range, The Cult, and The Cutting Crew) and never stops the thrills. Although it never seems to be going in any one direction, White Water Summer keeps your attention.

Kevin Bacon delivers such a good performance, as an at-first likeable councellor turned strict and harsh.

When one of the boys rebel against Vick and cause him to become seriously injured, they need to act as a team and come up with a plan. You mostly follow Alan (Astin) a smart young man who doesn't fit in with the others. He learns friendship, fear, adventure, and survival tecniques. Although in some spots it may seem like a silly teen adventure film, it is more about rites of passage and growing up.

This is a response to the reviewers questioning Vick's motives.

As a city boy who loves the outdoors, I totally understood where Kevin Bacon's character was coming from, though, he was clearly a nut-job for the most part.

In my experience, city boys (i.e. Sean Astin's character) cannot find value in the wilderness for the life of them, and obtaining a cellphone signal is their top priority at all times. This movie is about taking a break from our technology-infused world and getting back to the basics. The wilderness is a wonderful, rugged place that can really broaden anyone's perspective on life. It's about facing fears head-on and living to tell about it -- those are the experiences that you remember in life.

I wish everyone would share these sentiments, as Vick probably does in this movie. But Vick's major fault is failing to realize that people cannot be forced to enjoy something that's unfamiliar and frightening to them. He feels he can get through to them but uses some extreme means and acts like a huge ass in the process.

I must first note that for some reason I've had this movie confused with another, and that's The River Wild, and besides the similar subject matter, did my mind actually mix these two up though released years apart, even in different decades?

But then upon a smidge of research I realized what caused the overall confusion.

Kevin Bacon's in both!

Of course he is.

Why not?

He's Kevin Bacon!

And by this time he'd already been in Animal House, Friday the 13th and Footloose.

He was a huge star.

And then Sean Astin too.

Just as big from Goonies in this era.

This is a good movie.

Even now in 2024.

Especially now.

They don't make movies like this anymore and put them in theaters.

Parents entrusting some dude (how old is Bacon supposed to be here, twenty?) to take care of their child and other children in his charge solo, as they hike the wilderness and mountainous terrain on the other side of the country?

I have questions now.

I would've had questions in 1987 and I'm about the same age as Astin.

What are his qualifications?

Did he pass a background check or are we just taking his word?

One adult with a bunch of youth in the wild sounds risky and dangerous on so many levels.

And the kids do get into some predicaments.

And there's so many scenes where a kid could go missing or get hurt or killed.

I know it was the 80's but even then, come on.

But it makes for entertainment and it passes the time well enough.

Also, there's a scene where a kid packed an item and Bacon's instructor loses it over the item.

If such a professional then wouldn't he have had like a no-no list prior to departure, like you can't bring the following?

Another thing-the narration by Astin's character. Soooo Eighties, I get it, but it's annoying here.

There's a song by The Cult, which is awesome.

Overall, this is a better ride down the rapids than other films.

This mess is drivel from start to finish. The movie makers couldn't seem to decide whether they wanted a drama, documentary, music video, comedy, travel adventure, nature hike or anything else. As a result they failed miserably on all counts.

The cast of young actors did the best they could with what they had to work with, but unfortunately they didn't have much at all. And what's with the idiotic narration from one of them when he's obviously a year or two older than when the rest of the film was shot? Was that another attempt at being artistic?

I'll agree the premise was decent; a nature buff takes a bunch of city kids on the vacation of a lifetime. But the result is nothing but a waste of time and nature. Thumbs way down.

I used to love White Water Summer, but these days, when I pop the old copy into the VCR, I just can't seem to get through the whole thing without getting annoyed.

White Water Summer is about Alan's summer camp experience in the mountains with four other boys and Vic (Kevin Bacon), their psychotic New Age camp counselor who's wacky methods are supposed to teach the boys about real living. The story is told in flashback format, narrated by a much older Astin (who plays Alan, young and old) revisiting the those couple of days or weeks in the mountains. I suspect they took a break in filming, probably as Astin and others worked on other projects, knowing that pre-peubescent Astin would grow quickly and fill the shoes of the movie's older, wiser teen.

Alan is recruited by some nut named Vic, a guy who actually hikes to his family's home in the city. Alan, the little whiner that he is, doesn't really want to spend the summer with a bunch of boys, but reluctantly agrees, pretending to share his father's enthusiasm in the whole idea. On the trip with Alan is Mitch (Jonathan Ward), probably Alan's only friend along the way, and two smart ass jerks, Chris (Matt Adler) and George (K.C. Martel). They each have their various learning experiences hiking in and around the mountains. But, things get out of hand along the way when Vic pulls some nasty business on his recruits, and Alan starts to suspect Vic is way out of line. Unfortunately, he's got to grow up and start taking care of things himself, because he's the only one willing to stand up to Vic.

This movie has a lot of good things going for it. The photography is really beautiful, filmed mostly in New Zealand locations. The music is pretty good too, with ample sounds from the Cult, Bruce Hornsby, and the Cutting Crew (whad'ya know, they did have more songs thatn I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight).

The big draw maybe the cast, with the obvious audience appeals of Astin, Bacon, and possibly Matt Adler. Unfortunately, it is one of the few things you'll be able to see both Jonathan Ward or K.C. Martel in. Ward was on the later seasons of Charels and Charge, appeared in Mac & Me (an E.T. ripoff), but never really did much. Martel, who was George in E.T., goes on to appear in a few things, mostly later episodes of Growing Pains in which he plays Mike Seaver's friend, Eddie. It's worth a try. It can always suffice as a lazy day kind of movie.

This movie had some entertaining moments in it and it gets points for doing something different with the whole summer camp routine. Granted, this is not really a camp movie per se. The movie has a guy for some reason trying to talk these two parents into letting their son join him in his special trek through the wilderness. There is hiking, white water rafting, they will be camping out in tents, and to top it all off at the end of it all they get to do a bit of mountain climbing. Sounds fun enough, except the boy would rather go to a computer camp or something to that effect. Why the guy wants this kid who obviously does not want to endure what this trip offers so badly is beyond me, and quite frankly thanks to his convincing I am willing to bet the leader of this gang had his worst summer ever. Well I guarantee it was his worst trip ever and I feel a bit for this guy played very well by Kevin Bacon. Also, Sean Astin plays the boy who does not really want to go on this trip all that much well too. In the end rather okay movie to some extent as we watch how Astin's character and Bacon's character have their differences and also you get to see the boy try to get along with other guys during this trip. You have some humor in the movie as well as Astin has scenes where he kind of goes over certain parts of the trip as the movie is sort of a flashback. The ending is a bit over the top, but this movie never gets as extreme as that one summer camp movie where the kids take over the camp.

White Water summer is one of the two Kevin Bacon movies featuring white rapids. This one is the more jovial one as he plays a camp coach to a bunch of youngsters. The usual follies follow. The direction is good, and some outdoor scenes of the wilderness are quite good. Still, this is one of those easily forgotten movies that Kevin Bacon made to probably earn a paycheck. Good one-time watch.

A good portion of this movie was filmed in Northern California. You can drive up the Feather River Canyon on HWY 70 in beautiful Plumas County. In the beginning of the movie there is an aerial shot of Bacon and the boys driving the VW van up the canyon with the Feather River snaking along side them. The film crew set up shop in Quincy, California where I was raised. They filmed in different parts of Plumas County including an old general store that is located in Cromberg, CA...since out of business long ago but the building is still there. Another shot was at Silver lake also in Plumas County. It was a good summer back in 1987 as a high school kid in the small town of Quincy (pop. 5,000) the filming of this movie that summer was really cool. The picture of the young boy holding the rainbow trout in Vic's portfolio is a local boy from Quincy, CA. Although it has been 19 years since the filming it brings back memories of that summer and it is neat to see movie buffs still discussing the movie online.

I am still trying to figure out how the canoe magically transported itself across the shaky bridge to the mountain lake. The scenery in the movie is outstanding but the progression of the changing geography and scenes makes less sense than the story line. I give the movie a 2 for the scenery.

And now I am required to write an addition 5 lines that no one will read. Let's see. the river rescue scene at the end. At first Alan and Kevin Bacon's character start out on a huge river which narrows down to a much smaller white water river. Nowhere in the world does this happen Somehow Alan by himself gets Kevin with a broken leg down off the mountain and loads him in the canoe for the final white water scenes. There are numerous dumb inconsistencies in the story line just like that. Maybe the way to watch this is every time the movie flubs is take a straight shot. Then by the end you will not notice or care about all the lame mistakes.

I caught this movie on an indy movie channel on TV, and it grabbed my attention. It is obvious that the movie is what can be called an "80's movie" because of the haircuts and slang dialogue. We know Sean Austin in the new millennium as Sam in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I was impressed that Sean pulls off "White Water Summer" at the tender age of 15 - not bad! OK, I MUST allude to the symbology or underlying intentions of the flick. There is quite a homosexual tone to the photography, as REALLY short shorts are common attire, and hugging/closeness between the four boys and Vic is interesting. Swinging in and out of each other's arms, the way to see it clearly is to watch the film anticipating the cloak of sexuality. But that's fine - it doesn't affect the OTHER, more important intent. Vic challenges the boys to survive. And they pass without knowing the lesson to be learned from passing. It is frustrating to watch Vic go so far as to let a boy die or let him save himself... and them STILL not getting that them saving themselves was the real reason behind Vic leaving the boy behind. I recommend this movie as a quintessential R-rated tough-teen 80's movie.... maybe "Streets of Fire" and "Roadhouse" are good companions. \classicalloy

Ah, Kevin Bacon...the American Michael Caine.

Like his English counterpart, Kevin Bacon has apparently never met a movie script he didn't like. Nothing is too hammy for the Bacon! Oooh, I'm bad...sorry!

This shotgun approach to accepting scripts leads to some excellent roles (Sleepers, Apollo 13, A Few Good Men), a lot of mediocre ones (Hollow Man, Stir of Echoes, The River Wild), and a few real stinkburgers.

This porker (ouch!) is one of the worst of the lot. Mr. Bacon plays a new-age outdoor guide to help kids. Sort of like outward bound, but even more pointless. He is constantly endangering the kids in situations that would make extreme sports participants sweat and engender countless lawsuits from parents. The idea is to teach the kids a lesson. (Lesson: your parents hate you.)

The film is very expressive. Its pointlessness is expressed cleverly by the dullness of the script and the plodding pace of the direction. Waterfalls cannot save the film. A "Lord of the Flies" ending with the kids killing Vic and becoming feral wouldn't have helped either, as the kids were almost as unlikable as Vic.

No, the best way to end this film would have been...about an hour sooner. Just stop after about a half-hour and have director Jeff Bleckner come onscreen and apologize. End film. Roll credits. Having Mr. Bleckner apologize for future projects, like "The Beast" (yes, the giant squid was his baby) would have been even better.

Root canals are more entertaining than this.

The last time that I saw white water summer was in August of 2003.After that I have not seen it on cable which has upset me because I loved that movie.It is on my top 5 all time favorite movie.What got me into this movie is imagining that you were allan and the thrill you had to go through crossing that terrifying bridge by yourself and then being forced to cross it again to get the tent poles but with night approaching.The bond between the four guys to survive during the storm was also am excellent piece.But the best part in the movie for me was when allan caught the fishes but not using nature method.This made vick upset and left him on the islet alone for a night and ordered him to gut and clean the fishes. I am originally from Trinidad and I went to the states for a vacation and was hugely disappointed when I searched for the movie but to no avail.I checked major DVD outlets and flee markets.I hope that they can air the movie on cable ,because thats the only way that I can see it.

White Water Summer is a 1987 adventure drama that centers around a shy young boy who is convinced to go on a summer camping trip that he will never forget.

This is kind of a rare film that I feel like not a lot of people know about, but I've always enjoyed. It tells an interesting story about how some people aren't always as nice as they seem.

Sean Astin stars as Alan, a shy indoor kid who would rather play on his computer than go outside. But when Vic portrayed by Kevin Bacon gets Alans parents to convince him to go camping, Vic takes Alan on a trip that he won't soon forget.

It's a pretty good film with a very good cast marking one of Sean Astin's first movie roles, and Kevin Bacons (his way or no way) character is relenting and harsh as he attempts to teach Astin's character how to be outdoorsy. There's no real Oscar worthy moments or performances here, but it's still a great film that will definitely keep you entertained.

If you've never seen White Water Summer before, I would recommend checking it out.