MovieChat Forums > Wild (2014) Discussion > Painful to watch for people with backpac...

Painful to watch for people with backpacking/hiking experience

posted 8 years ago by tlotr_tloz
29 replies | jump to latest

I'm 15 minutes into the movie and I don't know if I can watch any more.

I get that she's going into this with 0 experience, that's probably the point of the story... but it just frustrates me. Everything she does is wrong, even the simplest things.

Apart from this, the movie seems to make hiking look worse than it is. And in the first 15 minutes it doesn't manage to capture the thrill of it, the positive sides. I can't imagine the director/producers being fond of backpacking.

It's a shame, because I usually like this genre. Does it get better later on?

[–] Confection_Pictures 8 years ago

If you understand the point, then you shouldn't be this frustrated. And yes, it does get better. It's a fantastic film with Witherspoon giving the best performance of her career.

"Why are you wearing a tux?"
"It's after six. What am I, a farmer?"

[–] friendofthebard 8 years ago

As a couple of posters have mentioned, it's not a documentary about hiking.

Meryl Streep is a shape-shifter.

[–] Chaseterrier 8 years ago

I am just curious if you had any books or movies that you would recommend that is this type of genre?

[–] tlotr_tloz 8 years ago

Some movies that come to mind, from most to least recommended:

Into the Wild
127 Hours
The Snow Walker
Whale Rider
Touching the Void
A Lonely Place to Die
Backcountry
Grizzly Man (more like a documentary)

Then I know a few nice survival movies (mostly mountains), but that's not really the same genre anymore.

Books... it's not really a genre I read, sorry. I hope you'll enjoy these movies!

[–] ri0tgrrl71-1 8 years ago

Wild isn't really the same genre as the films you mention here, those are much more man vs.______, this was a drama about coming to terms with life situations and choices. The hiking was the vehicle that allowed her time and solitude to explore her past.

[–] munroe-9 8 years ago

Into the Wild doesn't bother you re: good hiking practice??!?!??

That guy was reckless and possibly insane. I feel for him, I'm sad he died, but why would Strayed bother you so much, if you recommend that movie? (seriously confused, not hostile).

[–] Emma_S_Elisabet 8 years ago

I completely agree, as much as I think Into the Wild is an amazing story. I still can't get over the fact that he wasn't into the hiking part as much as the getting off the grid part. Also, 127 Hours just felt like another slightly reckless guy. Not that I am a hiking expert, but I figure that if you'd never hiked before and you actually do it to discover yourself then this movie is just fine.

[–] Kansas-5 8 years ago

You lasted 50% longer than I did. My wife and I, independently somewhat, figured it was a waste of time to watch. A vague, incoherent, fragmented story, a completely clueless protagonist, inaccurate scenery at the start of the trail outside of Mojave. We had no patience for it. Did it get nominations because voters were tied into chairs and forced to watch it, like in "Clockwork Orange," with their eyes propped open, until it finally began to make a little sense?

[–] ri0tgrrl71-1 8 years ago

This was a very good movie, it is not a survival movie, nor an action movie, nor a movie about overcoming the wilderness, the main character didn't have a burning desire to tame the frontier. Really, this movie could have been shot anywhere, it was not integral to the story. It was integral to the woman who experienced it because that was how she found herself again, it could have easily been some other situation, the story was the woman's reclamation of herself. It was completely coherent, it could only be told through flashbacks because that is how it happened. She began to sort her issues on the trail as they came up in her mind. All humans do this, we go through life and here and there intruding thoughts come. There were no protagonists or antagonists per se, it was about one woman's journey of self discovery after a failed marriage, the sudden death of her mother, and her descent into drugs and promiscuous sex. It's a story about overcoming your *beep* ups in life.

[–] Hatton_Mann 8 years ago

Absolutely. I have watched this movie a few times. It all works and is very compelling. You can feel her journey. A very well done film.

[–] chungmusic 7 years ago

Well considering majority of the people found it coherent, it seems you lack comprehension. Either way, the "fragmented" scenes here packs more emotional punch than some of the best staged scenes you'll find in other movies.

One day in the year of the fox came a time remembered well...

[–] Frank_Z 8 years ago

It is not an instruction video about backpacking. The full title of the book is "Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail." The journey and the struggle are the theme. And the fact is, the author affirms that the essential facts depicted actually happened.

[–] jporter-6 8 years ago

You were a polished and knowledgeable backpacker on your first trek?

A woman who could well commit suicide because she is so confused and hurt goes on a backpacking trek because she isn't quite certain what else to do, captures my interest a lot more than experienced hikers and backpackers taking pot shots at the movie.

[–] williamhastings2007 8 years ago

So glad you stepped out of the womb in a pair of size twelve Merrill's. So lucky to have never been a first timer. You must be very popular on the trail as you tell everyone how wrong they are.

[–] Jake3988 8 years ago

I do find it interesting that she succeeding despite having no experience, not training, not packing the right stuff, never using any of the stuff she brought along with her, etc. It's all true, apparently, but it's amazing to me. I still don't know how she didn't die of starvation.

If it were up to me, I'd research for 6 months on the best stuff to buy, another month trying it out repeatedly, months to do small hikes (weekends, mostly, then eventually a full week) to see how I'd react to it, etc.

Especially having watched Into the Wild, where that character does basically the same thing, and fails as spectacularly as you'd expect.

[–] red_red_robyn 8 years ago

I think that's the point though, isn't it? It IS amazing. She's been incredibly self-destructive for such a long time that she already has the stubbornness, fearlessness, and lack of self-preservation that gets her through what would otherwise be impossible. She's already suffered so much that in some ways, the pain isn't so difficult to overcome. She literally has nothing else to do but push on.

I don't think this film is suggesting that novice hikers are universally superior to experienced ones, nor that undertaking such a journey is sensible or straightforward. Far from it. If this had been a made-up story then I imagine anyone would scoff and dismiss it as so unrealistic as to be a total waste of time. But the fact is that it DID happen, she DID succeed, and it was mostly down to luck, the kindness of strangers, and sheer bloodymindedness. It's a compelling story because it shouldn't have worked, but it did.

[–] ri0tgrrl71-1 8 years ago

She was in a massive downward spiral and felt she needed to do it NOW before she slipped. This, probably, actually was the right thing for her to do, given her situation. She just wanted to get away and did the romantic thing (she is a writer after all) not the necessarily smart thing. Yes it was running away, but it was running away to something that forced her to stop and consider her actions carefully, something she wasn't doing before. She read up and most importantly took graciously any and all help that was given her and it seems like a lot of people gave her good advice every step of the way (she constantly signed in and made regular stops, her friends and ex sent her care packages and letters all throughout her trek). That, along with luck and keeping her guides and rereading them, helped her tremendously in her survival.

[–] PussyCrusher_Principal 8 years ago

GO TAKE A HIKE!!!!

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaaha