| Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove | |
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| Directed by | Will Geiger |
| Produced by |
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| Screenplay by | Will Geiger |
| Story by | Cindy McCreery |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Enis Rotthoff |
| Cinematography | Robert Malpage |
| Editing by | Sabrina Plisco |
| Studio |
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| Distributed by | Warner Premiere |
| Release date(s) | March 11, 2010 (Hungary) March 23, 2010 (United States) |
| Running time | 97 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove is a 2010 direct-to-video family film and the fourth installment in the Free Willy series. It stars Beau Bridges and Bindi Irwin. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 23 March 2010 in the United States. It was released on August 2 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Unlike the last films, this film isn't connected in any way to the first three movies and is considered to be a reboot of the series.
Kirra is sent to stay with Gus in his run-down amusement park in Cape Town after her father was hospitalized for six weeks. Upon arrival, Kirra is met at the airport by Mansa, one of her grandpa's employees. Kirra is initially unhappy about leaving her father, but she eventually makes friends with Silfiso, Mansa's son.
After a fierce storm, a baby male orca was separated from his pod, and became stranded in a lagoon on Gus's property. The next morning, Kirra discovers the animal and named it Willy. Willy proves to be a big hit amongst the park visitors. However, Kirra is concerned about Willy, who is not eating due to stress. Kirra sets herself a mission to take care of it. Kirra tries very hard to get Willy to eat a fish, and finally succeeds after talking to it about her parents.
Gus' competitor Rolf Woods learns about the new attraction at Gus' park, and offers to buy Willy for $500,000, but no deal is made. After much perseverance, Kirra persuades Gus to call the marine rescue center for help in rehabilitating Willie back into the sea. However, Willy had under-developed echolocation skills and is unable to survive without his pod, thus making it unsuitable for rehabilitation. Not one to give up, Kirra does much researching on how to train Willy to use his echolocation skill, despite being told that there is no known method to do so. She then tries to feed Willy blindfolded, but failed many times.
Rolf, desperate for Willy, hatches a plot to poison Willy to get Gus to sell it at a cheaper price. After his plan failed, Rolf denied all knowledge of the plan, though he offers to buy Willy again.
Kirra then camps out by the lagoon to keep Willy calm after the the failed plot. Willy suddenly wakes her up, pulls her into the water, and lets her ride him. After that, Kirra and Willy become a double-act at the park, attracting many reporters and cameramen. The money earned from this publicity was then used to fund the fishes needed for Willy's echolocation training. After many tries, Willy learns to use his echolocation, and managers to catch live fish swimming in the lagoon. In the meantime, Rolf returns to tempt Gus with a lower offer for Willy. Faced with a mounting food bill, Gus agrees to sell Willy to Rolf at 500,000 dollars, and insists the exchange take place after Kirra's departure.
Mansa made an underwater recording device to record Willy’s sounds, hoping to use the sounds to locate Willy's pod. Despite working hard for days, they did not produce any results. One day, Silfiso invites Kirra to go to his Uncle Rudy's safari park to take her mind off Willy. On their way back, they see a billboard advertising Willy as a new attraction to Rolf's theme park. The pair then hurries back, but was too late as Gus had already signed the agreement to sell Willy. Kirra is heartbroken, and makes Gus promise to make sure that Rolf takes good care of Willy. Later, when Kirra goes down to the lagoon, she sees Willy’s pod. However, Gus does not believe her account.
Kirra and Silfiso go to seek Uncle Rudy's help with their plan to put Willy back into the ocean. However, he is not around, but the two stole a crane truck and drove it back to Pirate's Cove. Later, Gus agrees to help them get Willy back into the ocean if his pod can be found. Kirra and Silfiso then headed for the harbour with Willy, while Gus and Mansa stay to distract Rolf, who was on his way over. Eventually they found Willy's family, and Willy was reunited with them. Kirra later jumps into the water to bid Willy farewell.
On the day of Kirra's departure, she says goodbye to Mansa and Silfiso and at the airport, and agrees to come back next summer. As she gets on the plane, Gus wipes away a tear. Kirra smiles as she takes a final look on Cape Town. Meanwhile, Willy and his pod swim off into the ocean depths.
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