SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

oOoBarracuda I was full of trepidation revisiting this favorite from my youth. Some movies just don't stand the test of time from youth to adulthood, and I loved this movie in my youth. I was pleasantly pleased with Free Willy, the 1993 feature from director Simon Wincer. Starring a perfectly cast Michael Madsen, Lori Petty, and Jason James Richter, Free Willy follows a boy who has never known a home and a whale who was pulled away from his. Home means different things to different people, but for all of us, human or not, home is always a place where one belongs and can feel free. Jesse (Jason James Richter) is a young troubled boy who has been abandoned by his mother and is getting shuffled through the system in foster care. When he and his friend Perry (Michael Bacall) a boy in a similar position as Jesse, are caught vandalizing the local marina, Jesse takes full responsibility allowing Perry to escape police custody. Jesse's social worker Dwight Mercer (Mykelti Williamson) keeps Jesse out of juvenile detention given he cleans the damage caused at the marina. Dwight also finds Jesse a home with a foster couple, Glen and Annie Greenwood (Michael Madsen & Jayne Atkinson). Reluctant to settle in another temporary home and displeased to be cleaning the area he vandalized, Jesse goes on with his punishment, as he views it. While cleaning, Jesse learns that there is an orca whale there that was captured by fisherman to be placed in the marina as a show animal. Willy, the orca, has not adapted well to his new surroundings, does not respond to his trainer, Rae Lindley (Lori Petty) well, and has no desire to perform for the public. Feeling a kinship to the animal that misses a real home and his family, Jesse and Willy become fast friends, with Jesse even sneaking out of the house to spend more time with Willy. When Jesse learns that Willy will be killed if he doesn't begin performing for the marina, he decides the only thing he can do is release Willy back into the wild where he can find his home and be free.(Almost) Any film that has a lot of animal shots is going to look visually impressive. Free Willy was filled with shots of the orca all throughout the film which were breathtaking. I better understand now as an adult why I enjoyed Free Willy so much as a child; Free Willy is a family movie that is wrought with lessons, yet avoids the moralistic high horse. Of course, an adult, even a child, can recognize the correlation between Willy and Jesse both not fitting into the world in which they inhabit; yet instead of overtly making this connection, the audience gets to see the connection played out on screen as Jesse also discovers it. A fun family film shot in a visually pleasing way with a great understated morale, Free Willy is still a movie my adult self can enjoy that was a favorite of my child self.

byson5186 I just finished watching this movie on-demand. Whenever I watch this movie, it takes me back to the year this movie came out, 1993. I remember seeing this when it was in the movie theaters, and how my mom bought this movie on a videotape which my parents still have from back then. I remember this movie as part of my childhood, I became obsessed with Free Willy after seeing it. Man, that was a long time ago over 20-years ago. Sometimes, you wish you could relive the days of your childhood. Besides that, I have to say that no matter how old I get, I feel like people will always remember my generation the Millennials form of entertainment we had especially as kids. Some of the kids today prefer what we grew up with compared to what they are growing up with.So, here is what makes this movie great. Well, again if you saw this movie when you were a kid, it will take you back to your childhood, be a trip down memory lane. You'll even understand the movie now better than when you were a kid. It can be a fun educational form of entertainment. I remember studying Killer Whales/Orcas as a kid. This movie will tell you a lot about them that you probably don't even know as an adult. It's a really happy and entertaining kind of movie. When I watch this movie, it makes me really happy. It's beautiful to see the kind of friendship we see between a kid named Jesse who was abandoned by his mother, and a killer whale held alone in captivity. I'm sure the actor who played Jesse, Jason James Richter is most remembered for this movie, I can't think of any other movies or TV shows he's been in besides these Free Willy movies. They've done 4 Free Willy movies. I've only seen the first two, but the first one is the best. I feel like the second one doesn't seem canon as often times sequels don't seem canon. The 4th one which I haven't seen has a new actress and is a different story. They occasionally do that with movies. Have a movie that's part of the franchise, and while it's a relatable story it's completely different. Like with Home Alone. The first two are the ones we remember the most with Kevin McAllister and his family. They've done 3 more since then, and the last 3 are not relatable minus the slapstick humor and having a kid who is supposed to be Kevin McAllister in the 4th movie.I can't think of too many movies at the top of my head, but there are lots of movies showing the friendship between a kid and an animal. Recent movies which are based on true stories are the two Dolphin Tale movies. I've seen them, and they are wholesome movies that will help you feel good. However, they definitely are not as entertaining as Free Willy. Free Willy is arguably the best movie showing the friendship between some kid and an animal. I'm sure that if you saw this, you'd be entertained and the friendship we see would make you feel good. It will definitely make you happy if this movie were part of your childhood. Oh, the joy of pleasant childhood memories!!

Richmond Sim Although we could not deny that there are many other films that feature aquatic animals, what makes Free Willy different from other related films are its twists, distorted character profiles, and exciting plot.Why would the director or the writer even think of having Jesse's mind baffled instead of just making it smoother by having Jesse focused on what he is doing? But those flabbergasting twists are what makes Free Willy a good movie. It never ran out of good ideas to convolute the screen portrayal so that the audience may be stimulated. In fact, boredom seldom touched me, being an audience and a critic.There were just some scenes that irritates me because I believe that the producers could have intensified these sequences even more by adding some action scenes so that they may be able to add a greater tension on the viewers and that the audience may really feel and take in what is happening on screen.The animatronic stand-in that was used in most close-up scenes of Willy also was quite good. There was never a time when the CGIs (Computer Generated Effects) failed. They really looked like real and natural. And the stunts made, although was created with the extensive use of CGI, was perfect and was pleasing to the eyes.The screen portrayal of the actors and actresses also were quite good and was enough to please the audience.The musical scoring of the movie was satisfactory, nevertheless. It was good especially during the crises of the movie, but I was expecting for more since musical scoring are a great factor to catch the audience.I guess there's not much to say about this movie because I believe that its succeeding sequels are enough to prove how successful the movie is and that couldn't have been achieved if the quality was poor. All in all, congratulations to the movie and the people behind its production.8 out of 10 for you guys!

insomniac_rod Ahh, screw it. This movie is a total guilty pleasure but at the same time is a very complete dramatic feature. I won't get into specific details but I can tell you that the movie is not only about a social message; it deals with an intense problematic about animal rights plus the relationship (magical) between a young boy and a whale. I was really convinced that this movie was only to cash some money but the truth is that is a very powerful film experience.I watched it on theaters and it made me feel really good, powerful at some aspects. Plus the movie's main song courtesy of Michael Jackson is really haunting.A movie not to be missed and a classic of 90's Cinema.