The River Wild

1994
PG-13
1h 51m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Kevin Bacon, David Strathairn, Meryl Streep, and Joseph Mazzello in The River Wild (1994)

Rafting expert Gail takes on a pair of armed killers while navigating a spectacularly violent river.Rafting expert Gail takes on a pair of armed killers while navigating a spectacularly violent river.Rafting expert Gail takes on a pair of armed killers while navigating a spectacularly violent river.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

52K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 5 nominations

Trivia
An exhausted Meryl Streep balked when Director Curtis Hanson asked her to shoot one more scene before filming finished for the end of the day. However, she decided to attempt it. Swept off the raft, she was in real danger of drowning, before she was rescued. Returning upriver, she told a pale and shaking Hanson that "in the future, when I say I can't do something, I think we should believe me." Hanson hastily agreed.

Goofs
When Tom loses his grip on the cliff and plunges into the river, the cliff face is actually gray fabric painted to look like rock. If you look carefully, it moves and bounces like fabric as he rolls down it.

Quotes
Wade: I'm in charge now. I could bury you and Roarke tonight. I could do anything I want with you.
Gail: Then go ahead. Don't keep telling me how tough you are, Wade, just show me.

Crazy credits
Dog named 'Maggie' is listed in the credits (almost top-billing) as being played by a dog named 'Buffy.'

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert: The River Wild/Jason's Lyric/Ed Wood/The Scout/Rapa Nui (1994)

Soundtracks
Cope
Written by David Gibbs, Paul Brouwer, Steve Hurley, and Paul Hurley
Performed by Gigolo Aunts
Courtesy of the RCA Records Label of BMG Music

User reviews110

Review

Featured review

7/10

"Deliverance" meets "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle"

Meryl Streep gets a totally different kind of role in "The River Wild". She and her husband (David Strathairn) and son (Joseph Mazzello, of "Jurassic Park") go on a rafting trip and encounter some guys (Kevin Bacon and John C. Reilly) who turn out to be not what they seem.

The obvious similarity is "Deliverance", but I also detected a similarity to "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle", the way that Kevin Bacon's character turns the boy against the mother. I once did a boat trip down the Snake River, and some of the rapids here look like what I remember (although the movie may have exaggerated the rapids).

Overall, it's a pretty fun movie. A real jolt of nature, if I may say so. Also starring Benjamin Bratt. Director Curtis Hanson also directed "L.A. Confidential", "Wonder Boys" and "8 Mile".