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[Revengeance]

I totally agree. I recently got this from netflix. He seemed like a total judgemental prick who had no coping skills so decided to "unplug" instead of getting the maturity to deal with life and people. While it is a romantic thought that he wanted to see "what life was all about" and self-discovery, what I got out of it was that he refused deal with reality so decided to make his own. Good for him that he lived his life on his own terms, but the catalyst for that life choice seemed extremely immature.

With all that said, he had a heck of an adventure that few of us would have the balls to take on.

To me, the tragedy isn't that he died (seriously, fuck that guy. He was unlikeable in the movie, and even more so in the book), but that he never contacted his parents, who genuinely loved him, and were at least making an effort.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

the film had a big effect on me the first time I saw it. I think it's cool that someone was so sick of the road most traveled that they just had to ESCAPE. But he lost me when he got it in his head that it was a good idea to live in the middle of Alaska alone. That shit is just crazy

 

[RSLAEV]

I'm not trying to play the race card, but I couldn't help but think "Man if this kid was black he wouldn't have made it out of the damn state" The thought of strangers opening up to you and helping you out without fear or hesitation is a wholly foreign concept to me :/

 

[newsguy]

I'm not trying to play the race card, but I couldn't help but think "Man if this kid was black he wouldn't have made it out of the damn state" The thought of strangers opening up to you and helping you out without fear or hesitation is a wholly foreign concept to me :/

B...b...but we have a black president!! Racism is so dead man! Knock on strangers doors for proof... at night... wearing a skullcap.

 

[ghst]

the single most douche chillingly joyless film i've ever (nearly) sat through, just edges out juno.

even the slightest notion that we aren't supposed to wish a mercifully quick boulder to the skull of the protagonist as soon as he embarks on his first sub-livejournal masturbatory wordpuke is beyond me.

but instead, we are subjected to two hours of this drivel. with each character he meets along the way sharing the same ball achingly pretentious sincerity. jamming each others dicks in their ears and jacking away in some twisted rodeo of cuntish faux-wisdom.

 

[dskillzhtown]

the single most douche chillingly joyless film i've ever (nearly) sat through, just edges out juno.

even the slightest notion that we aren't supposed to wish a mercifully quick boulder to the skull of the protagonist as soon as he embarks on his first sub-livejournal masturbatory wordpuke is beyond me.

but instead, we are subjected to two hours of this drivel. with each character he meets along the way sharing the same ball achingly pretentious sincerity. jamming each others dicks in their ears and jacking away in some twisted rodeo of cuntish faux-wisdom.

Irony, defined.

 

[cubanb]

the single most douche chillingly joyless film i've ever (nearly) sat through, just edges out juno.

even the slightest notion that we aren't supposed to wish a mercifully quick boulder to the skull of the protagonist as soon as he embarks on his first sub-livejournal masturbatory wordpuke is beyond me.

but instead, we are subjected to two hours of this drivel. with each character he meets along the way sharing the same ball achingly pretentious sincerity. jamming each others dicks in their ears and jacking away in some twisted rodeo of cuntish faux-wisdom.

So, otherwise you liked it?

 

[Substance]

too much eddie vedder

 

[Suburban_Nooblet]

I grabbed this book without knowing anything about it in a Chicago train station in 2006.

Read it, loved it.

Then out of nowhere the movie was announced and my hype train built and was totally fulfilled.

They both had a huge impact on me, I think there is a point in every young life when we dream of saying fuck the world, packing a bag and stepping out into the forest but are quickly snapped back into reality. Chris was not, he took the initiative to do what most of us only daydream about and it made for one hell of a story.

 

[Amir0x]

Fucking fantastic movie.

Spoilers: "Happiness only real when shared."

 

[ghst]

So, otherwise you liked it?

if i couldn't comprehend english.

infact, between vedder and the cinematography (atleast, the shots with nobody on screen), i would've probably had a ball.

 

[moist]

and then there's my being a resident of fairbanks, alaska, and the failures of mccandless' last days

l

He should have at least killed himself by falling through the ice into the chena river like everyone else does. Being and outdoorsy type person and living in AK my whole life pretty much killed any possible enjoyment of both this and the Grizzly Man movie. I just sat through the whole movie thinking what a couple of fucking morons they both were.

 

[Mau ®]

How interesting my thread is getting revived. I just got the book last week and started it yesterday.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

It was a fairly decent movie, but good god that guy was a fucking idiot.


I must confess: I occasionally tell my apples they are the apple of my eye when they are particularly juicy.

 

[Marty Chinn]

I can't pinpoint exact details, but movies like these always kinda annoy me in the end because they are supposed to be based off actual events but there is clearly a large section that is completely fiction and made up because nobody was there to witness what happened in those events so they had to make it up on their own. I don't know why, but it always bother me since they stress that it's a true story. That said, this is nowhere near as bad in that regard as Perfect Storm which is mostly completely made up which pisses me off when I got to the end and had no idea that nobody survived. By the end of that, I was like, how the fuck did they know what happened then?

 

[Blader]

I don't know what bothers me more about the film: that McCandless was a dumb kid who died needlessly, or that Sean Penn made money off of it (which, ironically, defeats the whole point).

 

[courage201]

The kid was a dumbass-- not shocking to me that he ended up how he ended up.

Its one of those movies I really never understood.

 

[Rindain]

Awesome movie. Hirsch is the best actor under 30 working today.

 

[hateradio]

^I wouldn't say that, I actually didn't like him all that much in it. But it was a decent movie, I think it was nice overall, but too idealistic, like his pursuits. bv

 

[ronito]

I loved the movie, but yeah I don't view the guy as some hero, not even close, actually I think he's pretty close to darwin award candidate. Honestly I was watching the iditarod a few days ago and was impressed by how much stuff they take even for just a 20 mile trek seeing/reading about how he prepared he wasn't all the way ready, if he had been with someone to help him learn perhaps he could've made it. Which is ironic.

Still a great movie and book.

 

[NomarTyme]

Very good movie. The surrounding cast members really made the movie.

 

[Fatalah]

One of my favorite movies I've seen in the last few years. I had to get the soundtrack after seeing this movie-- I play it as often as a regular album.

 

[dmshaposv]

Excellent film. I can see why everyone sees the protagonist as a selfish asshole, but having witnessed similar scenarios in real life, I can empathize with the rebellious and apathetic nature of the character.

The fact that we didn't get a hollywood-esque happy ending also accentuates the final message of the film - that happiness is only real when shared. It is tragic, but does have catharsis.

 

[Ripenen]

I read the book a couple years ago and then saw the movie in the theaters when it came out. The movie was alright, but a bit too slow and long.

The movie also cut out my favorite parts of the book, like the part where Krakauer details examples of other people going out "into the wild" and living off the land with varying degrees of success. There's also a good part where the author relates one of his own climbing experiences. It's obvious why they didn't include these things in the film, but I guess I would have preferred a documentary.

I'd love to find other non-fiction stories of people living this way.

 

[soul creator]

want to see this soon...I always get the title confused with that Paul Walker/Jessica Alba movie though, lol

 

[Danielsan]

Absolutely loved it. I'm still waiting for the Blu-ray version...
GAF can be so bitter at times. Sure he didn't exactly make the brightest decision but at least he pursued his dreams. I wish I had the stones to pack my bag and just go travel the world and meet people.

 

[Timber]

i saw this right after i finished watching that dylan biopic. it was the most annoying film-watching night ive ever experienced.

far too many superfluous nature shots with ed vedder crooning awkwardly over them.
piss-poor script, but i guess that's what happens when you make a film about the life story of an imbecile. the minor characters barely had reasons to exist in the film other than spouting off their random life stories/philosophies that had fuck all to do with the kid's journey.
film can be mindless entertainment, but i don't think this was intended to be that. so when it ended i was left with one burning question: what was the point? an idiot goes around being dumb and meeting people much smarter than him and ignoring their advice and dying in the end because he was too dumb to live. and all the while it's presented as this wonderful thing, like i'm supposed to find it inspirational, or like the guy is actually going on some meaningful journey. and then, in the end, a walking corpse, he finally finds his meaning:

being alone all the time sucks.

the fuck! everyone knows this. this guy had to die from starvation in some national park to find that out. and when he does die it happens in dramatic fashion and we're supposed to feel something other than a belly laugh coming on.

 

[dmshaposv]

GAF can be so bitter at times. Sure he didn't exactly make the brightest decision but at least he pursued his dreams. I wish I had the stones to pack my bag and just go travel the world and meet people.

Indeed. Escapist GAF unite!

 

[Formless]

Soundtrack was great.

 

[aku:jiki]

This thread and all the haters in it makes me lose more hope than any G-A-F? thread ever could. How did your souls die, guys?

 

[Kyoufu]

Kristen Stewart was cute in this movie.

 

[Solo]

Are you sure? You should watch it 8 more times to be sure.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

This movie is fantastic, to a great extent. The only unfortunate thing is that some people miss the point entirely.

 

[Timber]

The only unfortunate thing is that some people miss the point entirely.

would you please explain it, then? i was completely unable to find any sort of point in it

 

[Sonki.]

This movie somewhat motivated me to hitch-hike across Canada.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

would you please explain it, then? i was completely unable to find any sort of point in it

Myself, I think the point is the exact opposite of what most people think. To me, the movie expresses the notion that it is only our interactions with others and the way in which we strive to make the lives of others better that we can be judged as good or bad people. McCandless was born into a position of wealth and power where he could have made a tangible difference in peoples' lives, where he could have effected some sort of positive societal change. Instead, though, he chooses to cast aside all of that potential for a self-serving journey of 'discovery' without realizing that he's approaching everything from entirely the wrong perspective. In the end, when he writes that happiness is only real when you share it with others, I think he's realized this fact, realized that his escapist venture was entirely the wrong approach to his problems with society, and the tragedy, for me, comes from his inability to return to society and become a more fulfilled person from this realization. In my opinion, it's only at the end that he becomes a sympathetic character. Before his revelation, he's an entirely unsympathetic jerk who has abandoned everybody who cares about him and all of the potential good that he could have done in the world.

 

[Mengy]

I bought this movie on blu-ray for $5 at Wal-mart and finally got around to watching it last weekend. Instead of making a new thread about it I figured I'd just post in this one.

I liked the movie very much, it really makes you think. Funny thing though, I can echo the sentiments of both the lovers and the haters in this thread. Did Chris act like a dick at times? Sure, he did. Did he make some stupid decisions? Hell yes. But he was also right about one thing, we all have a wanderlust inside us. Some more than others, many repress it or are scared of it, but it's in all humans inherently. And it can even be a healthy thing.

Chris's largest problem is that he took it to an extreme. Too much so. He could have done the same journey and not purposefully cut off all contact with his family. He could have made the same trek into the wilds of Alaska and let at least a few people know where he was and what he was doing. He took "loner" to so much of an extreme that in the end it killed him.

I've gone on camping trips into wilderness with very little packed. But I never needed to abandon my entire life, friends, or family to do so. And I always let someone know what I'm doing. I make it a point to go on at least two week long (many times longer) Harley cross country trips per year, where I usually camp every night and basically put my normal life on hold completely. Think Wild Hogs without the comedy and crashing. I am frugal in the sense that I don't buy needless things. Some would say I'm spartan in some regards. It doesn't mean I'm broke, it just means I'm not big on hoarding material things.

Chris went overboard in his lifestyle choice. On one hand I respect him and envy him, but on the other hand I think he's an idiot and super selfish in his actions.

Either way, it's a good character story whether you like it or not, and certainly worth watching at least once if just for the experience of it. A lot can be learned from his decisions, especially from his mistakes.

 

[Last Visible Dog]

I always get him mixed up with Timothy Treadwell ...

 

[FO-totality]

Holy thread revival Batman!



The guy just seemed like a moron, honestly. Idealistic to a massive fault.