Average family fare has the face man (Benedict) a pilot and widowed father to two teenage kids, one of whom is struggling with the transition to manhood, manifest in his strained relationship with his father and general disaffection for his adopted home of Alaska. Benedict sets out on a late-evening flight as wild weather approaches, and predictably, his plane crashes leaving his kids potential orphans. Not content to accept the presumed verdict, his kids mount a life or death mission through the Alaskan wilderness to locate their father, with a curious polar bear cub leading their way, and a pair of poachers on their trail.
Heston's son directs this formulaic adventure tale with glorious scenery and cinematography and a few reasonable stunts involving wild river rapids, and precarious mountain climbs. Heston is uncharacteristically low-key, mainly a background character, although he does command the more grandiose dialogue and manages to snare most of the one-liners. Like him or loathe him, he's understated and his presence has little overall impact on the quality of the film, other than to give his son's film a marquee headline.
The hallmarks of "Call of the Wild" and "White Fang" are present, the polar bear cub is cute-as-a-button, and Tootoosis' sage advice on human interaction with the local ecology, gives the film a conservation quality that is appropriate for the kids. Obviously it's clichéd and predictable with few surprises, but if you're after a sincere family friendly film the kids can comfortably watch under limited supervision, then the Hestons' "Alaska" should tick the box.
Heston's son directs this formulaic adventure tale with glorious scenery and cinematography and a few reasonable stunts involving wild river rapids, and precarious mountain climbs. Heston is uncharacteristically low-key, mainly a background character, although he does command the more grandiose dialogue and manages to snare most of the one-liners. Like him or loathe him, he's understated and his presence has little overall impact on the quality of the film, other than to give his son's film a marquee headline.
The hallmarks of "Call of the Wild" and "White Fang" are present, the polar bear cub is cute-as-a-button, and Tootoosis' sage advice on human interaction with the local ecology, gives the film a conservation quality that is appropriate for the kids. Obviously it's clichéd and predictable with few surprises, but if you're after a sincere family friendly film the kids can comfortably watch under limited supervision, then the Hestons' "Alaska" should tick the box.