Customer Reviews

My Side of the Mountain [VHS]

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

The novel MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN by Jean Craighead-George is outstanding. The 1969 movie based on the book is not nearly as a good. The movie strays away from the story entirely too much. I really don't see the reason why the movie does this either. The novel would have made the perfect screenplay. The worst change of all is the death of Sam Gribley's falcon, Frightful, by a hunter in the middle of the film. Another big change is the addition of a pet raccoon named Gus, which also was not in the book. The ending was a yet another disappointing change. There were at least 25 other differences that I spotted between the book and the movie too.

As a teacher I still use this movie after my students have read the novel. However, I use it to prove my point that the novel is usually better then the movie. I also have my students try to find as many differences between the two as they can.

I think that an updated version of this movie, that follows the writing of Jean Craighead-George, would be big a big hit today.

If you never read the novel then the movie is fairly good. It does remind you of the old Sunday night Disney movie that use to be on television. If you have read the book, then it is disappointing.

As a fifth grade teacher who shows this movie to my class AFTER they read the novel, I find that they prefer the book. Why? There is more detail in the book, and they don't appreciate the unrealistic scene with Frightful in the middle. However, the movie does serve a valuable purpose, which is why I show it each year. We get to meet the majestic Frightful, hear her shrill cry, appreciate her soaring beauty. It's also interesting to see the inside of Sam's tree, and to have a real face put to Bando. But, for the true experience, the book by Jean Craighead George MUST be read!!

I saw this movie over 20 yrs ago. My wife recently purchased the video from Amazon.com and this movie was loved by my whole family. It doesn't get much better than this and the movie reminds me some of the old Walt Disney shows several years ago on sunday nights when i was a kid. Of course, i still think movies are no comparison to Books, but if you just look at movies then this movie can't be beat. The boy goes to the mountains to live off the land, learn about nature and conduct his experiments and learn about himself. It's wonderful!

I saw this movie when it came out at the theater when I was 13. I loved the outdoors and this movie was right up my alley. The relationship between the young boy and falcon really peaked my curiosity. Later, at the age of 19, I became a falconer myself and have flown many different birds of prey over the last 32 years. For the first time in my life, I plan to get a peregrine falcon and I thought it would be nostalgic to go back and see the movie that got me started. I obviously thought the movie was great.

I can't add much to the other reviews but wanted to throw in my support for a remake of this movie. After finally getting around to reading the Newbery Honor book, I *so* wanted to like the movie but am sad to report that it fell short of my high expectations. Instead, I watched in disappointment as a boy I had imagined as a quiet, intense loner turned out to be Beaver Cleaver.

I realize "the times" probably caused some of the changes they made, but I think we can trust today's adolescents not to run away to live on a mountain. Remake it, Disney, and do it true to the book this time!! Don't make Bando seem like a scary child molester, don't give Sam a "reason" to go out on his own (algae experiments?? was that in the book?), don't give him a pet raccoon, don't make him go home at the end, and above all, DON'T kill Frightful!

Sam was believable, he just had a bad script. 3 stars for effort.

This was the worst movie I have seen in my life! Oh sure, the book was wonderful, but the movie DIDN'T follow the book at all! I could have named at least twenty things that went wrong! And worst of all . . . Frightful, his beautiful peregrine falcon is shot by a hunter! That didn't happen in the book, for sure! Anybody who knows Georg's excelent work would know what I mean! Besides, George wrote two more books about Frightful, or at least with frightful in them! Get the book . . . Not the movie!

This was probably the worst movie our family has ever watched. We painfully sat through it until the end. This movie was a complete misrepresentation of the book. It was inaccurate and did not follow the book at all. I would recommend the book for sure and our family really enjoyed it. Unfortunately this movie falls short in so many ways. It portrayed hunters as "poachers", it did not show living off the land as the book described. The movie fell short in many areas and the ending was especially disappointing since in the book, Frightful--the falcon--did not die ---nor did he get killed by a bad, ugly hunter as this movie protrayed. Whoever wrote this movie must be some environmentalist who hates hunters. In the end of the book the character --Sam's family comes to live with him. In this sad excuse of a movie---none of this happens. My children who are 11 & 9 picked out several ways this movie was untrue to the book. My son says it was painful to sit through and we all agree. It would be nice if someone would do a movie that is accurate and true to the book. Don't waste your time with this movie. I am so sorry that I wasted my money. The music was terribly irritating and the fake falcon the boy was chasing was very poor quality. Even our children picked up on how fake it was. This is one movie we could have done without. There ought to be a law about using the title of a really good book and destroying it by such an awful film. Not that I want to see any more laws. --just a figure of speech.

Read the book. Nothing beats a great book.

I have never forgiven this movie for destroying one of my favorite childhood books by completely reversing the message: the book is strongly affirming that you *can* succeed with enough determination and luck, whereas the movie changes that into "ok, you've had your fun, come back to the real world and be a lemming with the rest of us, it's dangerous out there and you shouldn't even try".

The book,"My Side Of The Mountain" is full of adventure, wilderness, and suvival. When young Sam Gribley decided to run away from his crowded New York City home into the Catskill Mountains, Sam realizes life on his own in the wilderness isnt as easy as he thought. With only a few items on hand, Sam had to fight freezing winters, and mouth drying summers, but to help him through it all, Sam managed to make some new friends. Over all,"My Side OF The Mountain," was a great book, especially for young readers such as me.

I've had the book for many many years and I would reread it yearly for the purpose of going back in time when my cares were small and I enjoyed it better then. I even had the beta version of the movie and did not like the movie, not the people but it did not follow the book and I think it deserves a new movie and one about the follow up book too. My book has tape all over to keep it together and now that I am unable to work I prefer to live in my books and especially my side of the mountain. I would love to make a movie that follows the book more closely and I believe that it would make the greatest weekly show for small ones and big ones like me. I'm 48 and I've had my book over 30 years and would suggest it to anyone that would enjoy living off the land. Simply written and its held my interest for years. HGH