Customer Reviews

Shiloh

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

We loved the movie very much...my 9 and 5 year old girls loved it, especially the ending. We didn't find it too scary at all.

However, both my 9 year old and I enjoyed the book far more...it gave such a deeper insight into Marty's heart, and into the world of a boy and his dog. We were both very affected by the book; it made an impression on us that the movie did not.

I especially did not like the addition of another child, a girl, into the story. It seemed Hollywood wanted to add a little childhood flirting to make the movie more sellable. That just served as a distraction from this fine story. There were many differences from the book, but this was the one that irked me.

It still was a very good movie with a heartwarming ending. If you haven't read the book, you'll like it even more cause you won't be comparing differences.

This is a story of a boy who goes for a walk one day through his West Virginia town and a beagle, Shiloh, follows him home. The boy, Marty Preston, discovers that the dog has an abusive owner. The boy's own family is very poor and can not afford a pet; also, his father is a firm believer that, abused or not, the dog has an owner and he must be returned. They give the dog back but Shiloh escapes again, and when he turns up outside the Preston home, Marty hides him up a hill behind their house. If you've never read the novel by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, I suppose you might like this movie; however, I'm a fan of the book and I've read it a few times with my language arts classes, and in comparison, the movie is terrible. The family does not appear to be poor, an integral part of the story, and the main character, Marty, is often disrespectful, something he never is in the book. Both of these aspects are important to the story, because they help you to understand why the family can not keep a dog, why Marty has some difficulty in standing up for himself, etc. And then there's the ending: horrible! The novel has a complex, beautiful ending, one in which you begin to understand the mean dog owner, Judd, and why he is abusive. He and the main character's hostile relationship evolves into something almost like friendship, and it is so well written, it is believable. In the movie, instead of us seeing that, we see instead what some idiot director must have thought of as a more suspenseful ending. If you truly want a family treat, read the novel aloud to your kids!

SHILOH is an entertaining movie the whole family can enjoy. It especially stresses the importance of children taking responsibility for their pets, and the movie also has a warm family relationship. While it's pacing is rather slow, the story of how a young boy rescues a beagle from an abusive owner should keep even the smaller kids involved. The cast does well in their roles: Blake Heron shines as little Marty, determined to provide a good home for the mistreated Shiloh; Scott Wilson is appropriately evil as the dog's abusive owner; Michael Moriarty and Ann Dowd do well as the parents; and Rod Steiger and Bonnie Bartlett are fine as the elderly couple who befriend the young boy.
SHILOH is refreshing entertainment for the whole family.

This is an entertaining movie IF you've never read the book. If you have read the book then this recreation will be a bit of a disappointment. It is definetly a relatively poor representation of a wonderful story. I use it to "prove" to my students that books are far better than their movie counterparts... to my delight my young students come to this same conclusion after watching without me actively trying to convince them of it. Don't get me wrong, it's an ok movie and worth watching, but without a doubt it's lacking.

I absolutely adored the "Shiloh" series of books, and was a little skeptical about watching this movie. However, the movie remained quite true to the book, and completely captured the message of the book as well. The acting is exceptional. I disagree with the previous reviewer's statement about letting young children watch this movie. I have a 2 and 1/2 year old boy, and he was having a problem with hitting our dog. I showed this movie to him, and though I'm sure most of it went over his head, he understood that hitting dogs is bad, and that dogs need love. He's been great with the dog ever since. Sounds simple, but it's a powerful message, and one that needs to be taught to the youngest of children. Animal cruelty among children in this country is at a shocking all-time high, and compassion needs to be stressed at a very early age. I highly recommend this movie to anyone, any age.

When someone needs him. When an abusive hunter's Beagle escapes and takes refuge with Marty's family, the boy realizes he's the dog's only hope.

If only we can be what our dogs believe we are. That uncompromising love made a young boy a man. You see Marty slowly changing as he learns new skills and devotes his life to saving an animal that was counting on him.

It's a great family story and one that even a cat lover could relate to. Well done and well worth seeing over and over.

Sure the acting was a bit stiff, and the story too much like an after school special, but the movie was just a cute little thing to watch on a Sunday night at home.

This movie is GREAT!!! Ok the dog was abused but he wasn't abused in the whole movie like on Call of the Wild. And the dog got saved by Marty. I LOVED how the dog is saved and everything turns out ok! When I first saw the movie I was SO Pleased to see that the dog had a good family at the end! The music is WONDERFUL!!!!!!!! I LOVED this movie!
Please buy it!
It shows kids to fight for whats right!

My mother really enjoyed this movie. It was heart warming and a great movie for the whole family.

I love this DVD. I watched on Animal Planet "On the set of Shiloh" which made me to buy this DVD. I watched Shiloh twice and I love it.