Rating: PG
Genre:
Adventure
Theatrical Release: 11/26/1986(USA)
Release Date: 09/30/2008
SubTitles: English/French
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: DD2
Run Time: 119 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Adult Language
Distributor/Studio: Warner Home Video
Harrison Ford delivers one of his most-acclaimed performances in
Peter Weir's adaptation of
Paul Theroux's novel (scripted by
Paul Schrader).
Ford plays
Allie Fox, an inventor embittered by the blighted landscape of the contemporary United States. As he tells his oldest son,
Charlie (
River Phoenix), "Look around you. It's a toilet." He moves his wife (
Helen Mirren) and kids --
Charlie,
Jerry (
Jadrien Steele),
April (
Hilary Gordon), and
Clover (
Rebecca Gordon) -- to the rain forests of Central America, where he plans to create a new civilization starting with his own nuclear family.
Allie's family compliantly goes along with his scheme to build a free society, but slowly notices that his obsession has turned him into a tyrannical fascist. Rather than create a utopia,
Allie's driving egomania demands total subservience from his downtrodden brood.
~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide