Free Willy 3 (1997)
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44% of critics liked it
(16 reviews) -
51% of users liked it
(63,176 ratings)
In the third installment in the Free Willy series, Jesse (Jason James Richter), the once-troubled youth whose life was changed by his friendship with the killer whale Willy, is spending the summer on board a ship assisting a group a whale researchers, including his old friend Randolph (August… More In the third installment in the Free Willy series, Jesse (Jason James Richter), the once-troubled youth whose life was changed by his friendship with the killer whale Willy, is spending the summer on board a ship assisting a group a whale researchers, including his old friend Randolph (August Schellenberg), and Drew (Annie Corley), an oceanographer. Jesse once used a harmonica to communicate with Willy, and when he plays his mouth harp through the ship's underwater sound system, he is able to find his old friend, who is now raising a family of his own. As Jesse, Randolph, and Drew are out to study and assist the whales, a ten-year-old boy named Max (Vincent Berry) is accompanying his father John Wesley (Patrick Kilpatrick) on the fishing boat that John helps to run. Max soon discovers that John and the crew are not fishing for salmon, as he believed, but killer whales, which is illegal, but very profitable, as whale meat fetches $200 a pound on the black market. Jesse meets Max on shore, and when Jesse learns what John and his crew are up to, he tries to teach Max that while his father may not be a bad man, he's doing a very bad thing in killing the whales, who are intelligent, compassionate, and deserve the right to live; Jesse also acts to save Willy and his family from John and his fellow poachers. As in Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, Free Willy 3: The Rescue used mechanical and animated whales rather than flesh-and-blood aquatic mammals. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Sam Pillsbury
- Written By
- John Mattson
- Genres
- Drama, Action & Adventure, Kids & Family
PG,
- In Theaters
- Aug 8, 1997 Wide
- On DVD
- Jan 28, 2003
- Studio
- Warner Home Video
Critic Reviews
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Charles Cassady, Common Sense Media
For devoted -- and young -- Willy fans only.
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Clint Morris, Moviehole
Not exactly a whale of a time, but worthwhile
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Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
I mean really: how many stories could there BE between one boy and one whale?
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David Luty, Film Journal International
A film that treats its human audience with as much respect as its less-evolved subjects.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Jason James Richter
as Jessie
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August Schellenberg
as Randolph Johnson
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Annie Corley
as Drew
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Vincent Berry
as Max Wesley
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Patrick Kilpatrick
as John Wesley
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Tasha Simms
as Mary Wesley
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Peter LaCroix
as Sanderson
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Stephen E. Miller
as Dineen
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Ian Tracey
as Kron
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Matthew Walker
as Capt. Drake
- Rick Burgess
- Roger R. Cross
- Roman Danylo
