Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Crappy film

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

The film "Seven Alone," demonstrates what happens when a few people in Hollywood fleece some investors to produce a film that ends up being a joke. And, that is rather sad given that the Sager saga was a real story. A real story that exemplified grit and courage in the face of horrible and tragic events in the lives of seven parentless children.A previous reviewer noted this. A really GOOD film could be made regarding the Sager saga. However, that would take a solid script, good production values, a talented cast, and a better singer than Pat Boone. All of that being said, don't count on a remake. The market for this kind of film evaporated with the death of Michael Landon. Which is even more sad in a way if you think about it.

I have no idea why it is rated so poorly. My whole family was glued to the TV. It was very emotionally moving. Yes, some of the acting may be a bit sub-par, but what an inspiring, invigorating tale. If you've got children, they will love it.And it's not Just For Children. I'm in my 40's and love films including Pulp Fiction and Fargo, but I was totally engrossed by this tale of seven children who refused to give up on their father's dreams. Near the end, I was close to tears as the story got more and more dramatic. What makes this story so compelling is that it's based on fact. It's great to have a beautiful story that doesn't rely on huge budgets, phony story lines, expensive technology, and computer graphics. This is old fashioned movie making: based on a good story! Be sure to see if you enjoy wholesome, family oriented, adventure.

Based on a true story (but with certain elements altered to enhance the tribulations and drama), this family-geared film details the ordeal of seven children who must fend for themselves on the way to Oregon when their parents die. Martin and Collings are a farming couple with six children (and another one soon on the way) who decide to head west to the Oregon territory where rich, spacious land awaits anyone who's willing to make the tumultuous trek there. Their oldest son (Petersen) is continuously in one sort of trouble or another from mischievousness to laziness to stupidity. Naturally, it falls to him to care for his siblings when his parents pass away in quick succession. He is determined to reach Oregon and build the home his father always wanted (containing the stained glass windows his mother treasured.) The kids face all varieties of danger from raging rivers to untrustworthy Indians to exposure from wind and snow. A story like this certainly has potential and it gets off to a decent enough start (mostly thanks to the more seasoned acting of Martin and Collings.) Eventually, though, the film turns trite, dull and ridiculous as these tiny kids conquer the old west while adults drop like flies around them (this is NOT how it happened in real life.) Some of the good things about the film include a relatively tense Indian skirmish, an okay musical score and authentic locations. Bad qualities include horribly amateurish acting from the children (most of whom are related in real life), a low budget, awkward direction and an occasionally absurd script. Martin, a bit more weathered than in his heyday, but still attractive, does a decent job as the dad. Oddly, he looks healthiest and most robust when he's about to konk out and die! (His death scene is really bad. It's a shame he didn't check out Shelley Winters in "The Poseidon Adventure" for pointers.) Collings gives a far more solid and assured performance than her scant resume would suggest. She gives the film its small amount of warmth and class. Ray, in a very blustery performance, runs hot and cold as the wagon train's resident doctor. Actor/Stuntman Smith pops up (preposterously) through the film as Kit Carson. The only other performer of note is the reliable character actor Griffith as the children's uncle. There's just enough of a seed of a good idea to demonstrate that this could have been a great movie, but it isn't. It's just OK. Pat Boone sings a treacly song over the credits and has discernible trouble getting to the various notes of the melody.

Take a bad script, some lousy acting and throw in a politically incorrect morality tale and what do you get? Something that is supposed to pass for quality family viewing.Seven Alone is the story of a family in the 19th century who travel across America in a wagon train, hoping for a new life in Oregon. There are seven children (three boys, three girls and a baby whose sex I'm not quite sure of) hence the title of the film.The story opens up with the family living a seemingly normal 19th century life on a farm in the middle of nowhere. Eldest son John is a precocious teenager, 'lazy and good for nothing' as his father constantly reminds him. We see right off the bat that he has a penchant for practical jokes when he ties string to the hair of his sleeping sisters and connects it to a nearby mule. When the mule is moved of course the poor girls are jolted out of bed. John is caught by his father and is immediately punished with a strap.That same day a wagon train passes through. Pa is tempted to join up as it promises a new life in the wild, wild west. So the family hitches up their belongings and head off.From the very beginning the film seems weak and amateurish. The acting is below grade, as if from one of those films shown in school about the pioneers. I can't blame the actors, however, because the lines in this film are silly and just too sickeningly sweet and optimistic. I must tell you that I caught this film while flipping channels one boring Saturday afternoon on a Christian television station. Not of a religious mind myself, I watched in horror as Seven Alone offered up moral statements that were not only outdated, but downright offensive! If I were a good Christian I would hope that I would have had the good sense to complain to the television station for airing such trash. However, because I am a cynical, non-believer with a wicked sense of humor, I chose to sit back and laugh myself silly.In one of the opening scenes, the role of the father as the stern ruler of the house is established when he proposes the idea of heading off for Oregon to his wife. Her response is a heated "Over my dead body." We are expected to laugh, I suppose, as the film cuts to the next scene with Pa and Ma smiling as he steers the wagon along through the prairies. Oh I suppose even the most staunch feminist would have to admit that this 'Father-knows-best' attitude was the norm in those days, and one could argue the need for such dictatorial rule when living conditions were difficult, but I somehow got the feeling that this film supported that notion, even for today. Lovely message coming from a Christian television station.Anyway, things get worse for the family, and the films moral integrity is further diminished. An Indian (or Native American) robs John as he lay sleeping in a field. Like a common savage, the Indian takes Johns clothes and belongings. Thankfully Pa, with the help of passerby Kit Carson, is able to kill the Indian, as well as a couple of his delinquent friends. Kit Carson tells John that his father is a true hero.The family is accompanied by the wagon train's resident doctor, Dr. Dutch (played by Aldo Ray). He shares Pa's sentiments about John, stating that he is a useless brat. Perhaps so, but he also the best thing about this film. Aldo Ray's doctor is buffoon, who seems unable to tie his own shoes, let alone treat one of the girls for a broken leg. Thankfully the young child didn't cry when the wagon ran over and snapped her leg in two, because Dr. Dutch didn't seem to have the appropriate bedside manner. We know the drawbacks of constantly belittling a child. Here's a film that promotes that behavior.Later on Pa develops food poisoning, or something, I wasn't paying much attention, and he dies. His death bed scene is the stuff great acting is made of. Frankly, the man didn't even look sick.Soon after, Ma dies too. The children are left to fend for themselves. And that's when the real adventure begins. Slugging it through the rapids, encountering more Indians (these ones are nice though) and venturing through snowy terrain, these children do it all. And I was left thinking, "What a bunch of garbage!"Sorry, but there was nothing redeeming about this film. This low-budget Little House on the Prairie is a shameful waste of time and an insult to 'families' everywhere. I'm surprised that in 1975, at the tail end of the feminist movement, and at a time when treatment of Native Americans was coming into focus, that something like this could actually be made.