View Full Version : Movie includes hiking the AT
riverkeeper
07-24-2009, 10:28
SouthBounders
streams or available from netflix
http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/Southbounders/70089608?trkid=438403
I suspect it's been dissed/discussed on WhiteBlaze.
Yes it has been discussed on WhiteBlaze. This movie is not a real. It is a bunch of actors basically in a make believe story. Knowing this I could not get past the first 20 minutes of it.
NCPatrick
07-24-2009, 12:15
Just watched a documentary last night on PBS about George Masa (http://www.unctv.org/mogm/) (of Masa Knob, who mapped and with Kephart named Charlie's Bunion). Very interesting show. I learned a lot about him and about his contributions to the AT and the creation of GSMNP. Sorry, a bit OT.
Sweetpea
07-24-2009, 12:35
Yes it has been discussed on WhiteBlaze. This movie is not a real. It is a bunch of actors basically in a make believe story. Knowing this I could not get past the first 20 minutes of it.
I was looking forward to seeing it too. :( I didn't realize it was a bunch of actors. I might still check it out though. The trailer looked interesting to me.
Can you guys recommend any other good AT movies?
Thanks!
Ramblinrev
07-24-2009, 13:06
I didn't realize it was a bunch of actors.
Not to pick nits but calling this "just a bunch of actors" is not really accurate. This is an "indie" film meaning it was produced by an independent group of people whose film credits are virtually non-existent. I have not seen it but I've spent a lot of time in the entertainment industry and there may be more to this film than meets the eye. I grant you, it is not a real documentary. Not was it produced to be. It was produced to be a "drama."
While it seems to be available from some on-line streaming sources the highest profile credit I can find is the recording of the musical sound track available on itunes. It is available as an indie DVD release on Amazon for $26? ugh.
Here's my point... I would not be surprised if this was someone's thesis project. It was never intended to document a real southbound AT trek. But given that it may still have some entertainment value if taken in the context of what it intended. Deliverance it ain't I'm sure based on the credits of its cast and crew. But there is a place for indie films or most of us would not be youtubing our vids for display here.
It is what it is. Don't expect too much of it and you may still get some popcorn munching time. Or even better... some chuckles that arise from first hand knowledge.
riverkeeper
07-24-2009, 13:17
Yes it has been discussed on WhiteBlaze. This movie is not a real. It is a bunch of actors basically in a make believe story. Knowing this I could not get past the first 20 minutes of it.
I hiked most of the trail in the 60's and 70's -- cherry picking and taking low hanging fruit. Then did Georgia and Maine in 98.
The first minutes are the worst and Yep it is a movie, fairly boring cuz watching is not doing ... I slid thru the flix and prolly only watched 30 min or so.
However a Thru Hiker rated it 4 out of 5 *'s and others liked it a lot.
I knew Earl Shaffer quite well (the first thru-hiker). After his trip in 48 H'wood offered to do a flick of the trip with s*x, fighting and other bogus stuff tossed in.
LD hiking in my experience is often a kind of zen thing which does not translate well to the BOP-SOCK-ZAP-CRASH-BAM-CRUNCH stuff of most modern flicks.
SOUTHBOUNDERS may be good but I didn't want to go with it last night.
LostCause
07-24-2009, 15:57
I have seen it. My wife said she felt robbed by the ending of the movie. But that's all it is... a movie. Like Rev was saying, 'It was produced to be a "drama." '
I enjoyed it, but I knew what it was before I watched it.
I rented it for free for signing up with jaman.com. If they still offer it, it could be a way to go for those of us that don't feel like paying $26 bucks for a movie they may or may not like.
Edit: jaman.com is a movie site that allows for the streaming or download of movies for a fee. They also have many free movies, most of them indie.
Ramblinrev
07-24-2009, 16:08
my expectation is that you will see precious few real documentaries on the outdoors period let alone the AT. Let's face it... most of long distance hiking is one foot in front of another for hours on end. Super exciting stuff there. Man vs. Wild has rather corrupted the expectations of the public on what to expect from the entertainment industry when it comes to outdoor adventures. Even Wild Kingdom had to resort to staged settings and photographic manipulation to get the attention grabbing images they got. Major studios in association with National Geographic can bring in the wilderness on a commercially viable scale but even then you end up with lots and lots of talking heads backed up by phenomenal photographic imagery.
Yeah we could take turk's vid, splice them in with Shug's vids and add some flavor with Grizz, my blather and 2Q's tutorials and come up with the decent 90 min production but I suspect the commercial success would be less than stellar.
I was looking forward to seeing it too. :( I didn't realize it was a bunch of actors. I might still check it out though. The trailer looked interesting to me.
Can you guys recommend any other good AT movies?
Thanks!
Here are some recommendations.
Appalachian Impressions
Trek
Walking With freedom
2,000 to Maine
LostCause
07-25-2009, 10:26
I haven't seen Walking with freedom, but out of those other three Appalachian Impressions is my favorite.
Big surprise but I liked southbounders. Took away the documentary feel and more like experiencing it in the first person. You can tell it was made by someone who hiked Southbound.
Higher Ground
07-26-2009, 21:43
Squatch made some good movies about hiking the pct called"Walk", "still walking"and "even more walking" or something like that. I know the first one was called walk.These were documentaries. I really enjoyed them and they made me want to do the pct even more.
I watched it on netflix. It is a drama set on the AT and not a documentary. It wasn't a great movie but it was okay overall. 2 of 5 stars kind of thing. Couple of really really bad scenes but some okay ones also.
Kayakado
08-27-2009, 13:52
I watched Southbounders last night (Netflix) it was okay. It will never make my top 25. I was disappointed when it turned into a sappy love story. I would have been more satisfied, if it had more scenery.
NCPatrick
08-27-2009, 14:36
I watched it recently (Southbounders). It was not very well filmed. Seemed kinda amateurish in some places, like they were struggling to tell the story. Story needed some work too I thought. I gave it a 2 out of 5.
stormcrow
08-27-2009, 15:51
I just watched "Trek" and "2000 miles to Maine" last night.
Both were pretty decent documentary type films. "Trek" (http://www.amazon.com/TREK-Journey-Appalachian-Brian-Burnham/dp/B0002DFWHQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1251406094&sr=1-3) was quite a bit better of the two, IMO.
I have a copy of both Trek and Southbounders. Southbounders is definitely a low budget film, but I still found it entertaining. I especially like the part where Slackpack's girlfriend shows up at the post office and the other two are totally stunned! :lol:
I liked Trek a lot. Even with my limited amount of backpacking, it makes me want to plan a thru-hike. :scared: It doesn't take much to get me motivated!
Jerry
I have seen and enjoyed Trek but have not seen the other mentioned.
I want to see Southbounders still with its less than stellar reviews. I figured my wife would enjoy the sappy love part of it and I can still get some backpacking media. Hehe.
fiddlehead
08-31-2009, 20:52
I guess i should have tried to watch more AT movies before making mine. (not really an AT movie but a long distance hiking video)
But i could never sit through all the complaining and talking about hurting, raining, bugs, and all the hardships.
Hiking to me is about the fun parts. Sure there's bad to go with the good, but i couldn't stand to put that stuff in.
I guess that's why nobody buys it.
Oh well.
I always did think differently than normal folks.
guySmiley
09-02-2009, 14:45
I just watched Southbounders last night, and I liked it for the most part.
The trail romance part of it I found pretty uninteresting and somewhat predictable, but that type of thing IS uninteresting and predictable (unless you're one of the parties involved) so I guess it's a good representation of what can happen when two people have intense, shared experiences.
I liked seeing the shelters, trail, mountain tops, rivers and streams though.
It occurred to me that whoever made the movie may have just done it to get some free Dana Designs packs, and the rest of the gear that they carried.
Whoever made it has nothing to be ashamed of
Just a question, but do all people have as much trouble putting one foot in front of the other like she did in the first 10 minutes? I'm not trying to make myself sound like the worlds greatest hiker, but I've never had a look of misery, like hers, on my face even at the times when I was most tired. But I've lost about 65 pounds, and I feel at my peak when it burns to breathe basically. I guess it's a pain-for-pleasure sorta thing, or even a high from knowing impossible is possible. It's very hard to put into words, but I love it.
Perhaps The actress was just over-acting and atempting to be dramatic, but I thought it was silly and lousy.
Just a question, but do all people have as much trouble putting one foot in front of the other like she did in the first 10 minutes?
I think I would if I was carrying a pack that weighed 50% of my body weight. I can't believe how much she was carrying, even after she got rid of some stuff!
Yikes!
Jerry
I enjoyed the tension filled scenes with her disapproving parents.
What a huge first aid kit!!!!
If I had to be in a movie ... the location of this one would be nice but craft services would be all Snicker, peanut butter, gorp, mac n' cheese and ramen.
Hey ... I could over-act "Slack-Pack" any time! :laugh::laugh::lol::scared:
Shug who may Southbound it himself someday
Take all the video's Shug has posted and throw in all the other vids that pop up on youtube when you search for hammocks, backpacking, etc and edit them all together to make some sense of continuity and it would probably be more real and entertaining than any of the professional attempts listed. ;)...ok maybe not more real..but certainly entertaining!