Benji the Hunted (1987)

Strong and Moving!

Load of rubbish!!

Blistering performances.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

I admit that I haven't seen every "Benji" movie that has been made - I still haven't seen "Benji: Off The Leash" - but I am confident that when I see that aforementioned movie, "Benji the Hunted" will still be in my opinion the weakest Benji movie that has been made. About the only thing it has going for it is some spectacular Pacific northwest scenery. But even the colorful backdrop won't stop most viewers from falling asleep while watching the movie. The movie blunders in two ways. First, there is really no edge for the most part to what we are seeing. Benji for the most part just wanders around in a quest that won't strike most viewers as being essential or life-threatening. That leads to the second problem, that being the movie is really boring. It just keeps repeating the same things over and over, and soon it becomes tiring and endless. The movie is capped by a really weak and abrupt ending. Not the worst family movie I have seen, but I would only recommend it to (very) patient little kids.

I was looking for something family friendly for Thanksgiving and came across Benji the Hunted. I didn't even know this film existed. Just about the entire film is absent of any human beings. The animals do the acting. Benji of course dazzles with all his tricks, but it's just as remarkable that they were able to get the cougar cubs to act the way they did as well as the wolf and other animals. It must have taken quite a few takes to get it all right, since you can't exactly "train" a cougar cub to do what you want it to do. There are a few demented scenes that small children might find shocking, like the cougar mother getting shot, one of the cubs getting swept away by a hawk and the wolf being tricked into plunging to its death off a cliff. Since the film is absent of any plot other than Benji trying to get the poor cubs to another cougar so that she can adopt them, some of the scenes drag on way too long, like the ten minutes it takes Benji to carry the cubs up the mountain in his mouth, but otherwise this is perfect fun for animal lovers and to keep the kids busy.

Truly truly remarkable filming ....would love to know how they got a male dog to cart around wild baby cougar kittens...totally fascinating! To see how they made this film would be awe inspiring! Many direct tv stations are now showing this film...its about time...the music alone is fantastic and right in rhythm with the events in the film. Benji is trained superbly!!...need more films like this....

Our great K-9 Friend and Rescue Helper Benji is on his way to the forest to help bring a mountain lion's cubs back together again. But on the way, Benji faces the lion, birds and a killer wolf on his persuit. This disney movie is great for the family and not to be missed and a great award to Director Joe Camp and Benji himself. Astonising Forest Photography!