Jonathan Livingston Seagull
by Hall Bartlett
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DVD details
Actor: David Ladd, James Franciscus, Juliet Mills, Kelly Harmon, Philip AhnDirector: Hall Bartlett
Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
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 (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, 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: Beautiful pictures, decent songs, and then the seagulls start "talking"
Summary: 3 Stars
I know that I read the book, "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" by Richard Bach and that my girl friend in high school gave me the soundtrack album, so I remembered the handful of Neil Diamond songs that show up in this movie, but I remembered nothing about the plot. I mean, yes, I knew there was this seagull and that there was some sort of simplistic life lesson to be learned here, but it was not until the seagull started talking about flying really fast that I remembered that was the catalyst for the title character's quest, exile, and ultimate redemption. I also remembered that the message was not why I went to go see this movie when it came out in 1973.
I still think this is a beautiful film, which deservedly received an Oscar nomination for Jack Couffer's cinematography because basically this film was IMAX before IMAX was around. The beginning is gorgeous and it takes you a moment to remember that you want to pay attention to the seagull and not the scenery. This proves to be the fatal flaw in this film. Because once we start focusing on the seagulls we focus on one in particular, and he has a story that has to be communicated through voiceovers. I recognize the voice of Philip Ahn as Chang, because I watched "Kung Fu" when it was on, but I never would have guessed that was James Franciscus doing the voice of Jonathan. The problem is that every time we get to the voice-overs in this movie, I start to get bored, even though I know the dialogue is necessary to advance the plot of the film (this sentiment is extend to Dimaond's work, where I like the music way more than the lyrics). It is just that suddenly I seem to remember a joke about the book, namely that it was a best seller because there were more people than you would have thought who had never read "The Little Engine That Could," and I have to wonder about people with so little in their lives that the book could have meant so much.
To be fair, the movie should not be confused with the book, if for no other reason that Bach sued Columbia over the changes they made to his story when they filmed it. Then again, I have no idea what those changes might be or how the vision of the author has been corrupted by this adaptation. There are no DVD extras and there are six--count them, six--scenes to select. They are numbered (you guessed it) 1 through 6, and if you can look at the pictures above the numbers and figure out what part of the film it is, then you must really love this movie. I was going to round up on this one, just because the cinematography is as gorgeous as I remember, but when I saw the film was divided into six numbered scenes, I had to head in the other direction. This is one of those films that I have to think will interest only those people who saw it before and want to see it again, whether such an interest is restricted only to the beautiful photograph or to the whole "message" it has to offer.
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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