User reviews

Willy is a wild orca that was trapped and separated from his parents. He is sent to an aquarium. Jesse (Jason James Richter) is a street kid who gets caught vandalizing the tank. He still believes his mom will come back. His social worker Dwight gets him off as long as he cleans up his mess. He's placed with Glen (Michael Madsen) and Annie Greenwood. Jesse is guarded and Glen is reluctant also. At the aquarium, he befriends Willy who saves his life one night. Willy won't perform for trainer Rae Lindley (Lori Petty) but he's willing to do it for Jesse. The owner Dial (Michael Ironside) is under pressure from the non-performing whale.

It's a reasonable family picture. It has a whale and the little kids may find it fascinating. The story is compelling enough that the older kids will also like it. It's very much following a try and true formula. The young lead is acceptable even when he doesn't have the whale. He has some good drama to play off against. It's important to note that Keiko the whale was eventually freed. If that's all the movie achieves, that's plenty.

After 12-year-old orphaned delinquent Jesse (Jason James Richter) is arrested for vandalizing the Northwest Adventure Park in Portland, Oregon, Jesse is placed in the care of prospective foster parents Glen (Michael Madsen) and Annie Greenwood (Jayne Atkinson) who despite their best-efforts Jesse doesn't take too. While cleaning up the graffiti on the tank of Orca whale Willy (Keiko), Jesse forms a bond with the whale which has had behavioral problems due to being captured at an older age. Over the summer Jesse manages to train Willy and befriends Willy's caregiver Randolph (August Schellenberg) and vet Rae (Lori Petty) but after the park's unscrupulous owner Dial (Michael Ironside) determines Willy to worth more for the insurance, Jesse undertakes efforts to free Willy.

Free Willy is a 1993 family drama directed by Simon Wincer and written by Keith A. Walker and Corey Blechman. Walker conceived the idea for the film while working with executive producer Richard Donner on The Goonies with the film eventually setting up for development at Regency Enterprises who had a deal with Warner Bros. Given a massive promotional push by Warner Bros, the film opened at a rather inauspicious fifth place during the Summer behind holdovers such as The Firm, Jurassic Park, and In the Line of Fire but thanks to positive word of mouth from audiences the movie managed to stay within the top five for many weeks and eventually amassed $75 million domestically against its $13 million budget and $150 million worldwide making the film a sleeper hit and leading to two theatrical sequels, a TV cartoon series, and a DTV sequel. Despite being a massive success in its day Free Willy hasn't really had much cultural staying power with the exception of its ending which is often subject to parody (and was spoiled by its theatrical release poster) because the movie itself is rather unexceptional.

When you get down to brass tacks with Free Willy, the movie is yet another entry in the "Boy and his (blank)" sub-genre of family films where you team up a child actor with a dog, an alien, a bird, or some other creature and put them through standard paces usually in some kind of coming-of-age manner or adventure story. As far as how Free Willy's handling of it goes, it's largely thanks to the acting that the movie works as well as it does. Jason James Richter gives a committed performance as Jesse, Jayne Atkinson and Michael Madsen are likable as Jesse's foster parents, Lori Petty and August Schellenberg are good as Willy's caretakers and Jesse's eventual friends and the always reliable Michael Ironside manages to make the very stock villain of Dial kind of engaging despite there not being much to him. Willy the whale is brought to life nicely by real life whale Keiko (who was later returned to the wild) and a set of animatronic whales and there is a certain charm to the scenes between Jesse and Willy. Pretty much everything you can fault in Free Willy comes down to the script which is basic to a fault and makes Jesse way too unlikable to excuse some of things he puts people through. While it's understandable to a degree that Jesse would be distrustful of people since he was abandoned by his mother, Jesse never softens his abrasive edges towards his foster parents or even Rae and Randolph all that much and pretty much does everything he can to be awful to the Greenwood's. I'm not saying I want it to be completely positive, but when the only time the character says "sorry" in this movie is sarcastically and it's in regard to the graffiti he put on Willy's tank in the opening it shows that maybe the character was in need of another re-write before being committed to screen. There's never any scene where Jesse expresses guilt, remorse, or shame and the writers seem to think him wallowing in self-pity is a substitute for him making any kind of amends to the people he's casually cold and cruel towards and it just isn't.

Free Willy is harmless when taken for what it is, but it's a movie that aims more for the heart than it does for the brain. There's a reason that what most people take away from this film is the iconic "jump" scene because everything surrounding that is competent but also unexceptional.

While the plot is quite hackneyed, it's fine that we have movie like this. The news is out on the treatment of Orcas by places like Sea World. These magnificent creatures are kept in tight quarters and made to perform at shows. Willy is one of those whales, and a young boy, who has had a checkered past, and his friend decide it is time to put him back in the open sea. The movie has to do with the logistics of getting this done. As is usually the case, there are some bad people determined to stop this. While it's lightweight and pretty hard to believe, it's a nice movie with a good heart. I'm happy that my children enjoyed this and developed a good attitude about the treatment of animals.

This is a good-looking family drama with marvellous scenes, natural ecologism , gorgeous outdoors and high sensibility . When a boy learns that a beloved killer whale is to be killed by the aquarium owners, the boy risks everything to free the whale . Willy is trapped and his family swims mournfully away . Cut to an angelic street-kid , Jesse (Jason James Richer) , caught graffiti-ing Willy's tank , the only way to escape baby jail he discovers is to go to well-meaning but stiff foster parents (Michael Madsen , Jayne Atkinson) and clean up the tank under the tutelage of Haida Indian Randolph (August Schellemberg) . A 12 year old street kid !. A 3 ton orca whale !. A friendship you could never imagine !. An adventure you'll never forget !. Make room in your heart for a six-ton Pet!!!He is the biggest hero in the whole wide world of adventure!. When You're Six Tons -- And They Call You Killer -- It's Hard To Make Friends...

Agreeable and charming family tale made with sense , sensitivity and wonderful sea images. This is a good-natured family drama with emotion, ecologism, gorgeous outdoors and high sensibility . Many years before , this Orca saga was preceded by a similar film : ¨Namu , the Killer Whale¨ (1966) directed by Laslo Benedek with Robert Lansing . It contains ample and gorgeous sea vistas, being very well photographed the exterior scenes, as well as underwater images with the great Orca whale jumping and diving. This well acted movie has a straight-faced tone which is hard to resist . Including good messages : love for animals , environmentalism , fraternity , fight for survival , need for family coexistence friendship , while boy and whale get on because they are both looking for a family .

Special mention for excellent musical score by magnificent composer Basil Poledouris , including sweeping strings accompanying the opening sequence of balletic whales cavorting in brilliant blue sea , changing abruptly to cacophony as the bad guys with nets chug up in their tugs . The motion picture was well directed by notorious filmmaker Simon Wincer . He is a Western expert , as he emigrated Hollywood from Australia and subsequently directed to Tom Selleck in ¨Monte Walsh¨ , ¨Crossfire trail¨ and ¨Quigley Down Under¨ to Paul Hogan in ¨Relampago Jack¨ and ¨Cocodrile Dundee in L. A.¨ and usually directs episodes for TV mini-series, such as ¨Into the West¨, ¨The Ponderosa¨ , ¨Lonesome Dove¨ and ¨The adventures of young Indiana Jones¨ , among others . Rating : good for the sensitive direction and proficient film-making ; the result is a sort of pacifist-ecological adventure for kiddies and adults. Worthwhile watching . The pic will appeal to animals enthusiasts .

Free Willy is the quintessential 90s family film along the lines of Home Alone - innocent, schmaltzy and full of cloying sentimentality. It contains everything you've seen before and has passed into cliché - misunderstood kid who just wants to prove himself, heartfelt friendship with a precious animal, plot to thwart secret bad guys and so on - but it does so with such determined idealism that you can't help but feel a sheer, overwhelming joy. Free Willy is the family movie to end all family movies, a condensation of so many feelgood tropes that it collapses under its own gravity to form a singularity of Hollywood magic.

Even though I didn't grow up with this film, I can see why this would have had an impact on someone who was a child when this was originally released. It is a very sweet, charming, and touching film. Although the overall the plot is a little shaky and so is some of the dialogue.

I love the ending but still feel that they could have extended the ending to wrap up other plot points.

And Willy (Keiko) was probably the best character and somehow still underused in my opinion. But it is a pretty good film that people of all ages could enjoy together.

The best things about this Disney "Save The Whales" movie of 1993 were the opening and closing credits. They were beautiful shots, just awesome. Sadly, most of the stuff in the middle wasn't all that good. Oh, everyone likes a nice feel-good story about saving some animal or whale (how about humans?) but what ruined the movie for me was the main character "Jesse."

"Jesse" (Jason James Richter) is another Hollywood film brat, the typical snotty, smart-mouth kid film idiots like to present us, not like your kids.

There are some implausible scenes, such as no adults present when kid is tapping on the glass at the aquarium, but every movie has those, so I'm not going to trash the film for that.

Suffice to say the kid, and the overly PC- Disney folks (i.e. their typical Native American good-guy as the boy's whale-mentor), turned me off, only because there are so many Disney clichés and stereotypes in here it is ludicrous.

Why is it always some rebel kid, some punk who deserves a good spanking, who saves the day, who is shown smarter than most adults? Disney and Spielberg, love that crap.

Michael Jackson sings the movie song's finale. 'Nuff said.

First of all, I want to say some of my thoughts about IMDb ratings. If you look at IMDb top 250 you can hardly find any family movie . In fact, there are only three family movie (I mean live action movies not animated flicks) in this chart. They are Princess Bride on the 99 position (haven't seen yet), A Christmas Story on 142 (a movie nobody heard of besides English speaking countries) and the E.T. on the 244 (forever classic - no point denying that). And I bet you would be unable to find another one even in top 500. On the other hand you can find in this list, for example, more than eighty thrillers or more than thirty 30 war movies. Does that result means that family movies can't be good. Obviously it is not. For me the point is that many of people as well as lots of critics don't appreciate movies sweet movies without profanity, drugs, sex and violence. Cheesy movie for kids only that's not a fair grade. Well it's only my opinion but for me it's very sad when such a beautiful movie become so undeservedly underrated. Now, more directly to our movie. I watched Free Willy no less than four or five times and found it one of the best family and animal movie ever made. The bonds of friendship between man and animal are shown incredibility well here. From this point Free Willy remembered me another beautiful animal movie The Black Stallion. The unlikely friendship between twelve years old Jesse and giant whale as the main element of the story is very sweet and touching. Overall plot is well constructed (and there's no point to complain its unreality) with decent development of the main characters. Young and definitely talented Jason Jammes Richter created terrific performance of a young lonely problem boy Jesse. Also very good in the movie were August Schellenberg (as Randolph) and Michael Madsen (as Glen). As I always mentioned cinematography is pretty good, including first-rate animal action (Keiko is so cute there). The beautiful movie soundtrack written by Basil Poleuydouris a bit resembled for me terrific Carmine Coppola's score for The Black Stallion. And finally, that's maybe the most important Free Willy is a very humanistic movie, a movie that what was made with love and care about nature. Thanks to Simon Wincer for this great masterpiece. We need more movies like this, not a laughable rubbish that Hollywood studios now provide for family entertainment. I rated Free Willy 10 out of 10 as an excellent and beautiful family friendly movie. Check out also its two sequels. They are also pretty good.

Thanks for reading and sorry for my bad English.

I loved this film as a child and absolutely love Orcas but I found this film harder to watch in 2019 than when I was young. Knowing the fate of Keiko the whale and knowing more about the intelligence of this marvellous species as well as the controversy around keeping them in capativity (Blackfish) made this much harder to watch.

Sardine oil about a little punk kid who befriends a big whale named 'Willy'.

Jesse is a troubled boy who is compelled to do things like goofing off on his summer job, kicking a public trash can off of its mooring, and throwing a baseball through his foster parents' window. But this is only because Jesse is scared since he doesn't understand his feelings. Maybe he'll understand if I put my foot up his butt.

Meanwhile, hot Lori Petty is an animal trainer who spends her time working with Willy by riding around on his back all day long.... lucky Willy.

The best moment in the film never arrives. That would be when Jesse tries to pet Willy. Go ahead, Jesse. Stick your whole head in his mouth, he won't bite you.... heh-heh-heh.

First, of all it is impossible for a 12-year old kid to have a friendship with a killer whale. However, it is pure magic. A 12-year street kid Jesse(Jason James Richter) ends up getting arrested for spraying graffiti all over a northwest aquatic park. He ends up having the responsibility to clean up. Meanwhile, he lives with a foster care family, the Greenwoods(Micheal Madsen and Jayne Atkinson) until Dwight(Mykelti T. Williamson)can find his mother. But, he ends meet a pal by the name of Willy. He's a killer whale. He's a beautiful animal and well tamed, but he is very, very sick, needs his family and wants to go back out into the ocean. The emotion in this movie is touching.

Being a 24 year old, I had a ball.

It was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid. I had followed Keiko ever since. I was happy that he was finally free, but I was very sad that he ended up with a tragic story because of people's mistakes. As for the movie, its impressive music and the scenes where Keiko played with Jesse were enjoyable and beautiful. I wish that amazing final scene on the poster looked like that in the movie. Instead, a phenomenon called animatronics was implemented. Yes, such a scene with an orca may have seemed impossible at that time, but it did not look as good as the poster. It could be worth more. It's a production with some messages.

Free Willy is one that passed me by as a young teenager on its initial release, but I recently saw it with my two young daughters who both took a lot from it.

The visual storytelling is strong throughout as the filmmakers almost seamlessly blend the captive Keiko, animatronics and open water cinematography in a plausible way to tell the story of the titular orca. His scenes of interaction with human characters are very well done and all lead to a famous and cinematic conclusion that was largely spoiled by the movie posters and trailers of the time. Great use is made of the different locations to make it all seem like it's all happening in Oregon.

There is no denying the movie has a simple yet powerful message about captive animals and their exploitation for financial gain. If it went some way to deter children from visiting zoos, circuses and aquariums, that has to be a positive. That being said I find the use of a captive animal in a sentimental story about a captive animal longing for freedom (for commercial gain) quite ironic. Saying that it was a movie that raised awareness about the plight of captive orcas and resulted in people taking action, regardless of its financial motives.

Where it falters slightly is in the clichéd characters, contrived aspects of the plot and exploitative emotional moments. It is however aimed at families with children so there is only so harsh I can be, particularly when my own children enjoyed it.

Well I like to say that this movie is just DECENT. Some people say this movie is a classic and others say it was kind of bad. I kind of liked it and I usually felt sorry for that whale. Jessie was kind of an annoying character and that Indian dude was a little to weird. I used to love this movie actually when I was a teenager but now when I watch it I'm just like saying it's ok and all. The story was pretty good and I liked the music which was pretty good for the movie also. I really liked the whale but I dont think they should bad guys in the film It's just kind of stupid. The film had its moments though and it was the best out of the Free Willy trilogy.

6/10

i kinda expected something else.what,i'm not sure.i mean the movie is well made and all,but i found it dangerously close to being boring at times.it is pretty slow.the scenes with the whale(s)were nice though.and the there are some pretty touching moments.i didn't find the movie had a lot of realism to it though.the way some of the things happened just didn't ring true.but,i guess the biggest problem i had was there wasn't really much sense of adventure,and the movie isn't really fun.however,if you are looking for a movie the whole family can watch,this might be it.most kids will probably be entertained,and adults will be happy there is something their kids can watch.but for me,Free Willy is a 4/10.

Ahh, screw it. This movie is a total guilty pleasure but at the same time is a very complete dramatic feature. I won't get into specific details but I can tell you that the movie is not only about a social message; it deals with an intense problematic about animal rights plus the relationship (magical) between a young boy and a whale. I was really convinced that this movie was only to cash some money but the truth is that is a very powerful film experience.

I watched it on theaters and it made me feel really good, powerful at some aspects. Plus the movie's main song courtesy of Michael Jackson is really haunting.

A movie not to be missed and a classic of 90's Cinema.

Man, do I remember the craze that was "Free Willy". I recently watched on VH1's "I love the 90's", and they brought it up. I remembered how when I was a kid, like the interviewee's said, I thought at the end Willy was going to fall on the kid. I was kind of sick in the head. :D Just kidding. The movie isn't really something I could get into. And the plot was kind of lame. In some ways, the kid being the hero thing is just getting too old. But for other kids, I can see where they might like this. So, I'll give it credit for that.

RIP Keiko!

4/10

Oh, this one is underrated here. The story of Jason James Richter's character trying to escape from a life of crime and missing prospects is way beyond the average. The growing affection for Willy is not even stereotyped or clichéd. It's a genuine bond that focuses on two outcast characters who slowly but surely come to experience true friendship and the value of trust. Jason's performance really appealed to me when I saw this movie as a kid. It is a sincere depiction of friendship, of a way out, of fighting for your values against all odds and of never giving up. Right, I'm grown up now, but this is one of the movies of my childhood I'd like to watch again, and I'm sure I'd enjoy it almost as much as back then. Jason James had very few acting appearances, but the Free Willy series assured him his place in movie history. His entire performance in here is sincere and straight, he doesn't laugh nor smile if it wasn't just natural in the specific sequences. His facial expressions and body language fit into the total frame as well. The story has some profoundly human themes to it. I can't help it, I think this one is both entertaining and deep, dealing with emotions and prospects of life, with integrity and courage in the face of danger.

This renowned PG-rated family flick was released when I was around seven years old. I didn't see it in the theatre, but I don't think it was too long afterwards when I saw some of it in the VHS format. I don't recall ever seeing the whole thing during my childhood, though I did see the first of the two sequels, "Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home", from start to finish one time. When I rented the original "Free Willy" just yesterday, I could only remember a little bit of it from what I saw back in the 90's. After all these years, I've finally seen the entire film. However, as much as a fair number of other people seem to like it, I definitely didn't find it as entertaining and touching as many have made it out to be, which didn't surprise me after seeing its mediocre rating here first.

Jesse is a troubled 12 year old boy who was abandoned by his mother years ago. One night, while getting into mischief with a group of friends, he is caught by the police after vandalizing an aquatic park. His social worker, Dwight Mercer, manages to get him off the hook, provided he cleans up the mess he has made at the park. As Jesse works at the park, he looks in the tank and sees an orca whale named Willy, who was sadly separated from his family in the ocean recently and brought here. The 12 year old boy befriends this whale, and manages to teach him tricks, which nobody else has succeeded in doing. However, it turns out that Willy won't do these tricks in front of a big audience, with kids banging on the tank windows. Dial, the park owner, has an evil plan, and the homesick orca whale's life is in danger!

The beginning of the film, showing whales in the ocean, may not be that bad at first, but it's a little too long. After the capture, we are introduced to Jesse, played by Jason James Richter, and it doesn't exactly improve here, which leads me to another slight problem I have with this movie. This problem is the characters. This includes the main kid. At the beginning, he's one rotten little brat, but I guess that can easily happen with the kind of childhood he's had. Yes, much of the film is supposed to be extremely touching, and clearly is to some people, but to me, it just seemed a little too phony. The story may have some occasional mildly touching moments, but they are very brief. There may be a bit of excitement as well, but in the end, despite the fact that I wasn't completely bored throughout, I was still left with indifference. Nothing too overwhelming.

I know this is a film about saving whales, and I assure you, I do not approve of the captivity of marine animals. They're meant to live in the ocean, not chlorinated tanks. Still, this movie just didn't quite do it for me. I also know I'm writing this just a couple days after the death of Michael Jackson, who sang the closing theme, "Will You Be There", for this movie, but that is of mere coincidence. I didn't know he sang the theme song, nor did I even know what this movie's theme song was, before I rented it yesterday! If I had seen the entire film from start to finish during my childhood, it just might have been a more entertaining and memorable experience than it was for me watching it after growing up. "Free Willy" should be a nice, moving family drama, but somehow, it fails. Many kids might like it, and adults as well, but in my opinion, it's far from the perfect, heartwarming family film it seems to have often been considered.

"Free Willy" is an Adventure - Drama movie in which we watch a boy tries to rescue a killer whale from an aquarium because the aquarium owners will kill it. The boy risks everything to save the whale and he is devoted on his goal.

I liked this movie because it had a simple but interesting plot with a good direction by Simon Wincer. The interpretations of Jason James Richter who played as Jesse and August Schellenberg who played as Randolph Johnson were very good and made the movie even better. It's a classic afternoon family movie that I am sure that the whole family will enjoy. Therefore I recommend everyone to watch it because I believe that everyone can gain and learn something by watching this boy trying to save Willy.

I was full of trepidation revisiting this favorite from my youth. Some movies just don't stand the test of time from youth to adulthood, and I loved this movie in my youth. I was pleasantly pleased with Free Willy, the 1993 feature from director Simon Wincer. Starring a perfectly cast Michael Madsen, Lori Petty, and Jason James Richter, Free Willy follows a boy who has never known a home and a whale who was pulled away from his. Home means different things to different people, but for all of us, human or not, home is always a place where one belongs and can feel free.

Jesse (Jason James Richter) is a young troubled boy who has been abandoned by his mother and is getting shuffled through the system in foster care. When he and his friend Perry (Michael Bacall) a boy in a similar position as Jesse, are caught vandalizing the local marina, Jesse takes full responsibility allowing Perry to escape police custody. Jesse's social worker Dwight Mercer (Mykelti Williamson) keeps Jesse out of juvenile detention given he cleans the damage caused at the marina. Dwight also finds Jesse a home with a foster couple, Glen and Annie Greenwood (Michael Madsen & Jayne Atkinson). Reluctant to settle in another temporary home and displeased to be cleaning the area he vandalized, Jesse goes on with his punishment, as he views it. While cleaning, Jesse learns that there is an orca whale there that was captured by fisherman to be placed in the marina as a show animal. Willy, the orca, has not adapted well to his new surroundings, does not respond to his trainer, Rae Lindley (Lori Petty) well, and has no desire to perform for the public. Feeling a kinship to the animal that misses a real home and his family, Jesse and Willy become fast friends, with Jesse even sneaking out of the house to spend more time with Willy. When Jesse learns that Willy will be killed if he doesn't begin performing for the marina, he decides the only thing he can do is release Willy back into the wild where he can find his home and be free.

(Almost) Any film that has a lot of animal shots is going to look visually impressive. Free Willy was filled with shots of the orca all throughout the film which were breathtaking. I better understand now as an adult why I enjoyed Free Willy so much as a child; Free Willy is a family movie that is wrought with lessons, yet avoids the moralistic high horse. Of course, an adult, even a child, can recognize the correlation between Willy and Jesse both not fitting into the world in which they inhabit; yet instead of overtly making this connection, the audience gets to see the connection played out on screen as Jesse also discovers it. A fun family film shot in a visually pleasing way with a great understated morale, Free Willy is still a movie my adult self can enjoy that was a favorite of my child self.