frostedpinkcupcake Review of Alaska

Alaska (1996)

A Wonderful Family Film That the Whole Family Can Enjoy (SPOILERS)

[4 April 2004]

This is a wonderful family movie for everyone to enjoy. But I guess I'm kinda biased because I love almost everything Thora Birch is in, and if not I love every single scene of the movie that's terrible she's in. I had seen Thora Birch playing Harrison Ford's daughter in "Patriot Games" and enjoyed her work, so I wanted to check her out in this movie and was rather impressed."Alaska" was a great movie I took my cousins to see.I thought Alaska was awesome! Much better than all that mindless wholesome movies starring actresses like Hilary Duff and the Olsen twins anyway. I do believe people under the age of 40 would like it better than others because I was one of the youngest ones in the theater when I watched it. Now that's really saying something. But besides that, it's a really good movie and I may be wrong and everyone may enjoy it! Take the whole family to see it! It's a really great movie! When this film was released I knew it would get criticism, either by the premise of stealing money, or by it's similarities between Gold Diggers:The Secret of Bear Mountain. I do not agree that it is like Gold Diggers, "Alaska" is a lot better. It even made me tear up a bit as Jessie and the bear cub's friendship was shown.The movie is about Jessica (Thora Birch-Monkey Trouble, Now and Then) and Sean Barnes (Vincent Kartheiser) who are two kids living in Alaska with their dad Jake (Dirk Benidict) who flies supplies to small towns in the wilderness. On one of his flights, Jake encounters bad weather and his plane ends up crashing into a mountain side. Frustrated by unsuccessful rescue attempts, Jessie and Sean set out on their own to find their dad whose wrecked plane hangs from the edge of a mountain peak. Along the way the kids encounter Collin Perry (Charlton Heston) and Mr. Koontz (Buck Fraiser), two poachers who've just killed a mother polar bear and taken its cub to sell overseas. The kids free the bear, which they nickname `Cubby," and it follows them for the rest of their journey. Of course the poachers want their bear cub back so they follow the kids hoping to get Cubby. From then on, the kids must deal with the poachers, as well as the dangerous Alaskan landscape, as they make their way to rescue their dad. This movie had some really neat climbing sequences, good action, spectacular scenery but it lacked a few laughs. Fraser Clarke Heston manages the climbing scenes well, and the film has some pretty odd moments.Thora Birch is great and gorgeous, she gives a good performance, and her dad and brother are also good.The poachers are a bit one dimensional, but it doesn't really matter to the kids, which is the audience most likely to be attracted to this movie. When seeing this with your kids and that it's just a movie. Don't let them take it too seriously, but hey, they're kids. With so many children's movies about kid's bank heists and a whole lot of action, wholesome family movies starring teen queens traveling to some foreign place, this movie is, not to sound cliche, a complete breath of fresh air, educational, good acting. 7/10.