Into The Wild

MrJoeSoap

Just caught about 10 seconds of Vince Vaughn on Oprah, and he mentioned his future projects included a film called "Into The Wild", based on what he called a "great book". I just thought, no... not Chris McCandless...

Checked IMDB and sure enough, they're making a film of Chris McCandless' life. Now I'm not really sure what to make of it all. McCandless is one of my heroes, an absolute legend in every sense of the word, and the more people that are touched by his story the better.

However, a Hollywood movie might slightly trivialise his life, and I'm fairly sure Chris himself would not have approved of such a project.

Has anyone else read the book, or has anyone an opinion on the film being made?

For anyone who hasn't ever heard of Chris "Alexander Supertramp" McCandless, heres a decent synopsis:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_McCandless

MrJoeSoap

Saw in todays Sunday Times that the film is being shown "in selected cinema's" from November 9th.

Anyone know if it is out here next week too? Any particular cinema's in Dublin showing it, or is it on full release?

Driver 8

It'll be out here friday at the cinemas you'd expect it to be in. You know-vue, a couple of uci's, cineworld etc.

radooo

i am also very curious about this movie. anyone knows which cinema will be showing this movie on friday?

MrJoeSoap

Having checked the UCI website I'd imagine all the UCI's will be. Have you read the book radooo? I'd recommend it before seeing the film.

Creature

I was actually thinking about getting that book. So I take it its good then?

Petey2006

He always struck me as somewhat of an idiot, to be perfectly honest. It's a noble idea, giving everything away, going into the wild and living off the land. However, it also takes skill and experience, neither of which McCandless had. So basically, he just walked to his death. I'll see the movie. But this romantacised view of someone who just wasn't very smart probably wont change my mind.

ronano

it's coming out on friday in cineworld

lostexpectation

bit like grizzly man, less stupid but still stupid

Jello

Haven't enjoyed much of Penn's efforts as a director so far but I'm really looking forward to this. Reviews sound very promising.

MrJoeSoap

Petey2006 wrote: »

He always struck me as somewhat of an idiot, to be perfectly honest. It's a noble idea, giving everything away, going into the wild and living off the land. However, it also takes skill and experience, neither of which McCandless had. So basically, he just walked to his death. I'll see the movie. But this romantacised view of someone who just wasn't very smart probably wont change my mind.

lostexpectation wrote: »

bit like grizzly man, less stupid but still stupid

Can't see how you thought he was "stupid" or an "idiot". He had principles, followed them, and led a more fulfilling life than what he would have had he not the courage of his convictions. I wouldn't call anyone who gives everything they have earned to charity either of those terms.

It's romanticised because the guy was very much liked by most people he met, very few had anything bad to say about him. He was underprepared, unskilled and inexperienced, but he was also quite unlucky in how he died, and I'm sure the film will reflect that.

I guess its just that he was different, he gave up a comfortable and monotonous life for something more adventurous, and paid the ultimate price for his sacrifice.

evad_lhorg

I saw this today. really enjoyed it. its very moving and to be honest I cant stop thinking about it since I got home from the cinema.

MrJoeSoap

evad_lhorg wrote: »

I saw this today. really enjoyed it. its very moving and to be honest I cant stop thinking about it since I got home from the cinema.

Great to hear this, I'm sure thats the aim of the film. Where did you see it? Will definitely go to see it tomorrow if I can.

evad_lhorg

I got tickets to an advanced screening in UGC through screenclick

Gillie

Looking forward to seeing this one too.

Don't know too much about who it's based on but I was thinking of buying the book too. The story really appeals to me.

muppetkiller

Great soundtrack too , It's all done by Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam

Running Bing

lostexpectation wrote: »

bit like grizzly man, less stupid but still stupid

I assume your talking about the bloke and not the film?

Grizzly mans a documentary.

Mr. Bones

Read the book a few weeks ago, and have to say that McCandless just came across as a naive young fella, who couldn't adjust to adult life & the real world and to write him up as some sort of hero is kinda over the top in my view. OK, he gave $24,000 to charity, but i'm pretty sure most of that came from his parents anyway who seemed to be reasonably well off and would have set him up again with a few bob if needs be. The guy met and had a good impression on a few like-minded people while on his travels but what about the suffering he put his family through? It's not like he trekked off to Africa to help a tribe suffering with AIDS and got lost in the jungle or something and died. He wasn't a firefighter who died in the line of work, or a doctor or nurse or any type of hero at all. Just a kid with his head too far stuck up his own ass or in some "important" book to avoid putting himself in a situation which resulted in his death.

Jesus Wept

mmm, was going to say, I really don't understand how he could be a Hero of anyones.

yabadabado

so many people see the film yet after reading the book he came across as a bit of a idiot who in the end hadnt a clue wot he was doing ,he more or less committed suicide.with very little preparation he wud have survived out on that trail it was the middle of summer. a few things i have read about him since have suggested he mite have been insane.

Jello

Put a spoiler tag in there for f*ck sake, yabadabado. :mad: If the film is true to the book then you've just ruined the ending!

MrJoeSoap

And get rid of the text speak, it does you no favours.

Jello

Absolutely fantastic film, one of the best I've seen all year. Amazing cinematography, brilliantly directed by Sean Penn and an exceptional performance from Emile Hirsch, both deserve full credit for this. A great story that was very well told.

Looking forward now to reading the book...

randomchild

Really poignant film, some great cameo appearences throughout. A really good road movie. Go watch it, you will not be dissapointed.

supertramp

Mr. Bones wrote: »

OK, he gave $24,000 to charity, but i'm pretty sure most of that came from his parents anyway who seemed to be reasonably well off and would have set him up again with a few bob if needs be. .

It was inheritance from his aunt. Same principle though, he hadn't 'earned' it.

My sister called McCandless as selfish. I would say very harsh for the way he didn't tell his parents.
Everyone has a right to stand by their principles. He hated his parents and had stood by his own principle.
I don't agree with what he did to be stupid. I admire him for it. Technology is closing in, and there is little wilderness left. He lasted a lot longer than most people who have done the same. And there have been many.
He never made a stupid mistake. He was surviving adequately. The plant that killed him was registered as a non-toxic plant. Other than that he was well capable.
He is a better role model than any other types of 'celebrities' or politicians in the world.

MrJoeSoap

supertramp wrote: »

The plant that killed him was registered as a non-toxic plant.

I think that he just mistook it for another plant that was non-toxic.

supertramp

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

I think that he just mistook it for another plant that was non-toxic.

According to Jon Krakauer, the book lists the plant was non-toxic. For most of the year it is, but a certain time, it's seeds are poisonous. Or, so I gathered.

johnny_ultimate

Saw this earlier and thought it was a little better than I expected. The direction and cinematography actually had a bit of flair and energy to them, which was pleasantly surprising. The film was very engaging and was definitely a story worth telling (and it's told well here). No fault with the cast either. Hirsch is excellent, and some great but smallish performances from Catherine Keener and the like. However, it did feel overlong, and we could have done with less monologues about living life and all that jazz. Oh, and most of the characters tended to turn on the waterworks a little too easily, which was a little incredible.

Otherwise, its a fascinating story competently handled which makes for a suprisingly assured number from Penn.

aurel

I thoroughly enjoyed the film. Penn's direction is spot on and all of the performances do the job nicely. With regard to the discussion of the man I found his quest inspiring and brave and it's all too easy to sneer at the conclusion without appreciating how lack of preparation and foul luck both played their part.

senordingdong

I saw the movie and found it very entertaining. Above all else. It was very entertaining.
Even though I don't agree with alot of his principles and this and that etc...

L31mr0d

watched this movie last night and I enjoyed it. however more from a nostalga point of view when I went on my clichéd trip of self discovery. Which this movie pretty much is, your run-o-the-mill road trip/adventure/self discovery movie. Supertramp wasn't anything special, a lot of people do what he did every year when they graduate although in europe they tend to head east. The difference with this person was his selfishness. He seemed not man enough to confront his fears and demons and instead he just ran away from them.

What made this movie entertaining for me was the people he met and how they all seemed to have their heads screwed on but couldn't convince supertramp of the errors of his ways.

what the ending showed was how free he wasn't. When truly disconnected from society by that river he couldn't survive. He felt that burning his money removed his link to society but the movie showed he needed his tenuous link to people and the world to ultimately survive and help him, whether it be handouts, jobs or simple lifts from people. He also needed this human connection, eloquently emphasized in his final scrawlings in Tolstoys "family happiness". For me supertramps story was neither enviable nor admirable, but a warning that true freedom and happiness is found in friendship and companionship and not in solitude and isolation

MrJoeSoap

L31mr0d wrote: »

watched this movie last night and I enjoyed it. however more from a nostalga point of view when I went on my clichéd trip of self discovery. Which this movie pretty much is, your run-o-the-mill road trip/adventure/self discovery movie. Supertramp wasn't anything special, a lot of people do what he did every year when they graduate although in europe they tend to head east. The difference with this person was his selfishness. He seemed not man enough to confront his fears and demons and instead he just ran away from them.

What made this movie entertaining for me was the people he met and how they all seemed to have their heads screwed on but couldn't convince supertramp of the errors of his ways.

what the ending showed was how free he wasn't. When truly disconnected from society by that river he couldn't survive. He felt that burning his money removed his link to society but the movie showed he needed his tenuous link to people and the world to ultimately survive and help him, whether it be handouts, jobs or simple lifts from people. He also needed this human connection, eloquently emphasized in his final scrawlings in Tolstoys "family happiness". For me supertramps story was neither enviable nor admirable, but a warning that true freedom and happiness is found in friendship and companionship and not in solitude and isolation

Whilst I don't agree with some of your points, I do think that your view on the ending is correct. He was shown to have

seen the error of his ways, just too late.

I think I'll watch this again later.

Valmont

I heard about the film being made and I thought it sounded interesting so I bought the book and read it 3weeks before the film came out. The book was excellently crafted and very gripping. The film was surprisingly good but it had a few obvious flaws and a great soundtrack.

Suffice to say, I got a job(J1) in the town of Healy , Alaska for the whole summer and I'll be making the pilgrimage to bus 142 that's for sure:D

Peyton Manning

for ****s sake would some of you **** learn how to use spoiler tags :mad::mad:

KStaford

I was lucky enough to spend the summer of 2006 living and working in Alaska. I actually hiked into the bus where he died. It was a 3 day hike through bear country. While we were in AK Sean Penn and a film crew were there at the same time although we never saw or met them. They filmed some of the scenes in AK but most were shot in the southern states. The bus scenes were not shot at the bus, but rather at a made up replica a few miles south of where the bus actually is.

Photos here
Diary here (read 2nd aug onwards for bus hike)

Valmont

KStaford wrote: »

I was lucky enough to spend the summer of 2006 living and working in Alaska. I actually hiked into the bus where he died. It was a 3 day hike through bear country. While we were in AK Sean Penn and a film crew were there at the same time although we never saw or met them. They filmed some of the scenes in AK but most were shot in the southern states. The bus scenes were not shot at the bus, but rather at a made up replica a few miles south of where the bus actually is.

Photos here
Diary here (read 2nd aug onwards for bus hike)

They're great photos, looks like an amazing place. What sort of job did you have in Denali? What advice could you give me? I'm going to Alaska for my J1 and hope to be around Denali

KStaford

Val
I'm happy to advise and discuss so if interested, pm me.

WooPeeA

KStaford, amazing pictures! Wish to visit Alaska one day. So huge and only few hundred thousand of people. Sounds very wild, isn't it?


The movie is great! One of the best I've seen!

I have a friend, she's really big fan of that movie. She told me that real story is a little different than film. One of the differences is the fact that Christopher McCandless didn't get poisoned. Nobody know the reason of his death. But the official cause is starvation.

jill_valentine

I'm guessing spoiler tags are redundant at this stage in the thread...

I dunno, I can sympathise with McCandless' reasons for doing what he did and all, but I just can't help thinking of him as naive and selfish. What he did was, like a previous poster suggested, essentially suicide. I don't think it was courageous to run away.

However, he is the subject of my favourite song in the history of time, Neighborhood #2... ( http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=3vMjM7FKjIg
) so it's not all bad.

MrJoeSoap

WooPeeA wrote: »

KStaford, amazing pictures! Wish to visit Alaska one day. So huge and only few hundred thousand of people. Sounds very wild, isn't it?


The movie is great! One of the best I've seen!

I have a friend, she's really big fan of that movie. She told me that real story is a little different than film. One of the differences is the fact that Christopher McCandless didn't get poisoned. Nobody know the reason of his death. But the official cause is starvation.

Biographer Jon Krakauer has suggested two factors which may have contributed to McCandless's death in August, 1992. First, he was running the risk of starvation due to his increased activity, compared with the leanness of the game he was hunting. [4] However, Krakauer insists that starvation was not, as McCandless' death certificate states, the primary cause of death. Initially, Krakauer claimed that McCandless might have ingested toxic seeds (Hedysarum alpinum). However, extensive laboratory testing proved conclusively that there was no alkaloid toxin present in McCandless' food supplies. In later editions of the book, therefore, Krakauer has maintained that a fungus Rhizoctonia leguminicola managed to grow on the seeds McCandless ate. However, there remains no evidence to support Krakauer's theory, and all available forensic data suggests that McCandless simply starved.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_McCandless

WooPeeA

Yeah, he had to create some end of the story. And probably he chose the best one.

No matter how he died Christopher McCandless was amazing and inspiring person.

Thx for your post MrJoeSoap

Aedh Baclamh

What's amazing and inspiring about someone that leaves everyone behind, sets off into the wilderness without having the first clue about how to survive, and ends up needing the help of those he left behind?

WooPeeA

Aedh Baclamh wrote: »

What's amazing and inspiring about someone that leaves everyone behind, sets off into the wilderness without having the first clue about how to survive, and ends up needing the help of those he left behind?

He did what he always dreamed about. Most of the people are afraid of reach for the things they are really dreaming about. He realized that there's only one life, that's why he did it. He never stoped to believe that it's possible. And that's why he got it.

Aedh Baclamh

Most people realise that their dreams are far beyond their reach. This guy thought he could do this and quite obviously he wasn't.

Fighting Irish

Great movie, great soundtrack

cabra64

The film was really inspiring i felt. I saw it in the cinema and enjoyed the whole experience. i was looking forward to getting the soundtrack too but when i checked it on amazon the reviews were positive but it seemed to be more Eddie Vedder solo album instead of the actual soundtrack. apparently a chap called Charlie Musselwhite played the harmonica which added greatly to the film but isn't featured on the soundtrack. Iv got this info from amazon reviews, so corrections would be welcome and appreciated.

Valmont

I could only find the Eddie Vedder solo album version. I was just after the credits song and it's number 7 on the album anyway so i just got that track

Violate_Me

BUMP

Just want to say that while I've never been a fan of Pearl Jam, this soundtrack is awesome and fits wonderfully into a beaufitul film