White Water Summer Reviews

A Psychotic Kevin Bacon and Sean Astin, classic. I think that kid from the Gate is in it too.

This was a very sad but good Movie

What a bizarre little movie. Camping films seem to have permeated the film masses in the 80s. Something about summer camp was meant to be entertaining. It can be. Take 'Meatballs' for example, but by the late 80s these camp movies kind of went off the cliff. This film is one such example of the genre.

A sadist guides a small group of campers that consist of mainly four boys on a wilderness hike. He bullies the youngest, Alan, who is from the city. His mission is to teach these boys lessons in the wild. Funny thing happens. He goes berserk and aggressively tries to force the boys to accept his ideology. Then he gets his leg broken and has to rely on the boys for survival. Also there's some white water rafting scenes and a mountain climbing scene that was well photographed.

John Alcott who was the cinematographer died before the films release and to give this film any kind of credit whatsoever it'd have to go to Alcott. The cinematography is just beautiful. The story does have a few elements of interest in terms of two opposing forces that are in some way alike can't come to a certain understanding of one another when it comes to teaching moral lessons in the wild. Alan and Vic are these two opposing forces with different ideals. The way Kevin Bacon and Sean Astin play off each other is one part of the film that is worth looking at, but the whole meaning of the film is subjective in the end since we, the audience, can't find one point of entry that makes this film worth your time.

Splicing together new footage of Sean Astin "explaining" the story as the story is being told is just pointless. It contributes nothing to the enterprise. Also the abrupt ending will make you groan, but also make you think in terms of the genre. If there was ever a camping movie to end all camping movies, it'd be White Water Summer.

I planned on renting this movie but by fluke i had the chance to see it on cable. The verdict: wasn't moved or blown away by it's short cuts to draw my attention. With a lot of loop holes it was obvious they ran short of time to edit or not enough depth for the characters was created during writing the script. Kevin Bacon tries to give save the film but with little to work with i was disapointed.

This movie is so good. So intense! A must see. Kevin Bacon is creepy in this film.

kevin bacon trabaja muy bien

a favorite of mine for 20 years lol

I'll always have a soft spot for this because it intoduced me to the band Bruce Hornsby and The Range. Two of their were played during the movie and thought "They these songs are really good. The singer has a great voice and I like the way the band sound" and after that I was hooked on them. The movie itself will always be a favourite of mine too.

Bacon is effective in his role.

i love this movie, especially the music. Kevin Bacon is hot and a asshole but what an ass! It's his way or the highway. For poor Alan's sake it's over mountain, and through the falls. It would be a cool camping trip though especially pitching a tent the Kevin.

Have loved this movie for years.

Ein wunderbarer Film über das Erwachsenwerden. Die Atmosphäre der Berge und der Wälder fokussiert die Handlung auf die Entwicklung der Charaktere. Bacon spielt eindrucksvoll, den vom fehlgeleiteten Stolz
agierenden Wanderguide, bleibt dabei in jeder Sekunde nachvollziehbar und behält sich eine Sympathie, die ihn zu einer authentischen Figur macht. Seine Figur erhitzt die Situation subtil und lässt in mir Fragen zurück. Sehenswert!

for some reason whenever i watch this film i expect kevin bacon to go all psycho like he did in " the river wild" good flick

Filmed in 1985, and dumped into a handful of theaters 2 years later, grossing less that one million dollars at the box office, this is probably the least known Kevin Bacon movie ever. Bacon plays a driven outdoorsman who takes groups of young men up into the mountains to learn how to survive. He also happens to be a boderline sociopath. When one kid, played by Sean Astin, continually challenges Bacon's leadership, things take a dangerous, even violent turn. A strong support cast of young actors makes for believable characters that involve you in the story. There's also tremendous cinematography of the wilderness and mountainsides. A lively, if very dated, 80's soundtrack keeps things moving, and keep the goings on from becoming TOO heavy handed. Bacon gives a strong performance, but it's also the weak link in the chain, because we never really know if his character is trying to teach the boys to survive on their own wits...or flat out insane. But for anyone who is a fan of the outdoors, the visuals are more than enough to sustain you for the ride.

good but the ending kinda sucked

White Water Summer is the story of Alan, a young man who doesn't have many friends and really doesn't spend much time outdoors. His parents send him on a camping excursion with three others guys his age, all led by Vic, who is an expert on all things nature has to offer (hiking, fishing, making fires, rock climbing). At first, all the boys seem to have a great time, but things quickly turn when Vic constantly gives Alan a hard time. Soon enough, the guys are pushed to the breaking point and need to find a way to escape.

I had been wanting to check this out as I am a fan of Sean's and as the main character of Alan, he did a decent job. After hearing the movie was filmed in New Zealand, some scenes reminded me of Lord of the Rings. Kevin Bacon does a good job as the overbearing leader and the other three guys in the group also did a good job.

The movie was pushed back (was filmed in 1985, the same year The Goonies came out) and the narration scenes were filmed a year later, to allow Sean to develop.

The movie offers some good thrills and is a nice action film that most people have either never heard of or have forgotten, but overall, it was a decent film.

It's hard to pinpoint any one thing that made this film not work completely. Probably a combination of a lot of smaller things. The acting is fine, the score was good. There are some things that don't fully make sense though. I didn't lose interest at all, but I never found the film as enthralling as it was intended to be.

No thankyou - Not interested.

Ok not Sean Astin's best work or even Kevin Bacon's, but I love Sean Astin and I actually liked this one.