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Film Title: Escape to Witch Mountain

 Best for ages: 7 and up.

Movie Website: Click Here

Year Released: 1975

Rated: G (US)

SYNOPSIS

Click Here Two orphans named Tony (Ike Eisenmann) and Tia Malone (Kim Richards) show up one day at the doors of an orphanage school with no realization of where they actually came from.  They have flashbacks of a boat sinking and being rescued, but don't remember much. Tia carries around "star box" but really has no clue what it is for.  That is until they discover a map hidden in the box which leads them to a place called Sandy Point. However, their journey there will be a bit of a bumpy one. The kids have special powers. They can speak to animals, jump high and levitate, move objects with their minds, speak to each other telepathically and even trick people into believing certain things about themselves. 

When they save a man from being killed by an out of control tow-truck. The man's name is Lucas Deranian (Donald Pleasence)  and he works for a very rich and powerful man named Aristotle Bolt ( Ray Milland) Lucas knows they are special, and tells his boss about them. Bolt tells him to get fake papers saying that Lucas is their long lost uncle, and to go and adapt the children. Bolt sets up a place for the kids where all their dreams come true. A bedroom. with a television set, all the toys they can dream of playing with and even an ice cream bar.  But the kids soon learn of Bolt's plan to use them, so they escape his compound. They run into a lonely old man named Jason O'Day (Eddie Albert) who agrees to help the kids escape, and find their way to Sandy Point and onto Witch Mountain.

VIOLENCE/GRAPHIC CONTENT/language

   The closet thing to anything really violent is at the beginning of the film where a bully starts in with Tony. Using his powers Tony tricks the boy by pushing a baseball glove in his face and when the boy goes to punch him, Tony levitates the a baseball bat off the ground and the boy ends up punching the baseball bat. In another attempt to fight Tony the bully finds himself face to face with a cat, in which Tony and Tia's pet cat is told to attack him. The boy is not hurt by the cat, but the cat does jump at him and give him a warning. It's more humorous than anything. There are chase scenes in the movie that do involve guns.  In one such a scene Lucas and one of his men corner O'Day and point a gun at him. the kids using there powers take the gun away from the man and turn the gun on him and Lucas. This allows O'day to escape with the kids. There are also a group of hunters hired by the town's sheriff and Bolt to hunt down the kids, they all brand rifles, but are told to bring the kids back alive.

   There is also the use of animals for defense in the film. A group of Bolt's attack dogs are sent to track down the kids, but the kids using their powers turn the dogs on Bolts men instead. The pet cat the kids have also plays a role in helping the kids out by doing some attacking of it's own, as well as a black bear in which the kids help escape from his cage. The bear gives the hunters a run for their money as well as Lucas by sitting in his car.

   The movie also has it's fare share of chase scenes, and some action packed intense scenes, most of where the kids use their powers to help free themselves. There is a scene where Tony turns a coat rack into an invisible man type of a weapon to attack the sheriff so they can escape the jail. Automobiles fly, helicopters fly upside down, the kids reveal a few things to some of the characters that bring back bad memories and a few other minor things here and there. I didn't really notice any bad language in the film at all, but there were a few threats made.

OVERALL VIEWS

   This was my first time ever seeing Escape to Witch Mountain. I watched it with my wife and we both enjoyed the movie a lot. It's a movie that I was not able to find much information on, but it must of been a success for Disney in the seventies as it did garnish a sequel as well as a television series, a remake in 1995 and a new version coming out soon in theaters. It's a movie that I would say is good for kids over the age of seven. My two year old did take a liking to the animals on screen but didn't care much to sit down and watch the movie. It's more suited for children with a longer attention span, and the violence is miminal, and dine in such a way that it does not really scare, but entertains.

   The DVD has many special features including an All-New Pop Up Fun Facts, Making the Escape; a featurette about the making of the movie. Audio Commentary, 1975 Disney Studio Album, Disney Sci-fi, Conversations with John Hough, Disney Effects - Something Special and  the animated short "Pluto's Dream House". It's a DVD that does have a lot of features that give you a look at the movie and how it all came about.

   Overall, I really don't have much to say about Escape to Witch Mountain. It's a fun little movie that I really found to be adventurous and a lot of fun. even though the movie was made close to thirty five years ago, I think it's a timeless classic that children of future generations will come to enjoy. It's a family film that delivers and it's one of those movies that every one in the family can sit down together and enjoy.

BUY THIS MOVIE.