If you look at the jacket, you would expect Shiloh to be about a cute dog that has an I.Q. of 150 who saves the day, or who perhaps accompanies some children on a long hike, fending off wolves and cougars. Or perhaps a dog that makes messes. It is nothing like that at all. Shiloh is a cute, but completely ordinary dog, who does nothing more exciting than licking people's faces and gobbling food.It is a morality tale. There is the evil Christian who believes God gave us animals to use as we please, including sadistic pleasure.There is the postman father who equates right with legal.Then there is the hero, a boy about ten, who argues articulately again and again for a higher heart-centred morality motivated by his loving caring for the young dog Shiloh. He gradually wins over his mom, his dad and even the evil Christian. There is plenty of ambiguity and conflict. It is not a totally black and white tale.Even though the boy is only ten, he is one of the most heroic figures in movies.The sudden happy ending did not ring true for me. A more plausible ending would have had the villain eaten alive by his dogs, or some such bad karma.

In the first 5 minutes the kid works on showing us how not to use riffle by pointing it around, followed by unbelted car ride with his father. I saw nothing even remotely watchable in this move and about halfway through turned it off. A complete waste of time unless you like animal cruelty and self torture, which me and my 6 year old are not. Oh and speaking of torture the actors look like they are being torture by the script. Feel sorry for the poor guy that had to edit this, but not like he spent much time. Think I will pay the library for this movie just so I can destroy the DVD and save others from this. IF you see this movie run, run, run!

Good film about a love starved man who heartlessly uses dogs as his means of earning a living. When one of his dogs runs off and adopts a neighbor's son, trouble begins over who will take possession of the animal. Anyone who goes for cutesy canine films will like this picture.

Heartwarming story with real values for family viewing. Well written script is faithful to the Phyllis Reynolds Naylor bestseller which won the Newbery Award. Scott Wilson excels as Jud Travers bringing a palpable menace to the character while at the same time making him a fully believable human being with his own back story. Blake Heron shines as the boy who falls in love with the dog and fights to keep him. An engaging performance from a young man with promise. Rod Steiger adds distinction to the film and emotional weight in his portrayal of the kindly store owner. Anne Dowd is the perfect Mom, gently chiding and always loving. Michael Moriarty lays down the law as the father with a sense of humor and engagement with his children. Dale Rosenbloom wrote the screenplay and directed the film with a finely tuned sense of the heartbeat of the story. A film that will be evergreen for the generations.