I watched Alaska several times with my kids when they were younger, and just rewatched it last night. It's a cute film with the central theme - never give up. Dirk Benedict does an OK job as the father who moves his family to the Alaskan wilderness. This role was no stretch - he basically flies a plane and acts hurt, with brief interlude of arguing with his son. Sean, his son, has the typical teenage angst of not being happy in his own skin, while his daughter Jessie adapts seamlessly to her new environment.

I love the cinematography of beautiful Alaskan landscapes. Even more amazing is that the kids, Thora Birch and Vincent Kartheiser, do all their outdoors stunts, like sea kayaking thru rapids, rock climbing, and mountaineering. The flight scenes are exquisite. It's been almost 20 years since this 1996 film was made - I wonder how much of the glaciers in this film are left.

Charlton Heston is the bad guy, and makes you laugh when he has to pretend he is not into guns. By far, the little bear Cubby, is the star. He plays a key role throughout.

Just put reality into the background when you think about two kids doing what these kids did and how they did it, with their background. It's an enjoyable non-reality ride that will leave you happy and content. That should be enough for you and your family. Kids will enjoy this a lot.

Ever wonder what it's like to travel through Alaska? If you're curious, now you can experience the magnitude of the scenery that is Alaska by watching this film. The movie Alaska, is a family adventure film that involves two children, Jesse and Sean Barnes on the hunt to find their lost father. How did he get lost? As a pilot, the kids' father, Jake Barnes (Dirk Benedict) flies straight into a storm and crash lands into a mountain where he struggles to survive as his children look to find him.

It's amazing because even when the story is not revolving around the adventurous children, the scenery everywhere is so beautiful. This is one of the strong points of this film. Another key part to this movie is a polar bear cub that runs into the Barnes kids and ends up trying to help locate their dad. This bear cub always reminds me of the polar bears from those coke commercials. Besides of what I think it could belong to, he is very cuddly looking. I'm also curious to how director Fraser Heston was able to get this animal to cooperate. I'm sure it's not easy to tame a wild animal. This cub must have been pre-trained some how.

To make things even more interesting, poachers are on the move as well. Yes, there are other things on the hunt than the Barnes kids. So what are these guys looking for? If you're thinking the polar bear cub, you're absolutely right! So there are two conflicts here, Jesse and Sean have to find their father AND protect the bear cub from the dangerous poachers. The plot thickens!

Many times while watching this movie I was on the edge of my seat because there were many moments of tension. These kinds of situations are brought up when many of the characters are involved with heights. Because a lot of Alaska is made of mountains, many of the scenes in this movie include climbing up steep hills and sailing across cold running rivers. Some scenes can be really gripping due to the slightest movement a character makes on screen. It is that suspenseful.

Alaska is a wholesome adventure for both young and old. It's tale of courage and persistence is what keeps the audience watching from the scenic backgrounds to the most intense moments of conflict.

Watched this on TV because I really wanted to see Thora Birch acting at 14. SPOILERS follow (but nothing you won't work out for yourself five minutes into the movie).

There's lots of nice scenery, and some decent animal training, but it's poor for lots of reasons – it views like silly cutesy kids schmaltz, maybe because that's what it is. Birch is good – not as dazzling as she is today, but you can see it coming. Charlton Heston has always been a fine actor and a great star and, in a feeble role as a comedy heavy, gives an acting masterclass to everyone around him.

There's one ghastly vomit-inducing moment which shows how lightly some of these hack movie-makers regard the characters they've created. OK, setup: Dad's a pilot who's just taken a job in Alaska, daughter Birch loves the outdoor life up there, slightly older son hates it, wants back to Chicago and never stops moaning. As soon as Dad's plane goes down, we know the rescue services are going to fail, the kids will have to get the job done, and the whole point of all this will be to get son reconciled with Dad. Setting off, all is sensible enough. The girl knows how to kayak, the boy doesn't, so he screws up, complains about aches and pains etc. And we carry on more or less like this (trying to ignore the comedy poachers and the cutesy baby polar bear). The girl's strong, resolute, sensible and resourceful, the boy's initially hopeless, but toughens up fast into a worthwhile companion. And then comes this moment. I wondered what was going on when, after they've both carried big rucksacks all the way, suddenly, for no reason, hers is gone. Just a continuity error? – I wish. They're climbing this mountain, the kind of thing they've been doing for days, when out of nowhere (and right out of character) girl suddenly whines: 'I can't climb any more. I'm tired,' setting up boy's macho return: 'Come on, I'll carry you if I have to.' The boy has to be transformed from incompetent wimp to tough-guy hero, the tough-guy needs a feeble girl to look after, and if we have to sacrifice the brave strong character we created earlier – hey, she's only a girl, after all, right?

Don't pay to rent this, but if you see it on TV – did I mention it's got Thora Birch?