I first saw Buschwacked in a public, pre-wide-release screening just outside Los Angeles in the mid 1990s. The production title of the film at the time was Tenderfoot. These types of screenings were common in my neighborhood since many movie production companies liked to test family films with local suburbanites before release to gauge the reaction of parents and children. Supposedly, early versions of the film had Daniel Stern's character as Marv Merchants. Yes, the Marv from the Home Alone series who threatens to murder a child multiple times. I don't remember if Stern was named Marv or Max in the screening, but I imagine many parents would have been disturbed by a redemption story of this notorious villain.
In the theatrical release of Bushwhacked. Stern plays Max Grabelski, just a seemingly normal guy in a leather jacket who gets in trouble with the mob and the law, not a petty thief who wants to murder children. In an effort to hide from the authorities, Max gets mistaken as a renowned mountain climber and ends up leading a group of scouts up a mountain. Lots of hijinks ensue, and Max ends up saving the kids and earning the trust of the community. There's a decently fun and funny movie here. Daniel Stern has great comedic chops and does his best to make Bushwhacked an exciting ride, but there's one aspect of Bushwhacked that's so glaring it's hard to sit through.
One of the most common crutches for filmmakers in the 1980s and 1990s was a bombastic score. To be fair, this isn't always a crutch. For example, John William's work for Jurassic Park matches and complements the stakes of dinosaurs running amok, but William's talent and project selection are second to none. In Bushwacked, the blaring horns, whirling woodwinds, and constantly crescendoing strings drown out the tension on screen. In a scene where Max is saving one of the kids from falling off a cliff, the overwhelming score is yelling at us to recognize the danger and heroic triumph of the situation, but it's unnecessary. Sometimes, the visuals are enough.
Despite the score, Bushwack's gags and set pieces can be pretty fun, especially because Stern is able to sell them so well with his goofy body movements and contorting facial expressions. One of the highlights is a chase scene where Max begins to chop off the ropes of a bridge to cut off his pursuers. When he realizes one of the kids is still on it, instead of stopping, he continues to chop at the ropes, thinking it will motivate the scared kid to run off. It works even though it shouldn't. It's a scene I imagine the writers creating when Max was Marv, as the Max we grow to appreciate later wouldn't send a kid to their death just to save his own hide.
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