GRIZZLY MOUNTAIN
Gentle, wholesome adventure best saved for family viewing at home.
Should You Watch It?
GRIZZLY MOUNTAIN offers a clean, gentle adventure for families with young children. Two children travel back to 1870, meet Jeremiah and his animal friends, and help thwart greedy developers. The villains are harmless, the violence is very mild, and deceit and fraud are defeated by virtue.
The tradeoff is entertainment value. The movie is tame and built around simple stories, while children today may expect bigger special effects and more spectacle. Its environmental concerns and romantic portrait of Native Americans also slightly weaken its otherwise wholesome moral perspective.
You can safely watch it with young children, but its modest storytelling makes it better suited to a home movie night than a special outing.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESIn the 1870s, Jeremiah and an Indian chief worry that a railroad will destroy an Indian village. More than a century later, an American family heads into the wilderness, where two children discover a cave and are mysteriously whisked back in time.
Jeremiah finds them, and the children join him in confronting developers who want to blast away Grizzly Mountain for a railroad. Along the way, they meet Jeremiah's animal friends, including Jack the Bear and a golden eagle.
Is It Any Good?
Two stars means GRIZZLY MOUNTAIN is wholesome but modest entertainment. The story has a gentle quality, harmless villains, moral principles, and an appreciation for nature and Native Americans. Its old-fashioned adventure style recalls 1930s matinee movies and B Westerns.
But the film is neither the best nor the worst of its kind. Its simple storyline is very tame, and viewers accustomed to larger effects and spectacle may find it hard to sustain attention. The movie works best as quiet family viewing rather than as a major adventure.
The Worldview
GRIZZLY MOUNTAIN presents a moral world in which virtue thwarts deceit and fraud. Jeremiah responds to the threat against the Indian village by saying that all they can do is pray, and the story values concern for animals, nature, and the vulnerable. These are worthwhile moral instincts.
The film's perspective is slightly marred by environmental concerns presented in a politically correct way and by a romantic portrait of Native Americans. Its moral principles are commendable, but the story does not develop a distinctly biblical understanding of prayer, creation, or human responsibility.
The film's central longing is to protect a home and the natural world from greed. Scripture reminds us, "The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof" (Psalm 24:1).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Moral worldview marred by some environmentalism & a romantic portrait of Indians; no foul language; very mild slapstick violence; no sex; no nudity; no drinking; no smoking; and, deceit & fraud are thwarted by virtue
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Jeremiah says that all they can do is pray when the railroad threatens the village. What can prayer look like when a problem seems bigger than we are?
Philippians 4:6–7 · Psalm 46:1The developers pursue their plans for money, while the children work to protect the mountain. How should Christians think about greed and responsibility for creation?
Luke 12:15 · Psalm 24:1The story shows deceit and fraud being defeated by virtue. Why does truth matter even when dishonesty seems easier?
Proverbs 12:22 · Ephesians 4:25The movie offers a romantic portrait of Native Americans. How can we appreciate a culture while also being careful to separate storytelling from truth?
1 Thessalonians 5:21 · Proverbs 18:13The Final Word
GRIZZLY MOUNTAIN is clean, gentle, and morally wholesome, especially for families with young children. But its tame storytelling is better suited to a quiet night at home than a special trip. Our answer is WAIT FOR HOME.
