Rent Jungle (2017)

Not sure about this - Jungle review by HM

A true story with the addition of a Jaguar and a good looking hallucinated girl. My impression about 80% through the movie was that being lost in the jungle is boring frankly. I suppose the real life version was even duller, it is just the fact that you are likely to starve to death; they say you can live in the jungle or travel through it with supplies but not both. My interest in the film waned as it became obvious certain events were inserted to liven it up a bit. Radcliffe is good and nobody can say he doesn't pick scripts that are star vehicles. This film certainly isn't.

Daniel Radcliffe emerging as a fine actor in adulthood - Jungle review by Rod

Overall, I thought this was a fine film - showing Daniel Radcliffe to be emerging now as a skilful and versatile actor. The film developed Daniel's solo efforts to survive the hardships of the jungle with superb realism and the later stages of the film were all the more riveting for that. The fellow travellers that Dan pitched in with were a bit irritating - but maybe that was a deliberate aspect of the casting! All in all, one of the better survival films I've seen.

Effective Missing-in-South-American-Jungle Movie which drips sweat and tragedy - Jungle review by PV

I enjoyed this film and realised I was familiar with the true story - I saw a documentary on it a few years ago on TV, though the true life ending in that was not the same as this (both men were found on a river bank in that). An awful tragic story and a cautionary tale for all travellers!

Anyway, this film is a bit long but effective - you genuinely feel for Yossi in the AWFUL Amazonian jungle (I have always hated jungles and never want to visit one). This film oozes sweat!

The images of the wildlife are superb and it was filmed in Colombia and Bolivia, though made by an Australian company.

Daniel Radcliffe and the other male actors impress. The bit that didn't work for me was when a rainforest tribal young woman appeared - and I would have cut that to make the movie shorter as it drags a bit there.

The best South American rainforest movie is probably APOCALYTO by the otherwise odious Mel Gibson. This is well worth a watch though as is Heat and Dust by Evelyn Waugh, and The Lost City of Z which is good too.

4 stars.

Thrilling survival bio-pic - Jungle review by Alphaville

Another adventurous choice for the ever-watchable actor that Daniel Radcliffe has become since putting the boy wizard behind him. Dan and his fellow backpackers go walkabout in the Bolivian jungle. Based on a true story, the first half is an old-fashioned adventure story of Man v Jungle and it works admirably on this level. The characters feel real, the locations are gorgeous, director Greg McLean keeps the story moving along with pace and you’re drawn along into the adventure, even with a tinge of envy. Of course, things don’t go well.

The second-half turns into a survivalist tour-de-force that, as they say on TV, ‘some viewers may find distressing’. There are some gross-out scenes, but it would still work if not for the sudden introduction of flashbacks and hallucinations that dissipate the tension. To give you some idea of what’s in store, the rea-life character that Dan plays actually came out of the jungle with 13 worms burrowed in his body.

The DVD has a raft of fascinating extras that show the considerable physical discomfort Dan put himself through during filming. A gripping watch that with more focus could have been a classic.