Product Details

• Actors: Toran Caudell, Victor Rojas
• Format: NTSC
• Subtitles: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Studio: Lions Gate Home Entertainment
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000243W4A
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #165,742 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Max is forced to vacation in Peru with his historian dad and his new girlfriend.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great movie to use in a Spanish language classroom., November 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Max Is Missing [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Not only is the storyline great but much can be learned about the culture of Peru and the history of the Inca. Kids, as well as adults, love following the boys as they make their way through Peru and get a good look at the country, geography, and people as well. The adventure keeps you in suspense. At the end of the video you'll be saying "Goooooood-byeeeee."

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a great action flick, but scenery and Incan topic are ok, April 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Max Is Missing [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I use this film with my 6th grade students to show some of the scenery of Peru, along with some Incan traditions. The situation (a boy dragged along on a trip with his father and girlfriend) is something the students can relate to as well, since many kids today are from split families. The action and the acting in the movie are not topnotch, but acceptable. Again, the movie serves a purpose in my classroom, to give my students a better idea of what Peru is like.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Machu Picchu, Sacsayhuaman and Cuzco Come Alive!, March 10, 2010

By 

James M. Cayon "ogam5" (Northampton, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Max is Missing (DVD)

While undeniably a movie made for pre-teens, "Max Is Missing" features some spectacular Peruvian scenery including not just majestic Andean ridges and peaks, but a rollicking barrel ride down the Urubamba River and plenty of Cuzco, the Incan capital city. Somewhat bumbling but ruthless crooks led by the always-menacing Charles Napier have gotten their hands on a Pachacuti idol after forcing one of their own who tried to abscond with it over a cliff to his death at Machu Picchu, but not before the man has secreted the native artifact in young Max's backpack.

In his flight from the huaqueros, Max (Toran Caudell) is targeted by Juanito (Victor Rojas), a spry, swift, switchback-traversing Indian huckster around the same age that insists upon condescendingly calling him 'Jim' and resorts to making him feel guilty through spite when unable to talk Max out of his portable CD player, deciding instead to run off with his backpack and comes upon its treasure when the American demonstrates a disproportionate concern about it .....there's also been a bit of friction between Max and Robbie, his journalist father, even before getting off the train at the mountain's base for a notoriously harrowing bus trip up to the site; he resents him for beginning to see Rebecca, the pixie-ish photographer accompanying them, presumably too soon after divorcing his mother.

Admittedly, the strained ties between father and son is a somewhat worn plot device but when "Max Is Missing" does occasionally drag, the rugged backdrop salvages it; tumbling down the rapids in seemingly mortal peril and seeing the shore rush by, Max and Juanito don't have any choice but to work together and eventually thwart Becker's slightly inept heavies, but not before Robbie and Rebecca are kidnapped, to Max's understandable horror. Their path leads them to the museum in Cuzco through a Quechua mystic woman's puzzling forecast for their future, as well as a climactic confrontation at the cyclopean fortress walls of Sacsayhuaman, the timely native reenactment subtly lit by torches and assisted by the sympathetic museum curator's brother.

"Max Is Missing" acts as both a fantastic travelogue and young adult tale of self-discovery. I highly recommend this made-for-cable movie to anyone that has a deep appreciation of Machu Picchu and the Incan culture, or even those who just want to vicariously experience it for the first time!