just watch it!

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

This is a good concept of a film, but unfortunately the execution falls flat. Los Angeles family moves abruptly, not because of crime or overpopulation, but SMOG. (that smog will get you every time). They blindly move into an isolated section of the wilderness 25 minutes away from the nearest people. The parents apparently didn't do their homework because their house is a rundown one-room shack that makes Charles Ingalls' house look like a mansion in comparison. But wouldn't you just know, the father is a man-of-all-trades (just like Ingalls), so he's able to build a new house.The entire rest of the film is filled with lots of shouting. And YELLING. And SCREAMING. And ARGUING. And SHRIEKING. Did I mention the shouting, because there is a lot of it. You really think these people would tone it down now that they are just by themselves and would seemingly value their peace and quiet, but I suppose not. Oh, and wild animals. Lots of befriending wild animals and running from wild animals. If you like shouting or wild animals, this is the flick for you.Obviously, there's no large cast with this film. The father does lots of YELLING. The mother is acceptable, if not bland. The daughter alternates between being in a seeming euphoria and positively SHRIEKING at the top of her lungs when she is in danger. The boy is young and has vast difficulty carrying his end of the load.Despite all of this, the movie does have a few redeeming qualities. The scenery provides for some spectacular shots. The movie also does a good job of portraying animals as living things and explaining the value of befriending them or respecting their territory. The father does kill a moose, but explains to his son they had to because they needed to eat and not because the dad wanted to mount its head on the wall.

I teach 5th grade and show this movie to my kids each year. I loved it as a child and they all love it as well. It's nothing fancy (and the little girl crying tends to get old) but it's a good movie. It tells the story of a family who packs up and leaves the city to live in the mountains. They start in an old cabin and build their new home. Ther are no fancy effects. It was definitely not a high budget movie, but one to be enjoyed time and time again. My only complaint is the portrayal of the wolves. It showed them as vicious creatures attacking the little girl (even though Boomer explained what happened later). I always take the time to talk to my kids about the truth. This is definitely a movie I will watch over and over and continue to show my students. Best of all, it's a real movie with real people (not a cartoon) and there's not a cuss word to be found!

I loved this film as a child - and was brought up in the Rocky Mountains, backpacking with my Dad, and can relate to the feeling of wanting to drop everything and "head for the hills."Have seen the movie and its sequel recently, I can still say it is a movie I would love for my children to watch and love. It is wholesome, family value oriented, and in general, a great joy for kids. It makes you want to go out camping and enjoy what little wilderness we have left in the US. While I do have to agree with other posters that you simply can't "up and leave" as they do in this film (ie - no preparation re: hunting, fishing, planting, learning, etc.), you just can't fit all that into a film. And it would bore the kids to death. It is a family/children's film, after all, not an adult action flick.I highly recommend this film to anyone with children.

Ham Larson is a Genius, but this was not the blaxploitation film I thought it was. Not much action neither. The bear is also a genius though, giving a few wonderfully (if not overlooked by the Academy) charming soliloquies. A wonderful film for the whole family. I appreciated the high moral values portrayed in this entertaining film. I don't understand the trick ending, though. I thought Don Knotts was the fish. Anyone????