Jonathan Livingston Seagull
by Hall Bartlett
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DVD details
Actor: James Franciscus, Juliet Mills, Kelly Harmon, Philip Ahn, Richard CrennaDirector: Hall Bartlett
Brand: Paramount
Cinematographer: Jack Couffer
Producer: Hall Bartlett
Writer: Hall Bartlett
Editor: Frank P. Keller
Editor: James Galloway
Editor: Marshall M. Borden
Writer: Richard D. Bach
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 120 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-10-02
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Paramount
DVD Reviews of Jonathan Livingston Seagull
DVD Review: A lyrical Masterpiece.
Summary: 5 Stars
Stirring, soulful, inspiring and haunting all at the same time. To say that they do not make music like this anymore is an understatement. Although the source material for this soundtrack is firmly rooted in the 70's it has the ability to do what only great works can. It transcends time. I was given the book earlier this year by a very good friend who knew that I needed to read it. Wow! Once I started I could not put it down. I think I finished it in about an hour.
Thanks to Amazon for having this in stock. I ordered two copies of the dvd-one of which I will give to my friend. Although she loves the book she never knew that there was a film, so this way I get to return something of value to her.
This is definately Neil Diamond's best work. It was difficult to get past the song - Be. When I thought that it could not get any better the sequence with- Dear Father- kicked in and it had me, totally, utterly under it's spell. If you need something to just have playing in the background while you are doing stuff around the house, or need something to take away some of the stresses of daily life this can be a powerful meditation for anyone who understands.
This soundtrack along with the dvd would make a cherished gift for someone that needs a little uplifting.
A true classic!
DVD Review: This movie is boring
Summary: 2 Stars
The book far outsrips the movie. I understand Richard Bach's distress at what was doen to his work in this movie. The best part of the movie is the soundtrack.DVD Review: Like no other...
Summary: 5 Stars
When I was in my teens I went to see the movie and fell in love with the music. You wonder how they can make a movie about seagulls? I'm sure it was not easy, but with the music, the story was touching and memorable. I immediately bought the album (yes, album) and though I eventually got rid of all the others, this one I kept. Problem was I did not have a record player and decided to get the CD. Inside the album cover there's a message from Neil Diamond to the director of the movie which said, "I don't want to be Jonathan's voice, I want to be his heart," and he did just that in this soundtrack. It's what got me hooked onto Neil Diamond and from that time on I went to his concert every time he came to town. During his concert he would go off stage and on the screens a laser dot would appear. This dot grew bigger and suddenly wings would emerge. The audience would yell "Jonathan" all at once. Simply amazing. I honestly think this is one of the best soundtracks ever made.DVD Review: AWESOME MOVIE
Summary: 5 Stars
First let me say this is one awesome movie, beautifully done and very touching. Anyone who doesn't feel anything during this film is made of cement. Neil Diamond's score is brilliant, I give this 5 out of 5 stars. I have one major problem: Paramount's lackluster release of the dvd. The picture quality is excellent, but what is this soundtrack? It sounds worse than AM radio and is not in stereo. While the film may not have been issued in stereo at the time, Paramount has gone back to many of its films and used the original master tapes and remastered films in beautiful stereo sound. To skip doing that for Jonathan Livingston Seagull is just an abomination. The score is what makes the movie come alive, Neil Diamond at his prime, and to release the dvd with such poor quality mono sound is shameful. The sad thing is the French soundtrack on this disc sounds better than the English. Very disappointed in this Paramount!DVD Review: Great Music, Visuals But The Story A Bit Lame
Summary: 4 Stars
Great soundtrack, great visuals, somewhat confusing and disappointing storyline.
I always thought this was Neil Diamond's best work. He sang the soundtrack, and it's filled with great songs that he did exceptionally well.
The photography is beautiful and the scenes as mellow as you can find: a seagull gracefully gliding through the air surrounded by beautiful seascapes, sunsets, billowy clouds.....just magnificent scenery. I'll never forget seeing this in the theater around 1973. It was impressive.
On the negative side is the usual New Age "look within yourself" theology. This is pure Secular Humanism. I say this because some people thought this was a Christian film and it is not. Author Richard Bach, from whose book this movie is based on, leaves no doubt near the end of the movie - or the screenwriters did, if they changed his book.
Anyway, this is still, a peaceful, calming movie that is unique. I gave up waiting for the DVD but now that it's finally available, I think I'll check it out again.
Description of Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Jonathan is sick and tired of the boring life in his sea-gull clan. He rather experiments with new, always more daring flying techniques. Since he doesn't fit in, the elders expel him from the clan. So he sets out to discover the world beyond the horizon in quest for wisdom.There isn't a lot of middle ground when it comes to Jonathan Livingston Seagull, which comes to DVD in 2007, 34 years after it was released theatrically, 15 years after it appeared in the VHS format, and nearly 40 years after the first publication of Richard Bach's novella. One person's poetic is another's pretentious; while many find inspiration and enlightenment in its allegorical message of self-realization and fulfillment, many others are repelled by its sophomoric, superficial moralizing. There is, however, one aspect of director Hall Bartlett's film that pretty much everyone agrees on: it's beautifully photographed, and richly deserving of its 1974 Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography, with shot after breathtaking shot of the titular bird and his flock on the wing (and done without CGI or other modern technological trickery, other than the use of some radio-controlled models). Still, even an ornithologist would grow weary of endless shots of seagulls soaring and swooping, and when they start to talk, well, that's where the battle lines are drawn. James Franciscus, speaking in a hoarse, urgent whisper, supplies the voice of Jonathan, a young gull obsessed with flying higher, faster, and "without limits." This doesn't sit too well with the conformist stiffs who run the show, and the rebellious Jonathan finds himself an outcast. at least until he hooks up with some other, more evolved birds, who show him an existentially higher place and encourage him to return to his flock (who have names like Kirk Maynard, Judy Lee, and Charles-Roland) and share his profound life lessons with the others. If all of that sounds a bit sententious, that's because it is; while there's no arguing with the film's positive gist (basically, that it's good to be yourself and take a few risks), it's hammered home with all the subtlety of a Thomas Kinkade painting. Neil Diamond's music doesn't help, either, as the songwriter (with collaborator Lee Holdridge) delivers some of the most cloying songs of his career, somehow managing to sound sentimental and grandiose at the same time. In the end, perhaps the best solution is to watch Jonathan Livingston Seagull with the sound off. --Sam Graham
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