Member review

Adventure, romance and wildlife abound it the 1960s remake: Swiss Family Robinson! This extremely successful, pre-CGI, live-action film has its fair share of fans and critics! It was undoubtedly a hit, but is it still acceptable today?

Three boys, Fritz, Ernest, Francis and their parents find themselves shipwrecked on a tropical island on their way to New Guinea. There they build tree houses, battle pirates, train animals, rescue captives and try to get along! Will they escape the island? Will they be captured by the pirates? Is this a nightmare or a daydream?

This film was very creative keeping in mind the absence of CGI. The tree house build was very impressive and the scenery was beautiful! However, this film was sexist and cruel to animals. Animals were a big thing in this movie. They added colour, action and fun! But the way they were used in filming would not be allowed today. For a very good reason: some animals were injured. Women were portrayed as being weak, older women being anxious and pessimistic while younger women were always flirting and being generally annoying. This was an extremely unfair and chauvinistic way to portray women. Both of these things would have been normal at the time but are no longer acceptable in today's world.

I would recommend it as a film to watch with grandparents on a rainy day! It will be some nostalgia for them. Younger children should definitely watch with parents as the chauvinistic attitude may rub off on them (this film also includes a battle).

Altogether this film was ok, considering it’s age, however I would have liked more of a plot, as this was just a bunch of subplots. Also, this was very much the men’s story. I would have liked to see more female action, instead of them relying on the men. I rate it 5+ and 3.5 out of 5.