Watch Wanda Nevada For Free

You won't be disappointed!

hyped garbage

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

I find it offensive that so many reviewers have sided with Wanda's oppressors and would rather see her locked up in a "reform school" -- where the only thing that would be re-formed is her sweet spirit. Why have so many people still not realized that chronological age is not an accurate gauge of anyone's emotional maturity? As a Master Yoga Therapist and Jungian, I know that men with black-and-white morality values cannot face finding a thirteen-year-old sexually or romantically attractive; so they suppress their desire and compensate by rejecting the catalyst. A similar syndrome is the father who compensates for an unconscious desire for his daughter by rejecting all her potential suitors as "not good enough" for her. Older women often have problems with those who are young and attractive.The precious message of this charmingly unpretentious film is this: All General Rules of behavior must be given room for grand exceptions. After all, it is these that make life worth living.

Really, seriously this movie is a complete waste of time. Made by the most inept and undistinguished of directors (not very good actor either) Peter Fonda, and staring Brooke Shields as...you guessed it...a child-woman-sex-object. Peter Fonda simply cannot act, period. He misses such basic acting chores like showing emotion, reacting to emotion or building a believable character that this film is unwatchable. Whatever range of human emotion Mr. Fonda has at this point in time is kept tightly under wraps for any on screen appearances. Maybe the juxtaposition of being the director and any calling all the shots got him wrapped up in daily stresses enough to shut down his acting mojo? Just guessing, but it seems very plausible.The plot is a complete disorganized mess, although I do agree with other that somehow the tone of the film changes about halfway mark, from insipid ride-along-whimsy actor banter (filmed no less) to milquetoast-Hallmark Film-quality-third-grader-level drama. Casting Broke Shields was a mistake too, because she cannot act either. She is way too to immature. What do you get when you add zero to zero? Yup, nothing'. The other actors try, but even those professionals can't carry the heavy burden.I think the writers should have been able to save this but, the story and script just are not A-quality. There is no grand arc of drama, no reason to care about these people, nothing but to keep watching to see if something happens romantically between these two. It does not, which is a credit to Brooke Shield's parents for not completely pimping her out at such a young age (in this instance).But I have to say I think Brooke Shields has slowly and methodically built a solid core of acting (over many years) that is miles above this primitive attempt. And she is one of the most stunning beauties to ever be photographed or filmed. Case in point is the film Blue Lagoon where she actually gets good lines, is well directed and has developed some rudimentary but powerful acting ability. Not her best, but certainly much better than this film.

Wanda Nevada is a pubescent fantasy movie using circa 1979 ideas of what constitutes illicit romance for 13 year old girls. Script, pacing, and direction are uniformly awful. Action sequences defy belief. Characters speak with the simplified diction one usually finds in films aimed at the under 10 set, but also includes multiple sexual references involving Shields' character as well as graphic deaths. The movie wants to be a comedy on some level but is never funny, an adventure picture but plot and action are insipid, and a children's movie but introduces pedophilia and child rape as real possibilities. It also wants to be a buddy picture, a coming of age picture, a ghost movie, an Indian spiritual movie, a travelogue, and a western. The overall affect is of massive stupidity with a nasty twist. Wanda Nevada is a complete waste of time unless you want to see a good many terrific shots of the Grand Canyon. That it manages to do just fine.

I've read a lot of negative reviews for the film, and yes, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but somehow I've always enjoyed the movie in a "dumb fun" sort of way. But maybe I'm biased because the town scenes were shot in Prescott, Arizona where I lived, and as a teenager, I remember the excitement of the film crew hitting town. I can identify all of the town locations---the Mt. Breeze Motel (sign clearly seen on screen) is no longer standing today. And, of course, all of the teenage boys I knew thought Brooke Shields was hot! As far as the film goes, its whimsy worked well on me. It has been on video, and it has had a few TV airings, but it seems to have done quite a disappearing act these last few years. I don't know why---maybe it is because of the strongly implied love affair between the middle-aged Peter Fonda and the 13 year old Brooke Shields (whose on-screen character is 13 as well). Such things don't sit too well, and rightly so, in the present day, but people didn't think so much of it back in 1979.