Beautiful scenes and soundtrack. Epic story with unthinkable circumstances.

Rating: 9/10 (13 March 2008)

The combination of unique and memorable characters, epic story telling, unthinkable circumstances, beautiful scenery and outstanding folk music soundtrack by Eddie Vedder make this a movie that is truly worth experiencing.
Into the Wild is a retelling of a true story based on the last years of a young man's life and his spiritual journey to find himself. That man is Chris Mccandless. Shortly after graduating from Emory University in 1990 Mccandless abandoned his family, his upper-middle class background and all his material possessions. He donated his entire life savings to charity and destroyed all his personal identification. Then he set out into the world with only the clothes he had on his back.
The film follows Mccandless for those two years as he traveled all over the US and into Mexico. Along this journey you are exposed to all the beautiful, natural landscapes and the deep relationships developed with the wide variety of people who he meets along the way.
Mccandless ultimate goal is to remove himself from society completely and journey alone into the wilderness of Alaska. This idea was partly inspired by his favorite author Jack London who wrote "White Fang" and "The Call of the Wild". He sees this as his final path to his true freedom and spiritual awakening.
The film does a great job of jumping between his time in Alaska and flashbacks two years earlier as he traveled across the US. This avoids a scenario like the movie "Castaway" were there is little to no dialog for long periods of time. There is never a dull moment in Into the Wild. When it is all over you will be left with mixed emotions and possibly reflecting on the current state of your own life.