White Water Summer (1987)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Overrated

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

"White Water Summer" is far from perfect. The kids are kind of bratty(they swear a lot), the last twenty or so minutes are a little weak, and there are a few things that I think they could have done better.One of them is the narration that is interspersed throughout the film c/o of its star, a young Sean Astin, who...does not look quite as young in the narration scenes as he does in the rest of the film. I did miss about the first seven minutes, which might have "explained" his aging, though I doubt it. What it suggests is that this film sat on the shelf for some time, and the narration was some bizarre editing condition that...helped it get released? I don't know. Whatever the case, that alone is a little distracting. The narration is also kind of silly and does not explain anything that the average viewer could have figured out.Another thing that might have really helped this film was to not have sold the character of Vic(Kevin Bacon) as such an obvious sadist. The film makers could have played Vic in a different way(without making that much of an effort) of "IS Vic a bad guy," because in a lot of his scenes, Vic's "meanness" is in the eyes of Astin's character(a spoiled city boy) and the beholder. Astin's character, Allen, thinks Vic is evil and mean because Vic "pushes" Allen to do weird things like climb a rickety suspension bridge, and swing on a rope from one side of a cliff to another. Allen whines and complains and acts like Vic's the devil for making him participate in such activities, but of course when he DOES, he gets all brave and bold and learns to enjoy himself. In that essence, Vic is actually GOOD for Allen, not bad. Instead Vic's making Allen do all of these tasks is portrayed as very, very bad. Vic is no angel(he leaves Allen ALONE to do these things, and does things like yell at the boys and...gasp...pushes one of them), and if he was real, he probably would have lost his job. Despite his weird, strange methods, though, Allen and the boys always come out stronger after his tasks, so if he's so much of some villain, why are they learning valuable lessons from him?I actually like that "White Water Summer" made me THINK about these things. I would have liked better if they were more clearly defined in the film, but I'll still give the thing credit for letting it "exercise my mind."

WWS was good for it's time, and I still like to get out my copy now & then. A few good things about the movie is the great scenery,music,and big-name actors (Kevin and Sean).WWS is not a real favourite of mine but I give it 8/10

I like this movie for its soundtrack, I have been looking for this movies soundtrack forever it seems. sean astins role is a typical city boy with no real experience of the great outdoors, yes vic (bacon) does push him a little over the edge, but overall I'd give it a solid 7..

This movie had potential, but unfortunately director's apathy, a mediocre script, and rushjob editing doomed this weak afterschool drama about boys coming of age in a campers' nightmare. Was it suppose to be funny? Who do we root for...Kevin Bacon as a drifting, needy, sex-deprived Vic, or a bunch of awkward Cub Scout rejects who all took the wrong turn at Albuquerque.Kevin Bacon has produced finer results (Friday the 13th, Footloose, JFK), but every time I see "Hollowman" I'm always reminded of his twisted Vic character in White Water Summer. WWS did a stint on HBO a few years back, and that's where most people probably saw it. But it's usually eroding under a dripping air conditioner at your local flee market rent-a-flix. Did it ever show at a theatre?The film: Vic wants to make men of boys, and yearns to school them the hard way...by assuming he is a higher order, and thinking he knows everything there is about wildlife, camping and adventure. There will be no knives, no radio, no weed and no softcore magazines on this journey. What is Vic's primary objective on this trip? It's clearly obvious that his only ambition is to traumatize the young, feeble minds of four teenage boys...and you can thank the parents for forking over their hard-earned dollars for the abuse.What's so insane about WWS is that you can ALSO get the impression that Vic wants to make a positive impact on these kids' minds and souls. Sean Astin portrays Alan, a quiet, somewhat timid teenager who could've been picking his nose at any middle school in America. He's quite easy to relate to, and you can see clearly why he hates Vic. To Alan Vic is nothing more than your typical 30 year-old lowlife with no direction or purpose. Which is true.If you want to know more about this oddball flick then just read the other comments by other users who cared more about this movie than I did. Oh yea, one more thing - the soundtrack isn't as great as some of you WWS fanatics make it out to be. Just your typical mid/late 80's "American Anthem-like" softrock. Nothing special or unique in there.