This movie completely missed the spirit of the book, which was about adapting to and living in harmony with nature. To be fair, the inner transformation and thoughts of Brian were going to be difficult to show on the big screen, but it feels like they didn't even try. They could have at least showed a physical transformation and used more scenes where Brian has to persist with a problem to solve it.
The story is set around a boy who is ditched into deep wilderness on his own, after a small plane crash. With no choice but to adapt, Brian has a hard time just finding food and shelter. In the book the experience is essentially one of growth and becoming a real man through tribulations. In the movie they have taken a less philosophical approach and have gone for straight action with little regard for character development. The scenes involving the bear are particularly ridiculous. I cant imagine Gary Paulsen the author would be very happy with this adaptation of his classic young teens novel.
