My Side of the Mountain

G

1969

1h 40m

Kids & Family

Adventure

List

71%

Tomatometer

7 Reviews

55%

Audience Score

1,000+ Ratings

After the summer trip his parents promised doesn't work out, 13-year-old Sam Gribley (Ted Eccles) decides to emulate his hero, writer Henry David Thoreau, by living self-sufficiently in the Canadian woods. He sets out with his raccoon, Gus, and ultimately makes a home inside a hollow tree. While there, he takes on a pet falcon, Frightful, and befriends both a local librarian (Tudi Wiggins) and a traveling folk musician (Theodore Bikel). All goes well until winter comes on.

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Derek Malcolm

Guardian

Pretty but leaden.

Jun 16, 2022

Full Review

Judith Crist

New York Magazine/Vulture

That rare "family" film that deals with flesh-and-blood rather than fairy-tale or television soap opera people, that talks about today in timeless terms, that finds its comedy and its high adventure and its moments of truth in human experience.

Jan 1, 2020

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Howard Thompson

New York Times

A slender, honest study of a boy learning to be a man his own way.

Rated: 3.5/5

Oct 30, 2007

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Grace Montgomery

Common Sense Media

Book-based movie has quiet charm, some intense scenes.

Rated: 4/5

Feb 23, 2016

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

The homage to nature pic appeals to youngsters and boy adventurers, but left me yearning for a safer story for a 13-year-old boy.

Rated: B-

Aug 30, 2011

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Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

An absolutely dreadful film that will appeal only to grown-ups who saw it when it was new.

Jan 29, 2009

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Audience Member

It was a nice movie to watch with a young family, but, the circumstances seemed highly improbable that he'd actually survive all that.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

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steve d

Cheese filled adaptation that even fans of the book will avoid.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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s r

Saw this as a kid and I wondered why I didn't remember much. Saw it again on Kanopy and it was exciting for kids, but not much else when showing the realities of survival in the wilderness.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Corny but enjoyable nature story about a young boy who decides to run away from his life in the city to live in the woods for a year like Thoreau. If you can get past the premise that there are 12-year olds out there who are into Thoreau, the film is compulsively watchable as we watch the boy learn how to make shelter, find food, train a falcon, and other survival skills to live off the fatted land. This is the film's main charm because the rest of the film was awfully trite, such as the boy visiting town and being teased by locals, or the kindly librarian who helps him research wildness skills, or his a friendship with a folk singing also living in with woods. However, most anytime a film shows someone making or learning something, it grabs an audience and is interesting to watch, whether it's Rocky chasing chickens to train for his big fight or Freddy Krueger building his clawed glove to do what he does, this is a filmmaker trick for sucking an audience in that always seems to work. Remember those Mr. Rogers segments where he show how crayons or boxes get made? Those are just inarguably fascinating to watch, but I digress. Overall, "My Side of the Mountain" could easily have been a Disney nature film, though less silly and cutsy than Disney, and if that sounds like a good thing to you, you'd probably enjoy this film.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This movie was very disappointing and annoying. I read Jean George's incredible novle My Side Of The Mountain which I loved. The movie had nothing to do with the book besides the fact that Sam ran away. I wish that the kept important parts and characters in the movie because it would make my rating 4 stars instead of 1/2 a star. Overall this was a poorly made and terrible movie.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

If you must see this - read the trilogy first.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

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James B. Clark

Director

Ted Eccles

Sam Gribley

Theodore Bikel

Bando

Tudi Wiggins

Miss Turner

Frank Perry

Mr. Gribley

Peggi Loder

Mrs. Gribley

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Synopsis

After the summer trip his parents promised doesn't work out, 13-year-old Sam Gribley (Ted Eccles) decides to emulate his hero, writer Henry David Thoreau, by living self-sufficiently in the Canadian woods. He sets out with his raccoon, Gus, and ultimately makes a home inside a hollow tree. While there, he takes on a pet falcon, Frightful, and befriends both a local librarian (Tudi Wiggins) and a traveling folk musician (Theodore Bikel). All goes well until winter comes on.

Director: James B. Clark
Production Co: Paramount Pictures
Rating: G
Genre: Kids & Family, Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 1, 2014
Runtime: 1h 40m

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