I read the book and then watched the movie about a young kid who's dream is to live off the land in Alaska.He goes to Alaska with basicly nothing but a .22 rifle,no map,no compass.I thought he was nuts!

I read the book but have not yet seen the movie.
Entertaining reading but the young man obviously had mental problems which tends to diminish any "profound" message that might otherwise have come from the story of his short life. It pains me to support Sean Penn, movie producer but I'll probably see the movie eventually.

quote:

Originally posted by RiflemanZ:
I read the book and then watched the movie about a young kid who's dream is to live off the land in Alaska.He goes to Alaska with basicly nothing but a .22 rifle,no map,no compass.I thought he was nuts!

He was NUTS that's why he is DEAD!!
Alaska's weather accelerates the Cleansing of the Gene Pool!!

The book sucked,the movie sucks and the kid was plain stupid. How did hollywood get a hold of this trash?

I read the book but do not plan on seeing the movie. To many people are already making a hero out of this guy who had no business being in the wilderness by himself or without being fully prepared for it. I've been to that bus many times and read the shit that has been written about him in that journal. The guy went in unprepapared and died because of it, that does not make him a hero IMO.

No way in hades I would see a Sean Penn movie

I have no Idea why I enjoyed the movie, but I did. This guy was raised in a society (ours)where everything necessary for life comes easy. He survived only 112 days of life in the wild, despite having a .22, a machete, shelter and having killed a moose--which apparently he had no idea how to dry or smoke. I was impressed by the realism of the film--on location everywhere, and the movie's main character looked like he damned near starved himself to death for the final scenes. The actual guy--who knows whether he was driven by screwy ideals or by undisclosed demons. He was foolish, beyond doubt.
If I had known Sean Penn had anything to do with it, I probably wouldn't have watched it.

I read the book, watched the movie and thoroughly enjoyed both! To portray the young man as a hero is certainly inaccurate, but I didn't get that impression from either venue. I think the story of "Alexander Supertramp" is a very good tale about shunning modern society and pursuing what he saw as the simple or natural life. Alexanders painful death was and remains a very real possibility in any adventurers life.

I respect and admire the courage he showed in the willingness to set off on his own. I feel sorry that he did so in Alaska un educated or un prepared, but that was his choice. I believe that I or we can admire or salute his alternative life choices all the while understanding his predictable misfortune.

I suspect all of us know people that have no adventurous spirit, no interest in anything outside their condominium door or office cubicle. I once knew a 26 year old woman that always wanted to live in the same town as her parents so she could have Sunday night dinner with them every week. I respect her much less than I do the vagabond.

As to supporting Sean Penn, I appreciate or enjoy his profession of acting or film making. His politics are every bit as unimportant to me as is the politics of Brittany Spears, The Dixie Chicks, Paris Hilton, a five year old little boy or my drunken neighbor. Mr Penn is an entertainer and at least I think should be considered as just that. I find it very odd that our society would give any extraordinary creedence to the opinions of these amatuer political critics.

I practically am the book/movie. And yes, I've seen both, posthumously of course.

I refuse to support people who I find politically or personally offensive. Mr. Penn is outstanding in that he is both politically and persoinally offensive to me. I refuse to put a bite of food in his mouth and/or give him a platform to speak from. As this is the USA, you are free to do as you please. Perhaps, you may want to rethink your position, as Mr. Penn would be happy to dictate to you what you can think.

His this the guy who ended dead in a school bus or the one that died in a tent.
I've heard of two of these storys.

This jogged my memorey we had a young man who tried this in northen Wis. back in th e early 80's. I was invjolved in his case He built a shack out of old windows ect.

He was living on road kill and ended up shooting and eating the neingborhood dogs.

We ended up commiting him to the nut house before he ended up starving to death.
He was a little wakco also. Never did find out what happen after the hospital stay. His parents were very glad to get him some help.

quote:

Originally posted by buckeyeshooter:
I refuse to support people who I find politically or personally offensive. Mr. Penn is outstanding in that he is both politically and persoinally offensive to me. I refuse to put a bite of food in his mouth and/or give him a platform to speak from. As this is the USA, you are free to do as you please. Perhaps, you may want to rethink your position, as Mr. Penn would be happy to dictate to you what you can think.

I certainly don't disagree with most of what you said other than the idea that an entertainer like Penn would, could or should have anything to say. Mr Penns authority is what you give him. He's an entertainer, don't give him any.

Scott
Very well spoken in both of your posts, I agree with you completely on all counts however I've not seen the movie I read the book years back when it first came out.
Opinions may vary........

quote:

Originally posted by SGraves155:
I have no Idea why I enjoyed the movie, but I did. This guy was raised in a society (ours)where everything necessary for life comes easy. He survived only 112 days of life in the wild, despite having a .22, a machete, shelter and having killed a moose--which apparently he had no idea how to dry or smoke. I was impressed by the realism of the film--on location everywhere, and the movie's main character looked like he damned near starved himself to death for the final scenes. The actual guy--who knows whether he was driven by screwy ideals or by undisclosed demons. He was foolish, beyond doubt.
If I had known Sean Penn had anything to do with it, I probably wouldn't have watched it.

Well I have to agree with most of what you wrote, I watched the movie yesterday afternoon and actually liked it. As for Sean Penn, it really made no difference to me who made it and I don't really care about his political ideals. When I mentioned people making MaCandless out as a hero, I was referring to the entries in the log book that was kept in the bus where he died. More people consider him to be a folk hero than just some dumb kid who died in Alaska because he had zero survival skills. If he was anything in real life like he was made out to be in the movie, he was a very likeable kid with manners, respect for others, and an adventureous spirit, which is only part of what you need to live in the wilderness.

After reading the book and seeing the movie (book is better) I am left with the impression that he was a Timothy Treadwell type sentimental idealist that came face to face with Alaskan reality.

quote:

Originally posted by Palmer:
After reading the book and seeing the movie (book is better) I am left with the impression that he was a Timothy Treadwell type sentimental idealist that came face to face with Alaskan reality.

I disagree a little. Treadwell very aggresively advocated his "brand" of environmentalism, lifestyle or whatever the hell it was, and this young fellow apparently didn't. The press regarding his life was posthumous. Treadwell as I understand it was an addict using others money to support his life choices, but it would seem that the money given to the young McCandless by his parents for his education was donated to others charity. If we are to believe any or all of the stories written about Alexander Supertramp, it would seem that he was an educated young man that simply made some unusual life choices and tactical mistakes. I think it's certainly unfortunate that he made the mistakes that led to his demise.

,,,In 1980 there was a guy who fell to his death on Mt Alice in the Seward area ...He was young , strong and adventerous , .....He wanted to climb mountains and live in the real Alaska .......For an ice ax he had a framing hammer ....I got to know the guy who had been his friend and who was a successful small scale mountaineer ie [ young and underfunded] but with the knowledge skill and gear to do what he did with a sustainable survival rate .....

He was the one who brought the greenhorn's corspe out to the road .....

Perhaps it is because I came to Alaska in the Coast Gaurd ,that not ending up in a body bag is such a big goal of mine .. McAndles mistake was very different than Treadwell's ...Treadwell was out to lunch but he somehow had learned how to live in the brush ....McCandles rejected the opportunity to learn and live , so he died ... Had he spent the time to learn like all of us who have stayed alive and prospered in the wilderness , no doubt he would be alive and well if unknown and unremarkable

quote:

It pains me to support Sean Penn, movie producer but I'll probably see the movie eventually.

Don't bother, waste of time in my opinion.

Frans

M70, I am curios how hard is it to get out to that bus, I wondered why in the hell did he not walk out, was crossing the river the only way out?
I found the book a good read, at least delving into the mind of someone not all there, the movie was interesting but only because I am always interested in what drives this type of person. What makes an intellegant person think the wilderness will just take care of them, or is a just long suicide attempt?

I know the country well and quite a few folks who actually have managed to make a life for themselves in the wild without starving or being eaten by bears.
It is ironic that a couple of well written books can make a couple of arrogant/ignorant guys - who failed - into heros.

After seeing the movie - which was well done - I thought it an attempt to re-write history by Sean Penn and the family - and portray "supertramp" in a more favorable light.

quote:

Originally posted by Jetboater:
M70, I am curios how hard is it to get out to that bus, I wondered why in the hell did he not walk out, was crossing the river the only way out?
I found the book a good read, at least delving into the mind of someone not all there, the movie was interesting but only because I am always interested in what drives this type of person. What makes an intellegant person think the wilderness will just take care of them, or is a just long suicide attempt?

The problem with coming back out, especially in the fall, is we tend to get a fair amount of rain or if it gets real warm the water level rises making it almost inpossible to cross. Even the Savage River can be a tough nut to crack but it's not as bad as the Tek. Little did he know that there was a cable just downriver that would have helped him get across but in the state he was in I don't know if it would have mattered. IMO, him being found by moose hunters tells me that the river was crossable SOMEWHERE as they had to get across the Tek to get to that bus. I don't think the movie made him out to be a hero 458win, I think it made him look very human and showed what mother nature can do if you don't know what your doing in the wild.

In the movie, he kills a thin bull moose that is in very early summer velvet. It is plainly killed and butchered for the movie. Wonder how the game regulations were avoided?

They used a legally obtained, road killed moose for the movie.

it surprised me it wasnt an environmentalist slam on alaska,something steven segal wouldnt have missed out on, and i didnt have to see sean penns mugg which helped me down the popcorn. other than that just a kid searching for God in a Godless society. if supertramps parents had sent him to boyscouts he mighta been writing the book

quote:

Originally posted by 458Win:
They used a legally obtained, road killed moose for the movie.

Thanks. they must have gotten the road kill, then found a similiar looking live moose for the "before" scenes.

He didn't starve to death, although he would of shortly, he shot himself with the .22