Sign Of The Beaver, The

The movie itself is good. I read the book as a child, but don't remember the details. My 10 yr old sat and watched it through with me, but my 8 yr old has a very sensitive heart. Some of the scenes with violence made her leave the room. My 6 and 4 yr old couldn't stand to watch all of it either. Otherwise it is decently clean. We don't watch tv, so they are probably more sensitive than the average American who views violent scenes all the time. Still doesn't make it ok...

We homeschool. We had read The Sign Of The Beaver and were pleased to find a movie by the same name. I first read the reviews. It sounded like they were mixed, because the movie did not exactly follow the book. Even though there were differences, by boys still enjoyed the Movie. We used the differences for discussion points. The boys were very surprised their FAVORITE scene in the book, was not put into the movie. THOSE scenes of course, being the surprise confrontation / slaying of / and celebratory feast of the Bear. And (I may have missed it) they state the movie also did not include any of the parts that give the Book and the Movie the name, The Sign Of The Beaver. They state the movie did not show Attean teaching Matt the Sign of the Beaver on the trees or explaining to him that this was the symbol of his people and that it identified their territory. They did not GO to the Beaver dam in the Movie. The movie did not include that there was another tribe of the Turtle, or teach about respecting the hunting grounds identified by The Sign Of The Turtle. The boys did note how in the book, the story of what is happening to Matt's family goes untold, where in the Movie, they "used up valuable movie time" telling the story of Matt's family and "missed parts about the Bear and the Beaver and the Fox, and of Matt saving Attean's dog and his visits to the Penobscot village." I highly recommend watching the show however. My one son said he had only envisioned it in "cartoon" form in his head, and that the movie, made it seem more historically REAL to him.

We have not read the book. But the movie was well-enjoyed by all in the family. A tear-jerker for sure!

Without giving way spoilers, The Sign of the Beaver movie shows a lot more of Matt's family's voyage to Maine and alters the storyline to feature them and other characters far more than the book. Like most book-to-movie adaptations, book details you'd hope would be kept in the movie get dropped. Overall though, it does the book enough justice but the book is far better. Because of the differences it makes for good compare and contrast work.

This movie is in the tradition of "Old Yeller" and "The Red Pony" -- it's taken from a popular children's book, and it has been made into a very watchable film. Journeyman actors such as Keith Carradine are very convincing in a story about a family's life and survival in the wilderness.This makes a good movie for a family movie night, but I would then mix it up with something lighter to make for a nice contrast. Two of my older children, teenaged girls, who were baby-sitting three younger cousins (2 boys and one girl under age ten), and my husband, myself and my dad all watched this together and we were all enthralled. The three girls cried, and I was a little misty myself. So I was glad to put in "Enchanted" afterwards, which we all loved, also. (see my review  Enchanted (Widescreen Edition)

I have to start by saying I never read the associated book- so I can't make a comparison there. This was a great family friendly movie that was clean and entertaining. I think it did a good job of explaining how the Native Americans really were mistreated and tricked into moving off of their lands by the white men of the time. I like how the tribe took in Matthew and helped him to learn things and survive- and I also liked how Matthew kept his oath to wait for his family despite the dangers of winter. Personally I was hoping he would go with the Indians! Good movie for a night in, I really like the genre of the "coming of age" type story. It was interesting and fast moving. Also it was free on prime! Give it a try!!

If you are a parent who is looking for a very "safe" movie to put on for your kids one night, this fits the bill (except for a weird, strangely overdone kissing scene toward the end between the mother and father.) But all in all, if you need something that won't suddenly be inappropriate for your kids, this movie is fine. If, on the other hand, you are looking for something that's even CLOSE to either the story or caliber of the book, this is not it--mostly because the film departed from the book in stupid ways, omitting some of the most valuable stuff in the book. I am a teacher (like many other reviewers of this film) and I'd suggest you read their detailed reviews is you're interested in how it relates to the book. The book is a masterpiece of storytelling. The movie constantly cuts away from that fantastic story line, and adds other useless "drama" that adds nothing to the film. In short, it's a fine, safe film, but (as usual) read the book first if you want to know what the REAL Sign of the Beaver is really all about, and don't let this film impact your opinion of Elizabeth George Speare in any way.

Nice movie

Looks interesting bought it for school to watch after we read the book.