Out of the Wilderness

The story-line of this movie was a bit erratic to begin with, but as I watched more and more of the movie, I found myself watching only to see how much worse it could get. The acting is off, and perhaps the only scene that oozed a slight bit of acting was when the father falls down, off of his little snow-mobile; then having the raven bring everyone back to find him. The whole entire movie struck me as ridiculous, with the Raven being the only character I liked. Sure, I felt bad for the little girl and all, but the acting of everyone was barely there. In one scene, there's a man talking about the mannerisms of Ravens to a judge, so the raven isn't destroyed. He proceeds to break into various bird-calls awkwardly, which really turned me off. 1/10... next time I see it, I'll remember to laugh at how unrealistic it is. Even if it's geared towards small children (which it seems to be), it's still awful.

Melissa is a young girl who lives with her parents in Alaska. Her father is starting a business of guided tours and money is tight. One day when Melissa is helping her father cut down a tree, the tree lands on top of her! Not only that, but an orphan raven bird lands on the ground, too. Melissa is injured to the point where she can not move her legs. Her only joy is the bird she calls Blackfeather, the smart little raven that she trains. When Melissa goes to the hospital in Anchorage for more tests, her father is supposed to look after the bird. But, he becomes angry at the raven and takes it to the wildlife service. Will Melissa ever see her bird again? This movie is enjoyable ONLY for the lovable crow and the sweet young girl who loves him. The bird is very talented and a joy to watch as he performs one amazing feat after another. The adults in the film, however, are very flawed and do stupid and dangerous things. Sometimes, they do mean things as well. Therefore, if any family member sees the engaging cover at the video store or library and has a yearning to see the film, just be forewarned that you will need to hold a discussion after the view. Although the action is not reprehensible, there are some disturbing things to talk about, even while everyone will agree that the "the bird is the word" when it comes to this animal flick.

This film was absolutely WONDERFUL to watch. I am in my 30's and I have 2 teenage boys who watched the film and we loved it! Maybe some people do not enjoy a decent family film that any age can watch (like the previous poster). But, this film is not only a great family film, at the end it has a great moral of life, love, happiness, and forgiveness.

So buy "Out Of The Wilderness" for your family--I hope to find one and buy it for my library (since I rented the one I watch). I am also going to send the information to my sister for her children (they range from 5-9 yrs old). She (like I am) are very picky of what our children watch--this is a perfect film for all ages.