“Into The Wild” Sucks, Big Time
Into The Wild is one of those movies that, after you watch it in horror you go to read the reviews for solace. But none is found. This film only reminds you how hopelessly stupid, gullible and indiscriminate your fellow humans are.
Isn’t this a great party?
I’m stupid for even watching this movie in the first place. I rent movies from one of those kiosks at the supermarket. On a weekend-night, I have 25-30 choices, usually bad ones like this. When I bring these DVDPlay dvd’s to work to finish watching in my office, my boss makes fun of me for renting DVDs from the supermarket, like a bumpkin.
Arguably, renting movies online and waiting three days to arrive by mail is the wave of the future.
So I end up with Into The Wild. Coming from Sean Penn you can expect wrong-headed hippie nonsense, and this is no exception. This movie is based on a novel, of which is based on a true story.
Most of the main facts are here.
This is the story of Chris McCandless who after graduating from Emory, ditches his excess college money (i’m sure we can all remember those days), turns down a new car and Harvard Law School admission to travel the west to the wilderness of Alaska.
The actor who plays Chris, Emile Hirsch, delivers a TV-movie worthy performance. His visceral on-screen response to nature can only be described as Richard Kline-esque.
Along his journey, Chris stops in small towns where well-known actors are performing cameos. During his stops, he quickly becomes known as “the guy who’s heading to Alaska”, and they all wish him well and ask him advice about life and nature.
When he leaves his newish friends look off into the distance with a “he’s gonna make us proud one day” look coupled with a triumphant background score.
If you’re a rube, you’ll feel warm inside during these parts.
For most of the movie, you hear voice-overs from his sister who paints him as a martyr who was fighting against the tyranny of yuppie NASA-employed parents, and the degrading cotton fields of new cars and Ivy League schools.
Yeah, we get it—the reluctant rich kid. Can we move on?
Nope, says Sean Penn, we can’t.
1,000 ethanol buses could travel Chris’ journey using the corn from the voice-overs alone.
Each one is laughably more corny than the last, and never deviate from the Chris=Jesus theme. The similes and analogies would embarrass a Hallmark greeting card writer.
Chris then drives his Datsun to the Arizona desert where he parks it and falls asleep. It’s quickly ruined by a flash flood. Before he parks the camera pans over a sign that says “Danger: Flash Floods”.
This, unintentionally, hammers home a few key points:
- Chris sure aint smart.
- Nature sure hates Chris.
Then, for some reason that isn’t explained, he burns his money that he earned working on Vince Vaughn’s wheat farm next to the ruined Datsun and heads off.
After some useless sequences of Chris in Mexico and Los Angeles, he arrives in Alaska.
Mr Wilderness hits the trail and sets up camp in the epitome of Walden’s natural self-reliance: an old broken down schoolbus.
With him is a bag of rice, a .22 rifle, sleeping bag, and some boots. That he chooses an old broken down schoolbus as a shelter is confusing for the viewer thinking they are watching someone looking to escape the trappings of the modern world. But it’s also telling. It’s also what really happened.
A few weeks later Chris dies of starvation in the schoolbus, 8 miles away from a town and 3 miles away from a major highway. Had he taken a good map he could’ve easily walked to safety.
I hated this movie.
It furthers our national delusion that high-minded ideals without substance, education or work are still valuable. Intent, not outcome is what matters, it seems to say.
For self-hating rich assholes like Sean Penn or Christopher McCandless, being rich and privileged sure is a nasty way to go through life— but you can document your kicking and screaming and sell it for money and fame, like one tried to do and one is successfully doing.
The interesting thing about self-hating rich assholes like Sean Penn or Christopher McCandless is that while they spout their idealistic bullshit— their path to enlightenment— they never try to actually help anybody.
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He didn’t die of starvation, he ate a poisonous berry. Fantastic movie.
Either way…still an idiot.
He died of starvation. He ate a poisonous berry which made him feel sick (since he hadn’t eaten anything else). The movie made it seem like it was the berry’s fault in order to mask the fact that he couldnt find any GD food out there.
God darn right
this review is a piece of shit, you obviously are just like the rest of the worthless people who idolise monetary gain.
you also have not read the book and your preconceptions of sean penn also stop you from seeing the main points. take a good look at yourself! Maybe you should try not being so judgmental before trying to analyse someone elses life seeing as how this is based on McCandless. Your review sucked. You suck.
You must also have money and are not appreciative of where you hail from
You’re an idiot. If you don’t like it, don’t visit this website. To the writer of this site, you made an excellent point: These holier-than-thou rich folks who are so bitter towards other selfish rich folks never actually do anything to help others.
nice counterpoint damo. what did i miss?
To the people defending this movie: stop.
To Sean Penn: STOP MAKING MOVIES.
To anyone who is thinking of watching this movie: don’t.
ditch this crap.
This movie review is excellent!!! I wish I had not seen this movie, I was dumb enough to see it in the theater. Talk about a self centered person, McCandless cared about no one but himself.
for you to say this is a bad movie is embarrassing
as damo said you obviously have not read the book
it is a fantastic novel and movie and doesnt deserve to be insulted by your pathetic mind. Yes maybe you shouldn’t have watched this movie the reason being you don’t understand it and your too blind-sighted to appreciate its beauty and its enwonderment
you do suck
with someone who’s email handle is “dannydahottite” (@ a “hot” place for email) I didn’t expect such an intelligent, persuasive criticism of my post.
Blind-sighted is not a figure of speech, and is redundant. Blindsided is a figure of speech, it means to be taken by surprise.
Merriam Webster will have dannydahottie to thank for this gem: enwonderment.
Danny, people like you remind me why I write this blog. I am rejuvenated.
The ReView Sucks BiG TiMe.
The Movie is Awesome. Its Damn Worth a HiT.
And,
The Reviewer is a Big Time MoTherFucker AssHole and a Big Time MoroN!!!!
Raul whats with the cap-lower-cap-lower typing? You know people have joked about that for several years now and most people have cut it out. It’s the web equivalent of the mullet, odd that you haven’t been told yet.
“Damn worth a hit” what the hell does that mean?
How did you find this review? Most people find it by googling “into the wild sucks”, are you just looking for an argument? If so come to los angeles. I was in vietnam and i’m an expert martial artist.
Everyone’s entitled to their opinion I suppose. I haven’t seen this movie but my friend suggested it to me thinking that I might find it interesting though he himself called it “a little boring”! Based on your review it doesn’t sound like a very compelling film. I probably won’t watch it.
But your opinion of it certainly is coloured by your dislike for Sean Penn (I ain’t a big fan of his either btw) and the lifestyle of those who think too radically differently from yourself. Your rebuttal comments above support the impression that you like to win arguments by making semi-witty superficial observations and unsupported attacks on people’s character… basically the “grown up” equivalent to name-calling in the school yard. You capped it off nicely with an empty claim of being a martial arts expert which is supposed to somehow be supported by the previous claim of having been in Vietnam (I guess you were trying to say you’re a dangerous person?). Scary.
Btw, a “self hating rich asshole” is more respectable than a bitter, whiny, world hating misanthropist for the simple reason that the former is at least in the vicinity of humble self-betterment while the latter merely complains that the world is not how he or she wants it to be.
The review is accurate. The movie sucks! The sister tried to make Chris sound like a hero when in reality he was a moron. I have camped out quite a bit and the one thing I learned about camping is to be prepared. McChandless made a choice not to be prepared and paid the price for it. One can hardly call him a hero. Horrible movie indeed.
Damn straight
You can blow me, because this was the greatest movie ever made.
You obviously have no idea what you are talking about. This was a very good movie, and its clear you have no taste for movies.
He didn’t die from a poisonous berry. He died from eating potato seeds that had mold on them. It was an honest mistake. Read the book, don’t watch the movie.
And stop analyzing people. You can analyze the movie all you want but making rude comments about people is just immature. And don’t you think thats a little insensitive to be saying stuff like that about someone who died?
It’s true, the movie sucked and was way overblown. I can’t believe you didn’t mention the laughable, ridiculous soundtrack provided by none other than the washed up Eddie Vedder, wailing away as Chris stood on a mountaintop in triumph. Just plain silly. But to be fair, the book was a lot better, and less pushy. The author didn’t glorify Chris as much (rightfully see, Jesus he wasn’t). The book was just a lot more informative, and therefore interesting.
Emile Hirsch makes me want to vomit.
This review is perfect. Chris McCandless was a retarded person that we’re supposed respect for being stupid enough to go and die in alaska? Yeah right. But that Moose he shot and then felt terrible about- I understand. Sometimes when I point a gun at something and pull the trigger I am surprised that it dies too. But with a .22? He could have written in that damn journal that he fought a dragon, and Sean Penn would have taken it as gospel. This movie is a stupid waste of time.
Dead on review. I read the book. I watched the movie. The book is fantastic for illustrating what a self-indulgent, self-hating trust-funder this kid was. He read books and set out on a naive journey of self-discovery that he hadn’t prepared for and then died as a result. But Leave it to Sean Penn to f up the book’s objective themes and observations by turning the story into a slanted, angst-filled romantic view of a low-rent rebel without a cause. Yawn.
great review! this movie was pretentious garbage and I couldn’t stand it. I like Walden and love the outdoors but this was tripe. Kid was an idiot and selfish as hell.
‘Moron’, ’selfish’, ‘idiot’. Excuse me!
What Chris did was admirable. He could have spent his life waking up, working in an office and then sleeping all for monetary gain. But he shunned that lifestyle, taking the opportunity to escape mundanity and runaway.
The sister does some great voiceovers: ‘So corny a 1000 ethanol buses could run of it’ ‘Chris=Jesus’. I’m sorry, but Chris is as admirable as Jesus for what he did and deserves the analogies. Not being a serf like the common folks (such as your narrow-minded self)
‘rich arseholes … spout their idealistic bullshit… never helping anyone’ – these people are inspirational. A real gem on this planet. You are envious of their money and you also dislike them because of their dislike to wealth and inequality.
You might say they are hypocrital, gaining evil money, the thing they preached against. But they are simply putting a price tag on their inspiration.
Open your mind! Broaden your horizons! There is more to life than money!
I think your review is TERRIBLE and sounds like an angry schoolkid who sees wealth as the only cause of existence.
OK, I don’t really even know why I’m replying to this, because anyone who compares this guy to Jesus is simply an idiot. Do you even know who Jesus was?
Chris McCandless was simply not that cool. Nothing against a guy if he wants to go out and be a hermit. Who cares? Who I would like to say is an idiot is anyone that idolizes this fool. He was able to ditch everything he owned because he was a rich, empowered, educated, white kid. He could leave everything he had and “not be a serf” because, “Hey, if this doesn’t work out I can always fall back on my family, money, education, the color of my skin, etc…”. Again, I don’t care if that’s what he thought. I’m cool with the idea of living in the wilderness, I’ve tried it, it’s good shit. However, idolizing the kid and saying he’s like Jesus is INSANE. He did what he wanted and was empowered to do. He didn’t help others get out of TRUE oppression (i.e. not just the oppression of “my mommy and daddy don’t love each other!”).
Also, the fact that you said there is more to life than money right after justifying people “putting a price tag on their inspiration” is hilarious. Did Jesus do that? Nope. I don’t even believe in Jesus more than as some dude that went around talking to people, and your comment is still just, well, I don’t even know how to describe it. It was pretty dumb.
Yeah, there is more to money. Sadly, Chris McCandless’ actions were defined by the money he had. He may have shunned it, but was only able to because he had it to begin with. Big fuckin deal.
Final note: What the fuck was with that first hippie scene?
-”Me and my woman are having problems…”
-”No big deal! I will swim with her in my underpants!”
-”SOLVED!!!!!”
What a waste.
Sean Penn sucks big time why dont he stop trying to prove what a stupid impossible jackass he is
The review was spot on. Funny and informative. Biased ? Sure, a little, but that’s what a blog is for, expressing opinions. What’s even funnier than the review, are the idiots getting all sandy-vagged about the reviewer. Priceless content, you’ve all made me laugh, and I hope none of you decide to breed.
Chris Mccandless, IMHO just a spoiled rich kid, with a chip on his shoulder about society cause his mommy and daddy fought. Boo-Hoo. Plenty of people exit normal society and live in peaceful solitude, living off the land, and generally not being “Chris Mccandless Stupid” as I like to call it.
Haha, 3 miles from a highway >_<
The only thing I didn’t like is how he treated his sister like she didn’t exist.
And the sister has a mental crisis to where she believes this needs to be done, which probably stemmed from her awkward childhood. This reminded me exactly of Thoreau, too much so actually. It even quoted him in the beginning. The problem is that humans aren’t solitary creatures. Do you notice how things looked up for him every time he met someone new? It just reminds me too much of an eco-friendly gimmick, even though nature wasn’t that friendly to him. Let’s face it, modern-life is pretty banal. However, don’t you think Cavemen thought the same thing? Shit man, I’m tired of living in a fucking cave. I wish I had a movie to watch. And here we are today :[], criticizing a movie that castigates modern culture, and furthermore it doesn’t even give good reason to become a naturalist/transcendentalist.
This movie was fantastic, and to anyone who thinks otherwise, then you suck. you are obviously one of those lost in the preoccupation of life… living to die… why dont u get off ur fat lazy ass and instead of working for the man.. live to live.. try something new.. risk something.. LIVE … and people who did like this movie.. hell ya to all of you, we’re not “hippies” the fuckin hippies lived in the 60s, we’re just people who understand what the hippies meant by escaping the perils of everyday life… and living to live.
so hell ya…
“However, don’t you think Cavemen thought the same thing? Shit man, I’m tired of living in a fucking cave. I wish I had a movie to watch. And here we are today :[], criticizing a movie that castigates modern culture, and furthermore it doesn’t even give good reason to become a naturalist/transcendentalist.”
by the way… who ever wrote this sucks too..
the cavemen had no idea what a movie is.. they knew no such thing and thats why they were a whole hell of a lot more industrious than us today, because we’re paralyzed by movies and video games and working to make money to get back to work… they did what they needed to do to survive.. we let machines do that for us today, thats why were fucked.. b/c we’re all lazy.. lazy fucking “modern” people. go sit at ur desk and eat a 99 cent cheeseburger made from cows with hormone shots and get ur secretary to wait in line at the bank. so u can be lazy and take the easy ways out of everything. get a life.. a REAL one.
and it wasnt about giving a good reason to become a naturalist or transcendentalist… it was a true story about Christopher McCandless and his own PERSONAL need to excape. it wasnt a “DO LIKE ME” video.. u fucking idiot. maybe u should go eat some poisoness berries.
Thank you! Finally, someone who actually understood the movie. However, I would recommend the book. I will never understand why people take this movie so seriously. It’s as if people get offended because they are now expected to burn all their money and refuse Harvard invitations. It’s a personal journey people! Get off your computers and go have one yourselves!
I’ve read the book, and I plan on watching the movie soon. Chris McCandless pisses me off to no end. He wrote a journal in the third person as though he were going to publish his story so he could receive praise for a journey that was not admirable but completely stupid. The way he treated his family sickened me. My mother passed away when I was fifteen years old and the fact that he could be so negligent to their feelings baffles me. It seems to me that his parents did everything so that he could have a better life. A life that he chose to squander by making no attributable difference in the world except for ultimately hurting those he met. This affected one man so severely that he renounced God and his religion. I find absolutely nothing about Chris McCandless that is at all praise worthy.
Meaghan let me know what you think of the movie after you see it. Chances are, you’ll hate it.
ok anyone who enjoys the beauty of this movie needs to watch donnie darko anyone who dosent watch donnie darko because it is beast
“ok anyone who enjoys the beauty of this movie needs to watch donnie darko anyone who dosent watch donnie darko because it is beast”
Donnie Darko is my favorite movie, along with INTO THE WILD.
Don’t you think it’s a little disrespectful to call a dead person an asshole?
So he had some different thoughts & opinions than you, so what? Get over yourself. Your attitude sucks and you should be more open-minded to people who don’t think JUST LIKE YOU. At least McCandless did something with his lifetime, instead of renting a movie from a supermarket and writing some shitty review about it, pretending to be a smarter, better person than someone who has probably touched alot of people’s lives.
Go fuck yourself.
you are a kook!
I haven’t seen this film, didn’t like the premise, and I thank the reviewer for saving a couple of precious hours of my life that could have been wasted on it. He is a true humanitarian!
The only thing McCandless did with his life was to throw it away. Fuck him.
And Donnie Darko was a steaming pile of shit, too. Nothing about that film justifies its existence.
Yeah, he did a lot with his life. Squandered away his education and died. Meanwhile, you speak of being open-minded towards others unlike yourself. Why are you ripping on the author of this site then?
[...] Hill Local and The Chestnut Hill Community Association…Saw Milk last night. Great movie. After Into The Wild, I planned on boycotting Sean Penn for eternity, but I lifted the ban last night and thought it was [...]
Well, yea the movie did suck badly. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything worse infact, it was just mind blowingly stupid. But on the other hand you did see that naked hot chick and of course you learn that society is really pretty lame in general. I mean hell it sounds like a good idea, but in reality it kinda sucked. I wish he’d banged that teen hottie though =P Weird stuff!
You have just shown me through the article exactly why you thought it sucked… Because you are thick.
Somebody as narrow-minded as you obviously cannot even begin to grasp the true meanings of this film.
For starters, Emile Hirsch was absolutely AMAZING in this movie! How dare you talk smack about him and calling it a “TV-movie worthy performance.” That is a complete joke, its not as if you could’ve done a better job. He was simply amazing in this role, and he committed so much to making it work (eg. dropping 40 pounds for the last few scenes).
If you were actually watching the movie, you would know HE RUINED HIS CAR ON PURPOSE YOU FUCKWITT.
He knew that would happen, thats why he parked there, he chose to hitch hike his way to Alaska, he ruined his car on purpose.
And also, That money he burnt wasn’t the money from Vince Vaughn’s farm. He hadn’t even met Vince Vaughn’s character at that stage you idiot. And yes, it did get explained. He told Jan and Rainey that he thought it made people too cautious. He wanted a life away from all the material excess.
By the way, I hope you realise you are talking about a REAL HUMAN BEING. Chris was a living person. You sure must be proud of yourself, insulting the dead and all.
Get a real job you low life ignorant prick. Dumb ass’s like you are too idiotic to actually grasp the true meaning of a well done film.
Why don’t you just go fuck off and watch “Disaster Movie.” You shouldn’t even deserve to watch such an amazing movie as Into The Wild.
So as I said, GO GET FUCKED. GET A LIFE. YOU USELESS DICKHEAD. Into the Wild is amazing, so just stick to narrow-minded movies like “Zombie Strippers” or “American Pie” as I’m sure you’ll enjoy those immensly.
This is absolutely correct.
This movie was a steaming pile of bear turd.
Sure the real life story was interesting, but the way it was portrayed was pathetic.
The lead actor was terrible. The shots were cringeworthy…look at brian austin green/jack black/fred savage offspring guy play piano, canoe down a river in slow motion, spread arms like an eagle on a mountain whilst eddie vedder gets raped by a moose in the background.
I laughed most of the way through this.
To the guy that said stick to shit like american pie, this craphouse satan squatdrop was seemingly made as a heart tugger for that same audience.
Cliff, thanks for replying to Babe. I couldn’t have said it better
Exactly right. Just because a movie wants to be meaningful or poignant doesn’t mean that it is. If you loved this movie you’re a sap.
Also I love how everyone who loves this movie absolutely HATES it that I didn’t like it. Also how they can’t spell or use proper grammar to save their lives.
I don’t mean to be a spelling or grammar nazi but oftentimes when you have two sides of an issue, you can look at the displayed intelligence of both sides via their diction and control of the english language and pretty easily find out which side the dummies are on.
Brilliant movie !!!
Highly recommended !!!
And this is the stupid and primitive “review” of someone who doesn’t understand a thing, can’t feel and can’t think!
Do not read this bullshit.
hey ??? by the time anyone gets down here where this comment is, they’ve probably already read this bullshit.
Further proof that Into The Wild fans are morons, as if it was necessary.
I have to say that when I saw this film it left a sad feeling that lingered for quite some time. I’m not a sap nor am I a moron. I do agree that McCandless was unprepared, but for all we know that may have been what he intended. Pecuniary matters aside,I think that someone of that demeanor is unique and would not have lasted long in this world…almost like a caged animal. None of us will ever have the opportunity to meet him and find out if he was indeed a snarky narcissist or a man in search of true solace (which seems too romanticized to me), so I will refrain from idolizing/deriding him. To each their own.
THANK YOU!
After everyone telling me over and over – people I respect!!!! – how awesome this movie was and how I had to watch it, I finally managed to watch it (probably my longest Netflix rental lag ever) last night and OH MY GOD. It was HORRENDOUS.
I mean. . .? . . .people? . . .seriously?
This film sucked beyond the telling of it!
THANK YOU FOR THIS REVIEW! I thought I was losing my mind. I was laughing heartily by the middle of it! and then the bear! hahahaha!! That little jerk sucked so bad even a bear wouldn’t eat him.
You are so closed-minded and self righteous it amazes me. Just because you cannot identify with the McCandless’ world view doesn’t mean that those who can are “dummies” (good one by the way, spelling and grammar nazi).
before you correct me, ‘the McCandless’ was a typo
I’m a different dan, but I agree completely with the first dan’s comments. andy fox, i don’t mean to judge you but it sounds like you could use a good vacation
[...] sure the readers of this hippie site will be appalled and will then come comment on the Into The Wild Sucks post I wrote forever ago but the debate is still raging [...]
yeah, this movie pretty much blew hot air up my ass, which is not a comfortable sensation
I’m a different Tom but I completely agree with the Tom above me.
I’m a third, distinct Tom, and what the other Toms above me have said is 100% accurate.
ha ha. the really funny thing is that the 2nd Dan had the same email address as the first Dan and happened to find this blog post and post a comment 10 mins after the first Dan did. Amazing the coincidence.
I’ve read the book twice and watched the movie 3 times in the last month. The story still makes me sick to my stomach.
The only reason you didn’t like this is because your brain cannot handle it.
Just don’t bother with beautiful movies like this, just stick to all the “getting laid comedies” or the spoof movies if you need a big explosion or some lame joke every 5 seconds to keep your mind focused….
You don’t even deserve to watch movies as amazing as ITW.
To all the people that love this movie, I think what you’re missing is that many of us that hate this movie probably at one point had/lived our fantasy of breaking from society. Those dreams are not that uncommon, maybe some can’t grasp it, but thousands of douchey college kids (myself included) entertain and often follow through on these very ideas. There are just too many problems with this story in particular.
Burning your money just to turn around and work at McDonald’s isn’t “living to live” its just dumb. And to never have taken a dry run of killing an animal and smoking meat if you plan on making it in the winter of Alaska isn’t too bright either (bare in mind I’m a vegetarian and I think that). And the worst part was the fact that he was only able to live/eat/survive prior to Alaska with the kindness of strangers… that of course immediately fell in love with him only to have him walk out on them too (in the middle of the night no less).
I could type forever about how much I didn’t like this movie, but the big reason is as someone who has traveled a lot and lived many of my “hippie dreams” it is hard to watch a movie that makes people who think differently and want to go out and make it on their own look like such idiots. Do your homework figure out what works and follow your dreams. Do not leech off of others, die in a fucking bus, and think you are some kind of hero… you just were not prepared.
BTW this review was great.
“Just don’t bother with beautiful movies like this, just stick to all the “getting laid comedies” or the spoof movies if you need a big explosion or some lame joke every 5 seconds to keep your mind focused….”
For the 2nd time, this movie was made as a heart tugger for the same consumer that watches these lame mainstream comedy films.
INTO THE WILD IS A LAME MAINSTREAM HEART TUGGER.
You people who don’t appreciate this movie definitely don’t understand what the movie is really about. It’s not about the rich kid who burns his money blah blah blah…. It’s about (among other things) the choices you face and how every choice will eventually lead to the same thing: Death. INTO THE WILD is just a medium for it. It’s supposed to teach you that unlike most of the people in the world today, you are free and you CAN burn your money and walk around America.
I don’t agree with the review but every movie is open to its own interpretation and if you think it’s totally bullshit, that’s OK, just be aware that not everyone thinks like that. I enjoyed this movie so flame me or do whatever you people want I DON’T CARE
NO FLAMING!!!! if you flame people for their personal views, you are obviously not the kind of people that the world has any use for. Agree or disagree, it wont change the movie, or any of the people who posted here.
I was waiting for this movie to end the entire time I was watching it. He reminds me of a kid who goes to college and it changes the way they think. I hate those college kids. I really hate hippies too and so yeah this movie sucked. They thing that really pissed me off is that he didnt tell his parents what he was doing, he just went off. What kind of person does that? Leaving their parents worried sick about him that was one of the most idiotic and disrespectful things you can do. This movie, although it had nice scenery, was a pile of crap. I want my two and a half hours of my life back. DIE HIPPIE SCUM!
When I heard about this movie I knew I wanted to watch it, being an outdoors-man and loving the wilderness, and liking peace and quiet, but I would have to agree on the part that it, kinda sucked… from hearing what this movie was about I really thought it would have dove more into the personal struggle that the main character Chris had to make when he decided to leave the “real world” … and focus on that throughout the movie… to tell you the truth I thought the movie got a “little long” at the end and I actually fast forward through the last part with the old man, (WITH THE SWEET BRONCO!!!), and the ending really didn’t make me think that much or reflect on my own life, which it should have … but it didn’t … if he lived or died, or lived in the wilderness to be an old man or if he decided to go back and be a better person because of this experience, it would not matter to me… so… in the end I felt the movie was more of a let down than anything, but I will probably watch it again as the years pass and try to get more out of it, if thats possible… (P.S. I liked the south dakota part with Vince Vaughn, but VV rocks anyway)
Its no suprise that you didnt get the movie…
The “outcome” of the story is not some hard concrete fact that someone as insignificant as yourself needs in order to enjoy a movie.
The whole point of the movie is that you can gain something from leaving behind your socially constucted life and find a transcendant truth that you could never find elsewhere.
This is true of many others who have discovered some truth in wandering in a desert or in a foreign land…Jesus, Neitzcshe, Buddah, Jack Kerouak,many others have done this…
Why dont you go review a movie thats closer to your level of intelligence like “American Pie” or “National Lampoons Spring Break” Its this kind of mentality that is deterioratinig an already fucked up, unintelligent and uncurious society.
Judging by your opinion of this this movie, you are obvioulsy a gullibe, souless, primitive, capitalistic, childish, closed minded prick.
I hope you are enjoying that warm fuzzy blanket of ignorance.
Have a nice day.
all of what you’ve said sounds pretty self-indulgent, arrogant and childish, which explains why you can connect with the hero of this film.
I think this movie is crap because I think it’s the American Pie of John Muir movies. Someone that really loves nature and wants to have experiences, transcendental or otherwise, would commit the necessary work and time involved in having such experiences. I’m certain that a park ranger who devotes his life to the care and upkeep of our country’s beautiful national parks has moments like this all the time: seeing a storm that nobody else will see because its off season, watching children see the grand canyon for the first time, seeing a bear hump a tree. That’s actually from a book called “The Hotel New Hampshire” where a man connected with a horny bear that would maul and hump a tree right in front of a resort hotel’s front window, to the chagrin of the customers inside. He taught that bear to ride a motorcycle. Now that’s a story!
But, as you yourself might know, while you type that comment with your hemp knit hat on, Zen, enlightenment– whatever you want to call it—does not come quickly or easily.
Chris McCandless wanted to have these experiences immediately, and without any real respect for nature. Those of us who love and respect the outdoors see CM as a weekend warrior, a poser, a douchebag.
All of your words are buzzwords, slogans— capitalist? Oh please. You think reading “On The Road” makes you a beatnik the same way you think a kid dying in the alaskan wilderness makes him a nature loving explorer. My main point was that he did not respect nature (or much of anything) and paid a pretty hefty price for it. That’s all.
Understand now hippie?
I haven’t seen the movie so it appears I’m in the best position to comment objectively about it. Mr McCandless, although he suffered from IBS, ultimately died from anger. His widow turned to prostitution to pay for cancer medications which would have been covered by his HMO plan if only he hadn’t quit his job and died. If some of the respondees weren’t so obsessed with metaphor in posts dated April 1, perhaps they would support more practical pursuits such as supporting my foundation to save the tigers in Myanmar or helping me to locate a local tailor who hand sews fine English style shirts to order. What right do you have to criticize a film my mistress, who lives in our summer home in the San Juan islands, adores? There, I’ve said it.
You’re all complete fuck wits because this movie is absolutely inspirational, who ever doesnt like this movie obviously has no true intellect to see past its actors and understand the points portrayed in this film. This movie demonstates true courage and i believe it depicts the true story quite well.
so fuck ya all if you dont like it your all pathetic one minded idiots.
The book is just as bad. Chris McCandless was a self indulgent man-child.
Reece Ramsden, you’re an idiot.
We were motoring home from Avalon (no wind) and I called ahead to the Mercedes dealership. Apparently, they were unable to find the proper filter for my 1962 gull wing. Earlier that afternoon, I had thought “what next?” after thrashing Ricardo (our chef) for neglecting Skittles on the sweet potatoes at lunch. But then Sylvie, who has stunningly pendulous sweet potatoes of her own, disappointed me in a post-lunch romp, and in just that manner in which a French wife occasionally disappoints. Justly blue from an afternoon’s hardships, I turned to film and brandy, the salt air billowing in through a portal, Sylvie’s left breast pooled on the sheet as she snored softly. Ah, but the film? Into the Wild. Never have I seen another film so accurately capture outwardly the pain of my inner landscape. One need only look past the acting, the writing, the direction, the production, and the story, and they will find a metaphor of metaphors. I’m posting here to tell you McCandless was a man who died for all of us…and yet for nothing at all. In other words, he loved enough to have lived, but died enough not to have continued “life”. Even through the pain I felt that horrible afternoon on my yacht, I knew Mr. McCandless had stopped living for me and that he had outsmarted me in some manner. But Mr. McCandless taught me to see that we only know after we quit on ourselves how wonderful our death actually is. Mr. McCandless wants to come back and share this but decides that would mean reversing the life he was pursuing while deceased.
haha. such eloquence. username: crackpipe
spot. fucking. on. Great post, and it’s nice to see somebody felt just like I did. I went into this movie wanting to love it and ended up only watching it until the end so I could see whiny, over-privileged, selfish, christ-child implode. Also, the production and acting sucked donkey balls.
Ya man, he doesnt care about anyone else and he doesnt try to help anyone ( note : being sarcastic ) He only donated 24,000 dollars to charity and changed peoples lives with his continuous kindness that these days is rare.
While I agree that the way the movie turned out, with Chris being portrayed as something of a saint, I actually do sympathise with his motives.
What struck me as remarkable is how surprised you are at him burning that money. You can’t honestly tell me that you have never done something that you regretted later on. I assume that he found out that the journey would be easier if he had money, but once he’d earned it, he figured that that was exactly what he was trying to escape from.
And maybe it was futile to begin with. To try and survive in the wilds. I personally believe that if he hadn’t been alone, but with a select group of five people or so, they’d be able to make it, but that is irrelevant. You seem to argue that the intent is less important than the outcome, but I disagree. Our life is our own and what we do with it is our choice, whether sensible or not.
I read the book and watched the movie and the both stunk. What a waste of time, film and paper.
he regretted one thing…he forgot to ask himself what would happen when the ice and snow melts. Mother nature and her little surprises. What a hoax…
Great post. Laughed my ass off at the comments..
i espeically liked the part where sean penn sucks on naomi watt’s boobies :0
The author of this post is right about 99% of the pro into the wild commenters being morons. You can tell they skipped all the comments and most of the review and raced to the bottom to comment.
They deserve your scorn.
I typed into google “into the wild sucks” and your blog review was one of the first to pop up and I am glad. This is clearly a movie that one asks WTF is the point of this? Well done review!
For anyone that has not seen this movie, I dare you to watch it, because you will look at the clock 2 hours later and say WTF???!!
For those of you who claim McCandless was a selfish, self-loathing asshole who did nothing to help anybody, you fail to remember the very beginning where he donated his life savings to charity. And why is it not okay for people who grew up in a lifestyle more fortunate than others to feel somewhat guilty about their inherited fortune? There are many famous people who were given chances others might not have had. And some of these people are huge humanitarians.
There are a lot of responses I have to the people who have bashed this movie. However, most of what I would say has been said. Chris McCandless had priorities unlike most people these days. And yeah, I will give you the satisfaction of agreeing with those of you who say some of the narration and quotes in this movie are a bit corny. That does not mean that they don’t ring true. Also, count the number of times the word “suck” appears on this page. Do you people have anything more intelligent to contribute? And judging by the shear contrast of the comments on this page, I can tell that a lot of people are stubborn and closed-minded when it comes to things such as ideas or a certain philosophy. If everyone would just live to live and live and let live, I believe the world would be a very different place. I’m not saying its not okay to have a difference in opinion. But it’s not fair to put down other people because of it. Haven’t you heard the phrase “if you dont have anything nice to say, dont say anything at all.” If you didn’t like the movie, that’s fine. It seems a little pathetic to me to shoot down a movie (or any peice of art) so harshly. You’re overcompensating.
By the way, this is the first time I have ever posted a review of a movie, or a review of a review I should say. The only reason why I did was because it upsets me how critical some can be of others. I loved the movie and found it very inspirational. It opened my mind and helped me believe there is good on the earth and there are things more important than (“I’m going to paraphrase Thoreau here”) “…money, faith, fame, fairness.” Some part of me feels that those who have bashed this movie are somewhat envious, or even jealous, that people like Chris McCandless have the balls to embark on such a journey as this one. Stupid or not, it took balls, and a lot of sacrifice.
This is a little off my flow but I just remembered someone commenting on the way McCandless treated his parents. What about the way his parents treated him? It seems to me that what he wanted didnt matter, and they wanted him to want what they thought he should want, such as a brand new car, which obviously was not a priority of his. And when his sister says it had to be done, she was right. Yeah the parents went through a hell of a lot and I sympathize with them. However, Chris’ disappearance only brought his family closer together.
And for those of you who felt the movie was dull and unintriquing. I’m not sure what you were expecting. Perhaps a bear attack or maybe even some sex and guns, laid out just for your entertainment. Some artists (good or bad) sometimes prioritize themes or morals for entertainment. And what the heck is wrong with that? Entertainment always takes a back seat to something thought provoking in my book. And many of you missed the subtleties of this movie. And there are a lot.
And one last thing that I forgot to mention earlier. In the original review on this page, you say he burned his money that he earned on Vince Vaughn’s wheat farm. He burned his money before he even got to Vince Vaughn’s character. (This tells me you werent paying attention, therefore I can’t really take anything you say seriously.) Him burning his money and abandoning his car was a symbol of how he liberates himself from the hold of society. You call it stupid, I call it admirable.
Forgot to mention. I am an avid hiker and have hiked over several thousand miles in my life. And for those of you claiming McCandless was stupid and unprepared, you have obviously never been on a long distance hike. You can attempt to carefully plan every little detail of a trip, some things you just cant be prepared for all the time. And you dont need to hike a thousand miles to know this.
Sorry to keep posting. But I just noticed the name and motto of this website. Wow. That explains a lot now. Get a life folks.
I just watched this insult of a movie. It’s basically a romanticization of a story that should have been quickly dismissed as an example of some self-indulgent sap’s deadly stupidity. There are no great truths in this movie; there’s only paper-thin pseudo-insight designed to resonate with those inclined to sentimentality but not so much to thinking.
We spend the entire movie grimacing through hackneyed horse-shit like this gem:
————
Ron Franz: I’m going to miss you when you go.
Christopher McCandless: I will miss you too, but you are wrong if you think that the joy of life comes principally from the joy of human relationships. God’s place is all around us, it is in everything and in anything we can experience. People just need to change the way they look at things.
Ron Franz: Yeah. I am going to take stock of that. You know I am. I want to tell you something. From bits and pieces of what you have told me about your family, your mother and your dad… And I know you have problems with the church too… But there is some kind of bigger thing that we can all appreciate and it sounds to me you don’t mind calling it God. But when you forgive, you love. And when you love, God’s light shines through you.
(The sun suddenly shines through the clouds!)
Christopher McCandless: Holy shit!
————
Now with that idiotic sentiment indoctrinated into Mr. Franz, Christopher McClueless later proceeds to scrawl “HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED” into a book to let all of you know that the warmth you thought you felt in your hearts during that sunbeam scene was actually based in insipid nonsense.
Can any of you honestly claim to not have had the urge to throw a rock at the screen during that ode to the apple scene? Painfully corny.
That this movie has 8.2/10 rating with almost 80,000 votes on IMDB is remarkable and disconcerting. It’s almost enough to make you want to abandon involvement with society and go die alone in a fucking bus in Alaska.
Because I never saw this film, I have some objectivity about its agenda, and I have to say you are correct. It appears that its least exploitive scene is the one in which Bobtail (David Caruso) retires from gay porn to go visit McCandless in his Alaskan bus hideaway. As he’s moving north out of Seattle, he picks up a prostitute (Brett Favre) and they do speedballs together off each other’s navels behind a restop. Bobtail has a heart stoppage. The camera zooms in beneath the skin in a never before seen technique which shows us the heart attack just as it’s happening. Soon after, the coroner (Jack Klugman) leaps out of a hovering helicopter to pronounce Caruso’s character dead, and to make a witty aside over his “walkie talkie” to his 20-something lab-coated ex-model assistant Crunkshank (Jessica Simpson), back at the morgue.
I just watched this movie on DVD and was so moved with disgust for it I actually did a netsearch using the movie’s title and “sucks.” Thankfully I found this site.
I grew up in northern Canada, hunting and fishing for recreation. Having many friends in Alaska, the terrain and natural features are essentially identical. The only difference being we have more Polar Bears instead of Grizzlies.
I didn’t find anything “inspiring” about this movie. I saw it as a mindless trainwreck – made more so by an ungrateful man-child who had been given every advantage by his parents.
I come from more humble roots than Chris. I had to work to pay my way through university, I didn’t have a “college fund” with tens of thousands of dollars handed to me by upper middle class parents to pay for my Ivy League education. I ultimately graduated with several undergrad degrees (Hons) and a Masters.
I still haven’t forgotten my roots and continue to hunt and fish on a regular basis. My freezer, in fact, doesn’t hold a single piece of domestic meat or poultry. It is stock full of moose, caribou, partridge, grouse, snowshoe hare, ducks and geese.
I’m sorry for those of you who venerate Chris as some sort of latter-day martyr. He wasn’t. He was a dilettante that died a pointless and wholly preventable death. The only thing I am grateful for is the fact that no one knew where he was, so no Land SAR teams had to expend any effort fruitless looking for him.
I just returned home today after a long day afield Moose Hunting. I walked over 15 miles over terrain that is even rougher than the area Chris died. I’m almost embarrased that this man-child died so close to human development when he was attempting to make some grand statement. All he really accomplished was to remove himself from the gene pool and put himself in the running for a “Darwin Award.” Chris is not someone to venerate or admire. He is to be pitied.
Chris Johnson McCandless is my hero.
you dont see, i mean REALLY see wat he did. but its ok alot of people dont. however, u shouldnt show off ur ignorance like this.
“1.Chris sure aint smart”-hahaha need not say more.
This was a great movie. It is hard to make a true story into an actual movie. You are being a bit close-minded. This movie is about one mans beleifs, and his mission to achieve what it is he was looking for, ultimate freedom. Don’t think of this as a movie, think of it as a true story being told.
Dick Proenneke
He did die of starvation, the potato root he ate was not poisonous, and it is stated so in the autopsy report. He was delusional and weak from the onset of starvation. He killed a moose out of season with no idea how to properly butcher the animal, let alone preserve the meat. It all made a nice story, but stupidity doesn’t need promoted either.
dude! u got some(& gave some) nice bashing there.good for this blog.got you some readers!
ditto with your global warming article.u are some dude,u always know what to say eh!
hope that one works just as well ;P
i read the book a few years ago, haven’t seen the movie. the book is terrible… why would anyone want to glorify this douche-bag’s life? i kinda feel good about him dying… yeah i kinda do…
great review
http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b163601_sean_penn_lends_hand_in_haiti.html
yeah, putting his mug in haiti is exactly what they need. Send the money and doctors and stay out of it camera boy.
Finally someone I agree with regarding “Into the Wild”. Almost a word for word translation of my sentiments! You won’t care and/or agree, but I feel it’s worth a thumb.
Tagged as adult humor as there is minimal profanity.