Miracles Still Happen (1974) User Reviews

A powerful film

[psychoujonilee · 7/10 · 29 April 2005]

I saw this when I was 17 and haven't seen it since. The 'CBS Late Movie' used to show it on a regular basis at one point. I remember how sad and upsetting it was, it truly made me sick to my stomach. Effects then weren't what they are today, but nevertheless, it conveyed the feeling of being alone in the Amazon, after losing both parents and searching for a way out, very well. I remember the bugs and maggots the most, so realistic they were, eating her flesh. It's a dark film which was controversial subject matter at the time, even though likely it was strongly edited for TV. I wish I remembered more details, and if I ever get the chance to see it again, I can comment more. I have been looking for this for years. I believe it may have been shown on CBS under yet another title. I have no idea whether it was ever released on video.

My most enduring Christmas memory

[k-coble · 6/10 · 4 December 2019]

**This story has some grossness, some religiocentric child making assumptions and some nostalgia.**

When I was a kid in the 1970s/early 80s my local tv station (channel 55 on the dial) ran a 55 hour Christmas movie marathon.

ANYWAY...I watched all 55 hours of it one year because I had the flu. And there was some movie on at like 3am on Christmas morning (!!!) about this teenage girl who survived a plane crash in the jungle and had to hobble her wounded self through the jungle to get back to civilization. I guess they thought the miracle of her survival was Christmassy. Anyway through all the horrors of her struggling through the jungle the one I remember to this day is the scene where she's popping botfly larvae out of her festering wounds. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

And that's why I always associate botfly larvae with Christmas. True story.

Ah the 70's...

[ccutrona · 6/10 · 23 August 2005]

Oh, I remember this movie. I've been looking for this title for a while now.

This is one of those movies that you just can't forget. You can't help but be intrigued by a young girl who survives a plane crash AND the Amazon--by herself.

I was pretty young when I saw this movie (probably around 8), so I don't think I realized it was a true story. It didn't matter though. When you see a young girl picking worms out of her own leg--you're in. That image is forever locked in your head.

Definitely a movie to be seen if you appreciate that special 70's something.

1974 story of Juliane Koepcke

[Kanderson40 · 16 March 2008]

If anyone knows where to obtain an English copy of this movie, please contact me at [e-mail]. I have been searching for this great movie for years. I used to watch this every year with my grandfather. They aired it every year around the holiday's. This movie has stuck with me. I wish I could buy it somewhere, as I never got tired of watching it, year after year. The struggles this girl faced in her survival through the amazon...your heart just goes out to her. Definitely one of the best movies I ever watched. I would recommend for anyone and everyone to see this movie if you can get a hold of a copy. You will not be disappointed.

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction

[Red-Barracuda · 7/10 · 15 October 2023]

I first became aware of this movie when I watched the Werner Herzog documentary Wings of Hope which was about Julaine Koepcke who was a 17 year old girl who survived the 1971 crash of LANSA Flight 508, when the rickety plane was hit by lightning resulting in it crashing 3,000m into the Peruvian jungle; all the other passengers and crew died, except for Koepcke who amazingly survived. It is thought she hurtled to the ground attached to her seat. After nine days wandering the jungle, she was rescued. Its quite an amazing story and perfect material for a Herzog doc but he did say that the movie adaption was bad, so naturally I had to see it for myself.

Well, to be fair, this is a more than decent jungle adventure, with English actress Susan Penhaligon in the lead role. I've seen her in a bunch of genre films from the 70's and this may be her best role. Aside from being part of a disintegrating aeroplane and subsequent crash, she has to deal with the usual suspects of the jungle, such as crocodiles and insects. The most gross being 30 odd botfly larvae popping out of one of her festering wounds. The crash itself is of the low budget variety it has to be said, so don't get too excited about that but the story is involving and, despite Herzog's misgivings, its really a pretty good film.

Naked and Afraid.

[rmax304823 · 5/10 · 26 August 2014]

The teen-aged Juliane Koepcke, daughter of two German professional naturalists, is the sole survivor of the disintegration of an airliner over the Amazon basin and struggles through a hostile rainforest environment before stumbling on the camp of some local woodcutters who take her to a hospital. Trapped in a mosaic of misery for eight days, she's pretty beaten up by her travails.

I saw it years ago and found it hard to forget. I looked all over the internet for a DVD or tape but there were none. However, it is available on YouTube. The upload there is excruciating in more ways than one.

The awful story is as compelling as ever. The larvae of those terrible bot flies (Dermatobia hominis) being squeezed out of her flesh. Yuk. It's the stuff of nightmares and will make your skin crawl.

Susan Penhaligon does a good-enough job as Juliane. She looks a bit like Susan George and if it weren't for her filth, sores, and general dishevelment, she would be sexy.

That's about the end of the good stuff. The YouTube print is almost unwatchable. The photography is faded and, under the rainforest canopy, sometimes devolves into mere patches of black and white, the objects indiscernible.

The electronic musical score is an abomination before the ears, and the director has been infected by Sergio Leone and litters the film with huge close ups of unhappy faces. Happily, there are some flashbacks of sunshine and smiles at the beach and at tourist spots like Machu Pichu -- see "Secrets of the Incas" with Charlton Heston if you'd like to see more.

Juliane wins the battle with the Amazon rainforest, but since then Homo sapiens has been on a roll. In the time it takes to read this review an area the size of two football fields will have been razed. In the past forty years, about twenty percent of the Amazon rainforest has disappeared. Disappearing along with their habitat are unknown animals, including a heretofore undiscovered subspecies of primate. (We are primates too.) Those Crocodilians that seem to threaten Juliane in the river are little caymans. Their number are dropping dramatically because poachers hunt them with flashlights at night and shoot them between their reflective eyes with small caliber bullets -- so the skin won't be flawed when they sell it.

I don't mean to get preachy. It's just that I think of suffering, generally speaking, as a bad thing. It's impossible not to identify with Juliane Koepcke and feel sorry for her. It's too bad our ability to empathize sometimes seems limited to human beings, at least those human beings who resemble ourselves.

Anyway, in sum, story memorable, movie sucks.

An odd one

[thechoop · 9/10 · 21 December 2000]

The thing I remember most about this film is that it used to air on local KTLA TV (Ch. 5) during every Christmas season during the mid to late 70s, mainly due to the fact that the true story took place on or near Christmas Eve. It was always a bit disturbing to see the hell that this girl goes through, being the lone survivor of a plane crash in the Peruvian jungle. The graphic scene of this young girl pulling leeches out of her infected leg made quite an impression on this young viewer. Not quite the kind of Christmas cheer I was used to seeing at the time. Definitely not a Rankin-Bass production.

This movie made a lasting impression on me

[justforshtsngiggles · 9/10 · 9 July 2006]

While the 'special effects' and technical attributes of this movie may in fact be laughable to some, I have never been able to erase the images this movie etched on my young and impressionable mind when I first saw it at around 8 years of age. The story of this girl's survival and of the trials she endured have stayed with me all these years, and I have thought back on more than one occasion about how the girl made it out of situations far beyond anything I have seen.

The fact that this is a true story, and the fact that I was only a child when I first saw this may be the reason behind my high rating of this movie. Each time this movie aired on television in the 70s and 80s I would be riveted to the television, drinking in each scene with an interest I cannot explain. I suppose watching this for the first time as an adult (and with a jaded view of the world) it may not be as enjoyable to some. I actually went out of my way to obtain a copy so I could show this movie to my son.

This, like many other movies, is not for everyone. If you are impressed by remarkable human survival stories, are partial to Peru/Macchu Picchu and/or the Amazon, then I believe you might enjoy this movie as much as I have been enjoying it for the past 30 years.

Is this the same film?

[horsecoach4hire · 10/10 · 25 November 2006]

I've been looking for the name of this film for years. I was 14 when I believe it was aired on TV in 1983. All I can remember was it was about a teenaged girl, alone, having survived a plane crash AND surviving the Amazon. I remember people were looking for her(family) and that she knew how to take care of herself---she narrates the story and I vividly remember about her knowing that bugs were under her skin. I don't remember much else about this movie, and want to see it again--if this IS the same one--and if any of you have a copy, could you email me at [e-mail]? I'd be curious to attain a copy to see if it is in fact the same film I remember. It was aired on Thanksgiving(US) in 1983, and I was going through problems of my own and this film really impacted heavily on me. Thanks in advance!

I liked this movie.

[Sheila_Beers · 10/10 · 15 March 2005]

I liked this movie very much because it is a true story set in the Amazon, a part of the world that always has intrigued me. I believe a condensed form of the book was published in "Reader's Digest" soon after the actual event occurred.

Because I am a "baby boomer," the character and the actress are my contemporaries, and for this reason I related to the film. I also believe the movie is valuable for teaching survival skills if the viewer observes the character's following the streams that lead to the river and to the coastal settlements where she can get help, as well as other survival techniques. Most important was her will to survive and to maintain a positive attitude. In conclusion, I hope viewers learn something from it, in addition seeing it for entertainment.

I do wish the movie would be released in VHS and DVD soon as I should like to add it to my video collection. It also should be shown more often on the satellite movie channels.

Miracles Still Happen

[leslie_4_99 · 10/10 · 29 September 2006]

I first saw this movie back in the 1980's and now in 2006 this movie still is one of the best movies I have ever seen! I would recommend anyone to look at this movie. You will not be sorry. It is well acted out, so real and never a dull moment. The acting is superb and the location makes the movie seem like you are there. From the beginning right up to the end, this movie is the type that makes you lose your attention. The actress does an excellent job of portraying the girl who survived this horrific plane crash in the Amazon and it shows how she managed to survive in the Amazon all alone. It is unbelievable that anyone could survive under such conditions. This is why this movie is so appealing. The fact that this is a true story makes the movie even more interesting and to think that a young girl could survive from this ordeal is overwhelming. I find this movie one that I can watch over and over again and one that I never get tired of. This is indeed quite a compliment as I have hundreds of movies! I would say this is probably my favorite movie and the best I have ever seen!

Fantastic movie!!!!!!!

[leslie_4_99 · 10/10 · 13 January 2002]

I have seen "Miracles Still Happen" now at least four times. I never tire of this fantastic movie. From the very beginning, it holds a person's interest. As the movie progresses and the plane crashes the story becomes very intense as we watch this young girl trying to survive alone and frightened in the Amazon, following a plane crash in which she was the only survivor. Losing her mother in this plane crash as well makes this movie even more dramatic as we see the perils this young girl had to endure during her ten days in the Amazon. To think this really did happen is just unreal and to think that anyone could actualy survive this is unspeakable as we see the wild animals, snakes and other reptiles, the enormous forests and wildlife as well as countless insects. As the movie progresses we see the many dangers this girl has to face as she tries to follow the river in hopes of it leading her to a town. Remembering what her father told her about how a stream will always lead to a river and then into an even larger river and this means it will eventually lead to a community, this young girl keep track of the tiny stream which eventually lead into a huge river all throughout the movie. At times having to swim in dangerous waters, alone, frightened, injured, she always managed to keep going. Towards the end of this movie it was obvious she would not have been able to continue much longer as she had not eaten in ten days and only had water to drink and was very sick and tired from her perils. Eventually as she sees a canoe, she realizes there has to be a village and men find her and they take care of her and then take her to a hospital where her father comes to see her, after fearing she was dead along with the many other passengers. Such a dramatic movie and so heartwarming to see her father's face when he sees his daughter is actually still alive after all this time in the Amazon! Movies like this aren't made much those days. I will still see it again and I know I will never tire of it! To think this girl was the only one single survivor of this airplane is just unspeakable! Also the fact she only maintained a few very slight injuries was even more remarkable, whereas everyone else on this airplane perished in the horrific crash into the wilds of the Amazon. A brilliant movie, superbly acted out indeed and one I will treasure forever and love to continue watching! Strongly recommended by me for sure!

Excellent 1970 film depicting culture of South America, the crash of the LANZA Lockheed Electra and the sole survivor's struggle

[thetrilambs · 9/10 · 28 January 2013]

SPOILERS:

First, how can you show the plane crash and escape of the sole survivor in a feature film? I was curious to see if there would be no dialog and just shots of her attempts to survive captured on film (think Castaway, Tom Hanks) or if there would be internal dialog, or flashbacks, or if the character talks to herself (think Die Hard).

The first few minutes of the movie shows what life might have been like in Lima Peru on Christmas in the 70's. A very charming city in summer, and a few glimpses into the culture and the past. You get to see the very cultured Europeans in the new world, and making do with busy airline traffic and sold out flights. In fact the very reason they take the doomed air craft, despite warnings to the contrary, is because their original flight became overbooked.

On the flight over at LANZA, there is a sense of all not being well. Everyone has been upset about some recent crashes. The shots over the cramped, doomed plane are not sappy but show people laughing and looking forward to meeting friends and family at their terminal. Two girls laugh. A mother smooths her son's hair. The sophisticated mother of Juliane reads and even informs Juliane not to eat, as lunch will be waiting for her at her destination. Only the viewers know none will survive.

There is a brief shot of the plane's problem, namely, a terrible storm and probably fire coming off of one of the engines. Juliane sees fire along the seam of the wing and plane and then the plane seems to break away. Juliane falls to the ground strapped to her seat and you see nothing else.

It is interesting to note that the events happen in Lima, Peru, the characters are German ex-pats living as biologists in the rain forest, and the director is an Italian. It is not an American movie and may seem styled a little differently than our American dramas. Even as the young Juliane awakens, you get the feel that she has a sense of hope and optimism. She has courage and smarts and although she is young and afraid and alone, you feel she can do it. I know I would have been in a huge panic, cried and lost hope had I called out after a plane crash and no one had answered.

The rest of the film cuts back to her life before, talks with her father helping her understand the rain forest, and with rescue efforts on land and by air. Mixed with that are the sense that there is nothing anyone can do, because of terrible storms lasting as many as 5-6 days. You see the lost families waiting at the airport trying to keep up their hopes and eventual attending funerals, all family members lost on Christmas Eve.

Juliane's struggle is unique because she is so alone and in such a strange place. Her body is not without injury. She begins her journey looking for a mere trickle of water leading her to her escape because of her father's words as a biologist: follow a stream to the river and to a bigger river and then to the ocean. Mixed with some slightly 1970's psychedelic lighting effects and some flashbacks of beautiful misty Macchu Pichu with friends and her graduation party, you see Juliane usually horizontal, hugging trees and rocks and lying on river banks, bruised and battered and covered with hungry bugs. Sometimes she is looking out at the birds and wildlife her own parents study. There is pouring rain. There is rocky footing, no place for your feet and she is clothed in one sandal and a sleeveless minidress. She knows that she will become infested and takes care of wigglers under her skin. She also has some hard candy but never eats along the journey.

Just as she is about to lose faith and wishes to die she sees a boat and rescuers and they know her father. They care for her, feed her, though she can barely swallow, and transport her to a hospital.

During her journey, you will see several attempts by an Adventist Missionary and Pilot to find her and inspire hope in her father, who has been keeping their gifts under the Tannenbaum since before their loss. You hear several stories about faith and hope conflicting with the grim reports that the flight rescue must be called off due to weather and delays over time.

It is important to note that all characters except for Juliane and her Mother (and the passengers on the plane) are not actors. They play themselves. Even the missionary nurse at the end of the film is not an actor--she is herself.

It appears that the director has made other films about psychedelia (a film about Acid) and native tribes (Cannibals Tomorrow, a documentary about the future of primitive peoples in modern times).

Anyone who says this movie is "bad" is not running this film through the filter that it's a foreign film from the 1970's and probably wouldn't be happy with the film's extremely narrow focus to show the events as best as they might be experienced.

I would have given it 10 stars if it would have added some fact to the story regarding where the wreckage was because it was only suggested as to the plane breaking up in the air. or some explanation of why she found just the two lost passengers and the one bit of wreckage.

Juliane Koepcke Fell Nearly 2 Miles, and Walked Away

[safenoe · 8/10 · 20 June 2021]

I saw this movie back in the 80s I think, and I'm compelled to finally write a review because just a couple of days ago Franz Lidz wrote an extensive NYT piece on Juliane Koepcke titled "She Fell Nearly 2 Miles, and Walked Away". Absolutely compelling and quite unbelievable, yet truly extraordinary courage from Juliane.

Scary Familiar

[jeremiah-brown60 · 29 February 2012]

Its crazy to me because the only seen I saw before my parents changed the channel, was when she was pulling' the wiggler's out of her leg. Like many others it was seared in my brain for so long. I couldn't have been more than 6 when I saw that. It stuck good enough for me to start looking for it. Finally, at 31, not only have I found a title for this film but I find out I'm not the only one with this story of relentless curiosity. Very creepy. Now I have to find a copy of this movie so I can bury this once and for all. During my search I found a few online videos from the film and documentaries about Julaine Koepcke. Not quite enough to ease my curiosity. It seems I'm going to have to do a little more digging if I want to get my hands on this movie.

What was they thinking?

[Serpent-5 · 22 July 2000]

When I heard about this film back then, I wanted to see it for I was a big Susan Penhaligon fan, and also the story (based on an actual event) intrigued me. Well I finally got a chance to see it after 20 years and WHAT A MESS!!!! I know this true story of a young girl, who is a lone survivor of a plane crash over the amazon jungles on Christmas time, and how she survived the amazon rainforest all by herself for 8 days, facing alligators and worms and insects, is a gripping story that would have made an excellent TV movie or even a major Hollywood movie at the time. But as it is shown here, the plane crash is so cheap, I have seen BUCK ROGER serials from the 30's with better special effects, plus despite the winning and great performance by Penhaligon, the bizarre music, which does NOT fit the film at all, which rather distracts from the dramatic scenes, plus the odd camera shots, the odd flashbacks, bizarre opening credits, really ruins what should have been a gripping film! It was a good idea to have the real people involved in the real story, like the family friend to the local priest, to the rescuers, playing themselves, but the overall effect is undistinguished. Also for what was supposed to be a major event film at the time, it just looks and feels like amateur filmmaking, almost like those "local community message filmmaking" style, and NOT a major film as hyped back then. Also there is no ending! The film just ends completely abruptly! I wanted to know more about what happened to this girl after the ordeal and nothing! Still it was nice to see the lovely Penhaligon give a great performance, one of her all time best, and really light up the screen (whenever the awful music score didn't ruin the scene!). Very disappointed!