Into the Wild

Theatrical Release Date: 2007 09 21 (USA - Limited) / 2007 10 19 (USA)

UPC: 097363481249

Studio: Paramount

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Nudity, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Profanity]

Summary: Into the Wild is writer/director Sean Penn's adaptation of the popular book by Jon Krakauer, a nonfiction account of the post-collegiate wanderings of a young Virginia man, who divorces himself from his friends, family, and possessions in search of a greater spiritual knowledge and communion with nature. Upon his 1990 graduation from Emory University in Atlanta, Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) walks away from a loving if dysfunctional family and sends his nearly 25,000-dollar life savings to Oxfam International. Instead of the normal life his parents planned for him, Chris rechristens himself "Alexander Supertramp" and heads west in his beaten-up automobile until it no longer runs, at which point he takes up hitchhiking. The goal on the horizon? Alaska. By hook or by crook -- but without his limited cash, which he symbolically sets aflame -- Chris/Alexander determines to make it to his personal promised land, with stops along the way to experience America and its people. These adventures include a kayak trip down dangerous rapids, a gig working in a grain mill, extended stays with a hippie couple and a kindly old widower -- and enough cold, hunger, and exhaustion to leave him emotionally defeated more than once. Meanwhile, his parents (William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden) and sister (Jena Malone) haven't received so much as a postcard from him, and begin to fear the worst. Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder composed the contemplative soundtrack. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Best Picture – National Board of Review Best Breakthrough Performance by an Actor – National Board of Review Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Picture – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Actor – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actress – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Director – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Writer – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Original Score – null Best Original Score – null Best Original Score – null Best Original Song – null Best Picture – Chicago Film Critics Association Best Adapted Screenplay – Chicago Film Critics Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Chicago Film Critics Association Best Picture – American Film Institute Best Picture – Southeastern Film Critics Association Best Actor – Screen Actors Guild Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Screen Actors Guild Best Supporting Actress – Screen Actors Guild Best Ensemble Cast – Screen Actors Guild Best Picture – Detroit Film Critics Society Best Director – Detroit Film Critics Society Best Actor – Detroit Film Critics Society Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Detroit Film Critics Society Best Supporting Actress – Detroit Film Critics Society Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Utah Film Critics Best Picture – Las Vegas Film Critics Association Best Director – Directors Guild of America Best Adapted Screenplay – Writers Guild of America Best Picture – Austin Film Critics Best Picture – Dallas/Fort Worth Film Critics Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Editing – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Film Presented – London Film Festival Best Supporting Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actor – Utah Film Critics Best Supporting Actor – Detroit Film Critics Society Best Supporting Actor – Chicago Film Critics Association Best Original Score – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Original Score – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Supporting Actor – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actor – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actor – Screen Actors Guild Best Original Song – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Original Score – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Features: cc

Into the Wild

Format: DVD

Release Date: 03/04/2008

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DDS2.0 Dolby Digital w/ 4 channels

Runtime: 148 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French,Spanish

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1 -- Into the Wild
1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
9. Chapter 9
10. Chapter 10
11. Chapter 11
12. Chapter 12
13. Chapter 13
14. Chapter 14
15. Chapter 15
16. Chapter 16
17. Chapter 17

Perry Seibert

In Christopher McCandless, director Sean Penn has found a character that speaks to his own quest to find meaning in life. Instead of focusing on characters that are spiritually dead, as he did in his first three films, Penn gets to tell the story of a young man who is absolutely spiritually alive, and this spurs Penn the director onto a level of empathy equal to that of Penn the actor. One need not share McCandless' goals in order to appreciate Penn's movie -- this film is far from an endorsement to throw off the conventions of society and live off the land. The screenplay offers numerous reasons other than a romantic desire to lead a Thoreau-inspired life for McCandless to set off on his journey. There are painful psychological scars driving him, as well as an honest if occasionally petulant need simply to do what isn't expected of him. Emile Hirsch, the young actor playing McCandless, embodies all of these conflicting but powerful motivations in a performance that never once rings false. Hirsch succeeds grandly in the first rule of modern film acting -- he doesn't "act," he simply "is." The actor is so present in the part that the audience easily accepts how he changes the lives of those he meets during his journey. Catherine Keener delivers yet another vivid performance as Jan, a fellow tramp who, with her husband, Rainey (Brian Dierker), provides the model for the ideal family Chris never had growing up. Keener and Dierker, in an outstanding movie debut, suggest the deep history between them in little more than loving if occasionally pained looks. These people have the emotions that Chris wants to feel -- even if he does not realize that is what he wants until the end of the movie. The story is structured in five acts, and at the end of each act Penn breaks typical movie convention and has McCandless look directly into the camera. The first time this happens it seems like a boneheaded choice -- as if the director didn't trust his audience enough to love the character on our own. But as these moments accumulate, one realizes that those looks into the camera aren't about gaining sympathy, but are about sharing intimacy. We are moved and affected by Chris' journey, just as the other characters in the film have been. When Chris learns his final lessons in Alaska, when he finally discovers the truth that he himself has been looking for, the film has the weight of Greek tragedy. But instead of devastation, one leaves the movie with a sense of exhilaration -- the sense of a life well-lived. With this film, Penn, who always seemed like an old soul trapped in a young man's body, shows that he has matured. Into the Wild is a grandly successful statement of purpose both as an artist and as a person. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Eddie Vedder  Composer (Music Score) 
David Blocker  Executive Producer 
Art Linson  Producer 
Sean Penn  Director 
Sean Penn  Producer 
Sean Penn  Screenwriter 
William Pohlad  Producer 
Frank Hildebrand  Executive Producer 
Michael Brook  Composer (Music Score) 
John Kelly  Executive Producer 
Kaki King  Composer (Music Score) 
Bill Dohlad  Producer 
Emile Hirsch  Actor 
Marcia Gay Harden  Actor 
William Hurt  Actor 
Jena Malone  Actor 
Catherine Keener  Actor 
Brian Dierker  Actor 
Vince Vaughn  Actor 
Zach Galifianakis  Actor 
Kristen Stewart  Actor 
Hal Holbrook  Actor 

Country: USA