Return to the Wild: The Chris McCandless Story (2014) User Reviews

Great supplement to "Into the Wild"

[KellenKing · 8/10 · 16 May 2018]

Informative documentary, giving a lot of backup info on Chris McCandless and the McCandless family. Tons of info I was never aware of that makes "Into the Wild" that much better. Some nice footage of the actual places Chris voyaged and people he met. I recommend definitely if you liked the book or film.

Painful

[Phil_Chester · 11 March 2019]

This is such a desperately sad story in so many ways. Being a fan of Sean Penn's beautiful 'Into the Wild', I was interested to learn more about the Chris McCandless story. This documentary certainly fills in most of the blanks, but it's painful to hear the tale behind the tale.

Remarkable truth.

[mastrait · 9/10 · 22 November 2017]

If you've seen the movie "Into the Wild" you owe it to yourself to watch this honest telling of what Chris McCandless was truly all about. You get both sides, but you will come away knowing the truth without the Hollywood hype I believe.

The most annoying part of the movie is at the beginning, where a few loser types, try to identify with Chris. Typical millennials, a few guys in particular that visit the bus and pontificate their B.S. So very typical.

You hear from the true victims of this story, the sisters and Chris' mom, who is still being victimized by the father still in denial.

Revealing

[capncack-71131 · 4/10 · 10 January 2023]

It was clear beforehand that the guy was mentally ill. To hear his upbringing confirms it, and to see his mother - the one who is as responsible as his father for the abuse the kid lived through - SMILE as she observed that he died in the sleeping bag she'd bought for him - to hear the total denial of her guilt, to see the parents' faces and see their TOTAL denial of the abuse they put their kids through - it's no wonder he was mentally ill with parents like that. His father was a monster and his mother a monstrous enabler. This wasn't an adventure. He was fleeing the misery inside his own head, and that is nothing to admire or emulate.

Truth that directly fills blanks well

[diana_s_5 · 9/10 · 21 January 2022]

This is a well done follow up that explains the why someone so promising would pretty much go into the wild with a good chance of either overcoming tremendous odds or succumbing. Someone so damaged from abuse and witnessing abuse on top of the more killer denial. The parents really obvious denial in this film is both creepy and incredibly sad.

The sister sacrifices by getting this out there and it is not pretty. I don't understand the mean and petty reviews here that accuse the sister of making a profit from this dumpster fire of a father and both parents in their deranged denial and dismissal. This needs to be told and I am sure many people can relate. I can and thank you to the sister!

Not wild about this.

[martinkwangju · 5/10 · 2 June 2015]

I enjoyed Jon Krakauer's 1996 book, "Into The Wild," (itself an extension of a magazine article called, "Death Of An Innocent," that he wrote for Outside magazine). I enjoyed Sean Penn's film, based on Krakauer's book, and I have enjoyed other documentaries I have seen on the odyssey of Chris McCandless. This documentary, however, spends little time on Chris's adventures and instead seems more concerned with promoting the various books that the McCandless clan have written and giving us insight into their dysfunctional family. Given its brevity, it might have been better to place this vanity project as a DVD or Blu-ray "extra," rather than giving it a standalone release.

One of the worse documentaries/book tie-ins, money grabbing cons EVER.

[ExPresidents · 1/10 · 20 September 2018]

This is actually one of the worst things my eyes have ever seen. The book was incredibly dull, his sister is a money-grubbing leech, and she CANNOT write to save her life. The documentary itself is a hate letter to her parents. No wonder Chris went to die in the woods--he couldn't stand his sister.

Seriously: do not watch this. Unbelievably tedious, boring. Nothing here folks, except people cashing in on Into The Wild.