Search - The Same River Twice on DVD

A Time Machine for 40-Something "Waterdogs".....

Less Oake | Seattle, WA United States | 01/07/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you've ever spent any time on a river -- without a motor -- and were a young adult in the 70's...this film is like somebody opening a window in a stuffy room. The sights, sounds, and abundant nudity will wash over you like an icy jade wave....it's a joy to see brothers & sisters of the "Royal Order of the Rocket Box" who went there too, fellow veterans of multi-day raft trips with all the attendant psuedo-philosophizing, coitus, group & individual angst, transactional dynamics and joyful dysfunction.

Juxtaposing the archival footage with the "where are they today?" clips was brilliant filmmaking...kind of like Michael Apted's 48-up, but with better scenery and more dramatic hydraulics!

If you've ever stuffed all your worldly possessions in a drybag, hoisted a 200 quart cooler and suffered 3rd degree Teva tan.....you'll love it!"

Positive, Warm Movie about Life Choices.

Keith E. Hyndman | Phila, Pa | 11/27/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I just watched this movie over the Thanksgiving weekend. I thought it was excellent, entertaining and interesting.

I was first interested in this movie because I enjoy nude recreation myself...which I guess makes me a nudist.

I really appreciated the positive view of social nudity, but this movie was much more then that. It follows the 5 main characters from their early "carefree, freedom loving, nudist" youth to their more complicated main stream modern life...safe one Jim, who continues live the same carefree life.

And more importantly the choices that they made, and really that we all make that change our lives...kids, career, marriage....etc.

As for me, I could really indentify with all the characters, from thier youthful days in the 70's and there 40 something lives in the present.

I thought the 70's nudist footage was great and for those that are curious, this depicts the type of nudist's fun that can still be enjoyed now..today...at any age.....

I recommend this movie to middle aged people, who grew up in the 70's.

Enjoy!
"

Putting some clothes on . . .

Ronald Scheer | Los Angeles | 09/02/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

""River Dogs," the 1970s film within a film that we get as part of "Same River" would make a fascinating cultural artifact all by itself, as it captures an ethos from that period which has largely disappeared from American culture. Some may say "good riddance" but its themes of personal freedom within a pristine natural environment are at the heart of beliefs about America, some of which do hark back to the Garden of Eden. Hard to believe in this cynical age, but these beliefs get taken very seriously by the original 17 river guides who take a very nude rafting journey into Grand Canyon, while practicing free love and a primitive kind of democracy.

The more recent footage, which follows some of those young people now grown to middle age is less mythic and more about the day-to-day complexities of living with divorce, career changes, children rearing, joint custody, health problems, aging parents, running small businesses, participating in civic activities, etc. While the filmmaker may want to celebrate a kind of youthful spirit as it lives on in these same people, the contrast between then and now tends to discredit whatever ideals were embraced by this group of individuals in 1978. The fault may lie in the limited number of those whose lives are revisited in the present and that they are all personal friends of the filmmaker. The other 12 people may have had very different stories to tell. The DVD has commentary and a Q&A session with the director."