WARNING: This review may include spoilers Although this film may have been based on a true story, the actual account is not as the movie producers have chosen to depict their story line. I enjoyed the film simply because the beginning of the story, as well as the end of the story are factual, and the flow of the movies storyline will keep the audience's attention. A 10 year old boy named Tommy was taken away from his family at the edge of the forest where his father was working and raised by an Amazon tribe. Ten years would past before father and son are eventually re-united and the young innocent child is now a fully grown man and an experienced tribesman of the Amazon forest.
What I enjoyed about the film was how the young child named Tommy was transformed in to tribesman and hunter Tomm"e" (after a ten year elapsed time is noted) grew in to a man and accepted his new life by the Amazon tribe who abducted him. When Tomme's father continues to build a bridge over the next several years so that heavy industrial equipment can cross the river and strip away the rain forest trees, the story takes on a different message. It is now a fight between the Amazon tribesman who are witnessing their land being stripped away by the white man and his heavy machinery to build this monster bridge, and a father's perseverance to find his lost son Tommy and bring him home to his mother.
Excellent performances are noted as the actors playing the adult Tomme (Charley Boorman), Tomme's father Bill Markham (Powers Boothe), Jean Markham (Meg Foster) and Tomes' love interest tribeswoman Kachiri (Dira Paes). I found the scenery and interaction amongst the various Amazon tribes provided the audience with some insight as to how the Amazon tribes fought, protected, lived and even forged for food. John Boorman is an accomplished film maker both as a producer and director whose body of work also includes other highly acclaimed films such as Deliverance (1972) and the Tailor of Panama (2001).
The Emerald Forest is an action/adventure story based on some real events which I mentioned earlier. If you can accept the film as nothing more than an opportunity to escape reality for two hours and vision yourself trying to survive in the dense Amazon forest than I believe you will enjoy director John Boorman's visionary story. Get yourself a good drink and some snacks, sit back and escape to The Emerald Forest. I give the film a strong 8 out of 10 rating.
What I enjoyed about the film was how the young child named Tommy was transformed in to tribesman and hunter Tomm"e" (after a ten year elapsed time is noted) grew in to a man and accepted his new life by the Amazon tribe who abducted him. When Tomme's father continues to build a bridge over the next several years so that heavy industrial equipment can cross the river and strip away the rain forest trees, the story takes on a different message. It is now a fight between the Amazon tribesman who are witnessing their land being stripped away by the white man and his heavy machinery to build this monster bridge, and a father's perseverance to find his lost son Tommy and bring him home to his mother.
Excellent performances are noted as the actors playing the adult Tomme (Charley Boorman), Tomme's father Bill Markham (Powers Boothe), Jean Markham (Meg Foster) and Tomes' love interest tribeswoman Kachiri (Dira Paes). I found the scenery and interaction amongst the various Amazon tribes provided the audience with some insight as to how the Amazon tribes fought, protected, lived and even forged for food. John Boorman is an accomplished film maker both as a producer and director whose body of work also includes other highly acclaimed films such as Deliverance (1972) and the Tailor of Panama (2001).
The Emerald Forest is an action/adventure story based on some real events which I mentioned earlier. If you can accept the film as nothing more than an opportunity to escape reality for two hours and vision yourself trying to survive in the dense Amazon forest than I believe you will enjoy director John Boorman's visionary story. Get yourself a good drink and some snacks, sit back and escape to The Emerald Forest. I give the film a strong 8 out of 10 rating.