MovieChat Forums > Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog (1995) Discussion > Decent for kids, but low-quality

Decent for kids, but low-quality

posted 18 years ago by johnscook
15 replies | jump to latest

This movie is decent to watch with kids, especially kids who love dogs. However, this is a low-quality film based on plot and story line. It's a little far-fetched, no pun intended. It's impossible that Angus has the benefit of all the shipwreck items, still neatly stored and dry, to use on his 3? week adventure. And, the part about how the dog made it home could, and probably should, have been the story of the movie. The dog was obviously trained by somebody and is very intelligent. The dog is the star of the movie, but little about the movie is about the dog. Strange.

[–] chris-2396 18 years ago

Oh c'mon, this is nitpicking. It's a kids film. My son, 6, was fascinated and moved. Why do people insist on reviewing kids movies as if they were made for adults?

[–] brainybrailler 18 years ago

Some movies "made for kids" are good enough to remain favorites till well past teen years, and want the veiwer to keep to share with their kids. But this isn't 1 of them. I guess that's y people aren't so enthused about it.

[–] johnscook 18 years ago

A movie for kids should be entertaining to anyone. Kids aren't stupid, either, they would like the movie even better if the movie had been better made. Since kids aren't asking for this movie as a must-see flick for them, I have to assume that kids have a sense of taste and quality and realize that it is worth about 1 Coke on the entertainment scale.

I'm not nitpicking. The dog was the star of the show, but too bad the director and producer didn't recognize it.

[–] jason-1535 18 years ago

Are you kidding?

This was an exceptional movie! My two boys, ages two and five, watch it over and over. Me too. It has helped my city boys gain respect for outdoors, outdoor survival and camping in general. My two year-old want his birthday party to have a camping theme. My five year-old has started studying an outdoor survival book, drawing a compass, putting together a collection of ten essentials, using a Leatherman (with a saw blade), knowing north, east, west, south, studying Canada/BC geography using Google Maps/Earth and even writing about different methods of trapping animals for food.

Give me a break. This is a perfect, clean and exciting kids movie. It's great for normal adults too.

Jason

[–] choatelodge 18 years ago

True enough, and kids might love it but the original poster has a very good point: The movie is mis-titled!
It isn't the adventures of the yellow dog at all, it's the kid who is focused on and who is eventually rescued and goes home.
The dog's adventures are ignored, the story just flashes through them to when the dog arrives at it's home.
What's up with that? Did they shoot a bunch of footage and then the cutting room editors just kept all the scenes with the kid in them and ran out of screen time? Did they think no one would be interested in what happens to the dog once the kid is saved?

Didn't anyone look at the title of the movie they were supposed to be making?

[–] xPhenomenusx 16 years ago

I hated this when I was a kid. I've had if for years and I'd say about 20 times, I tried to watch this movie but I end up turning it off at the submarine part.

A Nightmare on Elm Street - 8/10
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - 10/10

[–] scotty-38 15 years ago

To be perfectly honest, I loved this movie when I was younger and I still love it now. The reason being, it's not a ridiculous comedy or anything of the sort. I look at a film like Homeward Bound and I think UTTERLY silly. As a matter of fact, when I was younger I disliked Homeward Bound with a passion because of how ridiculous it became. Even though I do like pets, I didn't quite enjoy it. However, I think this film is much better because it is a very deep, loving film about a boy and his dog.

It's not ONLY about the dog making his way home. It's about MANY other things. For instance, it's about how the boy can survive in the wild with his dog. It's about what can happen when you're lost in the wilderness and have to find your way home. It's about showing how close he was with his family and how important it can be to have a dog.

I thought this was really a great film and I definitely recommend it to all audiences. It's underrated on IMDB and Siskel should have had a better review of the film.

[–] csaw59 16 years ago

I can't believe that some reviewers bagged this film, what were you expecting, another clone of Shrek?

Far From Home is a exceptional kids movie & if you have children (this where I suspect that some reviewers fail in their critque) they will find it throughly entertaining & a hot favourite in the DVD collection (speaking from experience)

However, if you are a fan of companion movie merchandising, you had better stick to showing your kids the lastest offerings from Pixar & Disney.

Low quality, no plot or story line, maybe, entertaining ... extremely so!

[–] WEND0921 16 years ago

I used to watch this at my grandma's house all the time! I'm 18 now and haven't seen it in a long time. Now that I'm older I (of course) notice some of the unrealistic aspects of the movie, but as a kid they barely occurred to me. And the dog was not the star of the film for me.

[–] Paisleyk 15 years ago

I'm 41 and thought it was a great movie. I thought the kid in it was great. Entertaining, what more do you want?

[–] wolfenskarn 14 years ago

I saw the movie in '95. I'm 34 now, and still love it. WHO CARES IF IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE FOR LITTLE KIDS! Not I.

_
You know what I hate? People who take certain films seriously.

[–] britika 13 years ago

Are you guys kidding me? Come on. Stop nitpicking this movie and just take it for what it is. It's not supposed to all make sense, it's a movie made for kids not adults.

I first saw this movie back in '95 when I was 8 years old and loved it. I loved the whole idea of the story.. lost boy with this best friend trying to survive in the wilds. To be honest, I wanted to be Angus, lost with a dog in the wilds trying to survive. I thought it was so cool. I have loved it since I first watched it and was lucky enough to find it in Walmart yesterday for $5 and bought it. I watched it and all those good memories of me watching it as a kid came flooding back. I love how movies can do that to you.. transport you back to a different time.

This movie is a classic IMHO, stop knocking it you guys, if you don't like it then just forget about it and let the rest of us enjoy it. I know my nieces and nephews will love this movie.. I plan on showing it to them when they come to visit this weekend.

Cheers.

***
There's nothing that a little less attitude wouldn't cure! *slap*

[–] thepartydjz 12 years ago

Even kids movies should have a certain standard. When I was 7 I loved a book called "The Phantom Tollbooth" when it hit the movie theaters I was excited but the movie was absolutely terrible, I didn't have to be an adult or a genius to figure that out.

Someone called this movie "deep" wow, what "deep" inner meaning did you find from this? It's fine for a 6 year old if you want them to grow up with no imagination or creative thoughts. This is dumbed down to the max.

[–] WarpedRecord 11 years ago

Unlike many of the other posters here, I don't think you're nitpicking at all. I am far from being a child these days, but I sit through countless "children's" and "family" films that involve pets because not a lot of "adult" films explore those themes.

The dog was strangely passive throughout the film, to the extent that he didn't even seem like a character much of the time. I thought when the boy was rescued it was the dog's turn to shine, but it just didn't happen. Jesse Bradford is a fine actor, but he just didn't seem to have much to work with here. There's very little suspense or surprise here, though the cinematograpy is gorgeous. I gave this 6/10 on entertainment value, but that's hardly a rave review.

[–] heelmaster2000 9 years ago

I agree with the OP. It was a good film, not great, but it is definitely one to show to you kids. If I would have seen it when I was younger I probably would have enjoyed it more.