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Movies / On DVD / Free Willy
Free Willy

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Free Willy (1993)

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50 %
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Reviews Counted: 20

Fresh: 10

Rotten:10

Average Rating: 5.4/10

Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Jesse, a homeless orphan who spends his days evading the police, finally gets caught spray painting a whale tank at a local park. Because he distrusts adults intensely, Jesse's not too happy when... Jesse, a homeless orphan who spends his days evading the police, finally gets caught spray painting a whale tank at a local park. Because he distrusts adults intensely, Jesse's not too happy when authorities place him in a foster home and sentence him to clean up the tank he vandalized. Unexpectedly, Willy, the whale who inhabits the tank, takes a liking to Jesse, and the animal and child develop a bond -- a bond that also helps Jesse open up to the adults in his life, including his new parents and the whale's caretakers. But then Jesse learns that Dial, who owns the park, only wants to keep Willy if he can be trained to perform for an audience. Can the boy find a way to save his beloved whale before Dial plays some dirty tricks of his own? [More]

Starring: Jason James Richter, Jayne Atkinson, Michael Madsen, August Schellenberg

Starring: Jason James Richter, Jayne Atkinson, Michael Madsen, August Schellenberg, Lori Petty

Director: Simon Wincer

Director: Simon Wincer

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Free Willy

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By: Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/17/01
Almar Haflidason
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
06/23/08
Leonard Klady
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Save the whale! Still a good family film with a great Michael Jackson title song.

comment Comment
02/17/08
Steve Crum
Kansas City Kansan

Good family flick

comment Comment
03/11/06
Clint Morris
Moviehole

Schmaltzy.

comment Comment
07/14/05
John Wirt
Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)

Keiko sure knows how to jump

comment Comment
07/08/05
Stefan Birgir Stefansson
sbs.is

No review available.

comment Comment
07/06/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

comment Comment
07/16/04
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Gooey pap that drowns in its own phoniness.

comment Comment
05/26/04
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

No review available.

comment Comment
08/29/03
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Vincent Canby
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A good family picture that does not get too sweet; worth a look.

comment Comment
05/01/03
Bob Bloom
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

Free Willy focuses on the friendship between a troubled 12-year-old boy and an orca at an adventure park. It will appeal tremendously to all "friends of nature," a term coined by Albert Schweitzer.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
02/06/03
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

...many adults will find it too blatantly manipulative, but all the same it is decent, lightweight, juvenile entertainment.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
01/14/03
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

Michael Madsen as a "good guy" foster father? Lori Petty as a whale trainer? Who cast ths movie!?).

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/11/03
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

It's like Lassie with whales. Only siller.

comment Comment
11/22/02
Scott Weinberg
eFilmCritic.com

No review available.

comment Comment
10/04/02
Brian J. Arthurs
Beach Reporter (Southern California)

Inspiring environmental tale for the kiddie-set.

comment Comment
07/26/02
Audrey Rock-Richardson
Tooele Transcript-Bulletin (Utah)
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Movieline | comment Comment
01/09/02
Movieline
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
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