Into The Wild [HD DVD] | ![Into The Wild [HD DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Q4r-Eog1L._SL500_.jpg)
| Director: Sean Penn
Actors: Emile Hirsch, Vince Vaughn, Catherine Keener, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt
Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: $39.99
Buy New: $12.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  232 reviews
Sales Rank: 11236
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: HD DVD
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 148
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 5.5 x 0.5
MPN: PARHD132181
UPC: 097361321813
EAN: 0097361321813
ASIN: B000ZN803G
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: March 4, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: ******BRAND NEW****** ** Over 1.5 million orders shipped worldwide and more than 500 000 items in stock, BUY FROM A TRUSTED SOURCE, ESTABLISHED SINCE 1998 - INETVIDEO ~~~
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Product Description
Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 03/04/2008 Run time: 148 minutes Rating: R
Amazon.com
A superb cast and an even-handed treatment of a true story buoy Into the Wild, Sean Penn's screen adaptation of Jon Krakauer's bestselling book. Emile Hirsch stars as Christopher McCandless, scion of a prosperous but troubled family who, after graduating from Atlanta's Emory University in the early 1990s, decides to chuck it all and become a self-styled "aesthetic voyager" in search of "ultimate freedom." He certainly doesn't do it halfway: after donating his substantial savings account to charity and literally torching the rest of his cash, McCandless changes his name (to "Alexander Supertramp"), abandons his family (William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden as his bickering, clueless parents and Jena Malone as his baffled but loving sister, who relates much of the backstory in voice-over), and hits the road, bound for the Alaskan bush and determined not to be found. For the next two years he lives the life of a vagabond, working a few odd jobs, kayaking through the Grand Canyon into Mexico, landing on L.A.'s Skid Row, and turning his back on everyone who tried to befriends him (including Catherine Keener and Brian Dierker as two kindly, middle-aged hippies and Hal Holbrook in a deeply affecting performance as an old widower who tries to take "Alex" under his wing). Penn, who directed and wrote the screenplay, alternates these interludes with scenes depicting McCandless' Alaskan idyll--which soon turns out be not so idyllic after all. Settling into an abandoned school bus, he manages to sustain himself for a while, shooting small game (and one very large moose), reading, and recording his existential musings on paper. But when the harsh realities of life in the wilderness set in, our boy finds himself well out of his depth, not just ill-prepared for the rigors of day to day survival but realizing the importance of the very thing he wanted to escape--namely, human relationships. It'd be easy to either idealize McCandless as a genuinely free spirit, unencumbered by the societal strictures that tie the rest of us down, or else dismiss him as a hopelessly callow naif, a fool whose disdain for practical realities ultimately doomed him. Into the Wild does neither, for the most part telling the tale with an admirable lack of cheap sentiment and leaving us to decide for ourselves. --Sam Graham
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| Customer Reviews: Read 227 more reviews...
 Free at Last October 15, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
What i Got out of this movie was simply that this young man lacked nothing materially, but was starved for a relationship with his dad and mom, and had the father wound so common for american young men... having grown up with hard working dads who come home at night spent, and who spend lots of time assembling their portfolios and place their security in how much money they have and what status level they are at, how many toys they have..ect ect.. this young man had probably been told most of his life what to do, how to do it, and this is what success is blah blah... you must look like this, act like this, go here and do this and he was damn tired of it, and wanted to find out who he really was, and if it was impossible to find himself in the presence of his family then he had to get away, and if they had any knowledge of where he was they would probably be sending him money, instruction and advice, and trying to tell him every move to make... so he broke away... and by degrees he grew up and began to see what was really important in life and to find the healing he didnt even realize he needed... the fact that he made mistakes and died as a result does not take away from the movie at all. to me the movie was a true story of the journey we are all on, and the goal is not to die with the most toys or to be a big shot know it all, but to live well and to learn that we all make mistakes and need to learn to forgive and grow and love and to " Call Things by their Right Name" and in this regard i think this young man was a success.
One of the best of 2007 October 14, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I knew nothing of Christopher McCandless or the book of his life or even anything about this movie until I was sitting in the cinema. The only thing I knew is that Sean Penn was directing and having been very impressed with his gut-wrenching, if incredibly downbeat, The Pledge I was pretty much guaranteed to like this film. My guess turned out to be extremely correct.
Alexander Supertramp (that's Emile Hirsch as McCandless folks) is a man with no attachments. Having been raised in a loveless household by parents who only wish for him to 'or-din-ary' things he entertains them as far as graduating college but escapes to the country as soon as the diploma is in his hands.
His dream is to explore the land with no ID, no money and no chance of being found by those who might want to interfere with his mission of reaching peaceful seclusion in a remote corner of Alaska. Along the way he touches many lives, some brief, some profound and gains experience and character that some might never have even if they lived to a hundred.
Sean Penn's photography and affection for nature give this film an overall gorgeous look. It is surely one of the most uniquely composed films of the year. He reminds me a lot of Clint Eastwood as an actor who can also direct fine movies and encourage impressive performances out of his cast. Pretty much everybody here is on top form, even Vince Vaughn manages to shake off the taint of those tawdry 'frat pack' comedies and play a genuine character for once.
But Hal Holbrook as old Ron Franz really is a standout. I've never seen a more heartfelt or touching performance in so long. It's a real shame he was conned out of the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. I think it's great that Sean Penn brought Holbrook (now 82) back for such an important and thought-provoking role. If you don't shed a tear for him then you have no soul.
Don't con yourself out of a good movie. It may have a limited release but Into the Wild is a film worth taking time out to see. Since I live in the UK, the story of Christopher McCandless (which appears to be some sort of true urban legend in America) is not well known here. I guess that having no expectations of the film made me enjoy it on the right level.
Moving and Inspiring October 6, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Just finished watching this film for the 2nd time. Cried like a baby both times. Between the direction, and Hirsch's, Keener's, Vaughn's (whom I usually can't stand) and (in my opinion) most notably Holbrook's performances, this has become one of my favorite films of the year. I know Holbrook's part was small, but he was amazing, and I really feel that he should have won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Anyway, the scene with him and Hirsch in Ron's jeep is heartbreaking. When he asks Alex to let him adopt him, then realizing that he will never see Alex again, very sad. Kudos to Penn for his direction and screenplay.
Theories and conjecture September 26, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm not going to theorize about why CM did what he did. I have no idea. I'm not privy to his mind and thus I have no way of knowing why he chose to do what he did. However, I will say this, I cannot, under any circumstances, fathom having the guts to walk into the wild and make a go of it. I can imagine it all day long but I doubt I could actually do it.
The movie is intense and amazing. It tells a wonderfully tragic story.
I'm incredibly tired of reading reviews of people bashing this man for his "ignorance". Of course he was. We all are. But what makes him unique is that he tried. He took a gamble and it didn't pay off as most people would hope. He still tried. So to all of the wonderful experts on survivalism and backcountry living.... take note... The Man was searching for something. We'll never know if he found it. Ultimately, something found him. Call it a wasted life but it wasn't your's to waste. It was his.
That being said... it is a very good Movie. Regardless of the assumed reasons for any of it.
Try to watch it.
 I watched it in disbelief September 21, 2008
5 out of 11 found this review helpful
Coleridge taught us that to enjoy fiction, we need to have a "willing suspension of disbelief". But "Into the Wild" is supposed to be a "true" story: it should hang together (within the liberties required to compress years of plot into a couple of hours). What we get instead is Krakauer and Sean Penn's romanticization of a life and a death that make no sense. The viewer, like the family member of an alcoholic, starts in denial. When Chris McCandless buys rice, a book on native plants a 22 rifle and cartridges, we don't realize that that was ALL he took with him on his trek to the coast (no compass, no map, nothing to eat besides rice, no plan for what happens after he reaches the ocean). The author and director portray McCandless as a heroic youth (naive, perhaps, but heroic none the less).
However, about the time he settles down in an abandoned bus to starve to death because he realizes he cannot get back across the raging river I found myself asking questions like "How did the bus get there? Did it ford the raging river and climb the fifty foot bank, or did it perhaps come by the road? Why isn't this explorer following the bus tracks?" I left with the uncomfortable feeling that Chris McCandless was a pathetic figure, probably mentally ill, who ran off into the wilderness and died. My heart goes out to the McCandless family who have their loss portrayed for the masses but not before Penn has tarred their reputation and blamed them for Chris's problems (as nearly as I can tell from the internet accounts, the horrid parents are Penn's adaptation): as mental health professionals will tell you, mental illness is not the parent's fault.
Although the cinematography is great (the scenery is stunning) and much of the acting is first rate, my lasting impression of the movie is one of being in very poor taste. I feel like I owe the McCandless family an apology for having watched it.
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