Victoire sur la peur

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 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 just caught this movie on TV and I thought this movie was great. I liked how they had older Alan (Sean Astin) giving his little comments, they were great especially the egg part and the part where he says, "Over there is Attigawa. They flung him into the sky. He is enemy of the land. I think we'll take Alan's knife."

Sean Astin did really good playing a little wimp who eventually becomes the leader of them all. And Kevin Bacon did awesome too at playing a guy I couldn't stand and nearly turned the TV off because of him.

The music was just too.... I don't know. Maybe I would've liked the music better if I had been around in the eighties.

All in all, I gave it a 10/10.

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!!!

'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