Customer Reviews

Survival Quest (Amazon.com Exclusive) [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a seriously underrated film, and one which is well worth your time. A group of disparate characters sign up for one of those "Outward Bound" type classes, and learn that survival in the wilderness is not about who can get to the top of the heap and win the money, but about who you can rely on to help you stay alive.

I love this one. The scenery is incredibly beautiful, and Lance Henriksen plays one of the good guys. Watch for Dermot Mulroney -who met his future wife, Catherine Keener, on this film - looking young and vulnerable as a young punk set on the paths of righteousness by Lance's character. Look for Mark Rolston who played Drake in Aliens as the paranoid leader of the rival survival school. "They haven't dropped the bomb...yet." Lots of fun and a nice antidote to all those highly questionable "real world" shows.

I first checked this film out many years ago because of Lance Henricksen. He's a fine, under-appreciated actor. And very good here as 'mountain man' Hank Chambers, head of the wilderness survival program. But it is a very young Dermot Mulroney that steals the show. He portrays a jailed delinquent being put through camp for rehabilitation purposes. Each character that signs up for the course has their own set of quirks and vague backstories. The clash between the wilderness trainees and the military group is the center of the story that sets in motion the campers need to implement their fresh training in order to save themselves...There are the sterotypical characters commonly found in films with the 'let's work as a team' theme. And there is some 'hammy' dialogue, esp. at the end but it is over all a really good little movie. There is humor and action and some nice character development and good performances. For the behind the scenes info - it was on set of this film that Dermot Mulroney met costar Catherine Keener, to whom he has been married for about 17 years. Don't go into this film expecting "Demolition Man" or "Die Hard" type action. See it as a character driven indie film then you'll appreciate it much more.

This one is a good movie if you like the coming of age teen movies. Lance Hienrikson is a great teacher and role model for the kids that are out in the wilderness to learn more about themselves and how they view the world and how the world views them. Everyone one of them is put to the test when it comes to testing their stregnth and weakness and with a surprise as to who is the strongest of them all.

This is a jewel of a movie from 1989. It is high on drama, action & has some great characters that you can really relate too. You really root for them through the whole movie. LANCE HENRIKSEN stars as the leader of the survival camp/guru & is great as always. DERMOT MULRONEY has a supporting role as a young con looking for redemption.

I had seen this in VHS when it first became available around 1990. As I
was a big fan of Don Coscarelli, the director, because of his early films
"Kenny and Co.", and "Phantasm", as well as his first feature "Jim, the
World's Greatest" (not available), I bought and rewatched this film, which probably
would not have interested me had I not known who made it. As it turned
out, it is better than many of his recent efforts, though somewhat uneven. It concerns a group of average and fully believable adults who decide to take a survival
course in the Sierras, and little known to them, a competing survivalist
group led by a jerk much like the bully teacher in "The Karate Kid". The
ensuing events are tense, violent, but at times silly and overdone to the
point of absurdity. It would have been better if the mean guys weren't
quite so evil and childish. Still, an entertaining movie if you are in
the mood for an undemanding, but often exciting and interesting study of
what survivalist courses may be like, at least regarding the first of the two.

This is a gem that has slipped by many people including myself until recently when I rented it. I have always enjoyed survival movies but this one ranks among some of the best I have seen and yet word of mouth has not given it the credit due. To be honest I am not a big fan of the other movies advertised with it including Phantasm. In fact I was prepared to shut off the movie based on the pre-movie trailers as I thought it might be a gorefest. I was glad I gave it a chance as Lance Henriksen and the rest the cast do a great job in this survival adventure. A small group signs on for a survival trek into the wilderness at the same time a paramilitary group is conducting drills with weapons. When the two groups clash things get dicey since the survivalist don't have weapons and must rely on each other to make it out alive. There are some injuries but the bloodletting is minimal and done well. Realistically handled it doesn't stretch outside the realm of believability. I am not sure why the R rating as only one short bare breasts scene and a little violence doesn't seem to warrant that rating to me. If you enjoy survival movies or adventures I recommend you give it a chance. If you enjoyed this be sure to catch The River Wild.

CA Luster