| Free Willy 3: The Rescue | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Sam Pillsbury |
| Written by | John Mattson |
| Based on | Characters byKeith A. Walker |
| Produced by | Jennie Lew Tugend |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Tobias A. Schliessler |
| Edited by | Margaret Goodspeed |
| Music by | Cliff Eidelman |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 86 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $3.4 million[1] |
Free Willy 3: The Rescue is a 1997 Americanfamily film directed bySam Pillsbury and written byJohn Mattson. Released byWarner Bros. under theirWarner Bros. Family Entertainment banner, it is the sequel toFree Willy 2: The Adventure Home in addition to being the third film in theFree Willy franchise and final installment of the original storyline as well as the last to be released theatrically.Jason James Richter andAugust Schellenberg reprise their roles from the previous films whileAnnie Corley, Vincent Berry andPatrick Kilpatrick joined the cast. The story revolves around Jesse and Randolph attempting to stop a group of whalers, led by its ruthless captain, from illegally hunting Willy while secretly receiving help from an unlikely source involving the captain's young son after an accident changed his view on whales.
Filming took place inBritish Columbia from July 31 to October 10, 1996, where several scenes were shot inVancouver,Pitt Lake,Britannia Beach,Squamish andHowe Sound.[2][3] The film is dedicated toFree Willy co-writerKeith A. Walker who died two months after production was completed.
Free Willy 3: The Rescue premiered on August 8, 1997. It received mixed reviews from critics and was abox office bomb, grossing $3.4 million.
Sixteen year-old Jesse works as anorca-research assistant on a research ship called theNoah alongside his old friend Randolph who promised Glen and Annie to keep him out of trouble while on the job. Aboard just such a ship, theBotany Bay, ten year-old Max Wesley takes his first trip to sea with his father, John, awhaler from a long line of whalers and learns the true unlawful nature of the family business which includes selling whale meat to an underground Japanese market. During his first hunt, Max accidentally falls overboard and comes face to face with Willy. Jesse and Randolph discover a spear on Willy's fin, leading them to suspect he, his pregnant mate Nicky and their pod are being illegally hunted byBotany Bay's whalers who are posing as commercial fishermen. Jesse goes to theNoah's head boss Drake about the threat to the whales, but he refuses to take action until Jesse manages to get proof. When Jesse and Max meet for the first time, Jesse introduces Max to Willy properly after learning of Max's experience and his liking of whales.
Later that night, while Randolph distracts John and the whalers at a bar like Jesse asked, Jesse manages to sneak on board theBotany Bay to steal one of the spears used to shoot the whales and discovers that the whalers are heading back out to go after Willy, Nicky and their pod, using an audio recording of a song which Jesse plays on his harmonica as a lure for Willy. Drake plans to call for help the next day, but knowing it will be too late then, Jesse, Randolph, and their fellow researcher Drew Halbert steal theNoah from her mooring and go after the whalers themselves. An outraged John finds out that his son is not on his side, but it does not stop Max as he jumps into the water, forcing the whalers to pause their pursuit of the whales to perform a "man overboard" rescue for Max, which gave Jesse, Randolph and Drew enough time to catch up.
After the trio unsuccessfully use a flare gun and their boat's P.A. system to try to bluff the whalers into stopping, Jesse rams theNoah into theBotany Bay just as John fires a harpoon, the jolt causing the harpoon to miss Willy and knocking John into the water. Willy tries to kill him, but Jesse and Max convince Willy to spare him. John gets trapped under a net and nearly drowns, and ultimately comes face to face with Willy himself. Willy pushes him to the surface, allowing Jesse and Randolph to rescue him. The Coastal Marine Patrol arrive, having been summoned on the radio by Jesse before he rammed theBotany Bay, and catch the whalers in the act and arrest them. Being saved by Willy causes John to see the errors of his whaling ways and he reconciles with Max who forgives him.
Days later, Jesse, Randolph, Drew and Max witness the birth of Willy and Nicky's son. Max suggests naming the newborn calf after Willy, but Jesse decides to name him after Max. After that, Willy, Nicky and Max swim off into the open sea.
| Free Willy 3: The Rescue (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | |
|---|---|
| Film score by | |
| Released | July 29, 1997 |
| Genre | Film score |
| Length | 28:56 |
| Label | Varèse Sarabande |
| Producer | Cliff Eidelman |
Free Willy 3: The Rescue marked the only entry to not feature musical contributions fromMichael Jackson (who sung and wrote "Will You Be There" in the first film and "Childhood" in the second). Instead ofBasil Poledouris, the music was composed and conducted byCliff Eidelman and performed by theToronto Symphony Orchestra. Score experts from the songs "Connection" and theFree Willy main theme are heard including at the conclusion of film where the song "A New Family" used a portion of the latter.
The songs featured in the film but not on the soundtrack are "China Grove" byThe Doobie Brothers, "What Do You See?" bySkydiggers, "Big Sky" byThe Reverend Horton Heat and "Pressin' On" byLittle Charlie & the Nightcats.
The soundtrack was released on July 29, 1997, byVarèse Sarabande.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Main Title" | 1:44 |
| 2. | "Awakening" | 4:06 |
| 3. | "Harpoon Assembly" | 0:53 |
| 4. | "Whale Call" | 1:29 |
| 5. | "Birth" | 3:06 |
| 6. | "Willy Signals" | 1:03 |
| 7. | "The Hunt" | 3:09 |
| 8. | "Obsession" | 2:09 |
| 9. | "Redemption" | 2:36 |
| 10. | "You Were Right" | 2:08 |
| 11. | "A New Family" | 1:35 |
| 12. | "End Credits" | 3:49 |
| Total length: | 28:56 | |
Free Willy 3 received generally mixed reviews from critics.
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 44% with an average rating of 5.2/10, based on reviews from 16 critics.[4] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[5]
Siskel & Ebert calledFree Willy 3 the best film in the series.Roger Ebert gave it a thumbs-up and 3 out of 4 stars in his review, writing that "the series has grown up" and "smart" kids will enjoy it.[6][7][8]