DVD Review: Jonathan Livingston Seagull

In the 1970s a novella was written about a seagull named Jonathan Livingston Seagull. The goal was to show people the importance of independence and the joy of living life. This is shown in the book through Jonathan, a seagull that lives to fly. He doesn’t want to just fly though, he wants to fly fast, and he will do anything to accomplish his goals. I haven’t had a chance to read this book as it was written before my time and I had not heard of it, but I am sure it is an interesting read. That being said, not all interesting books need to be movies.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull was one of those movies that snuck under the radar. Despite the fact that this movie probably should have never been made, it did end up receiving two Academy Award Nominations (Cinematography and Editing) and a Grammy was won by Neil Diamond for Best Score.

This film was directed by Hal Bartlett. Surprisingly the critics did not have much love for this movie. I suppose its one thing to read about seagulls and an entirely different thing to watch a live action movie containing seagulls as the main life form. I put this movie in skeptically hoping for the best, but at the end of the day it’s a movie about seagulls. What more can I say than live action seagull movie? Even with a deep and meaningful meaning, you’re still watching seagulls.

The film revolves around Jonathan Livingston Seagull. This seagull is not like any other. He marches to the beat of his own drum. Other seagulls spend time working and looking for food, but Jonathan just wants to be able to claim the title of the fastest seagull in the world. He goes higher and faster than any in his flock. However, in a bird colony this is frowned upon and the elders do not think Jonathan needs to continue showboating. With that in mind, they end up removing him from the flock for good.

When he ventures into the world he experiences things that he never dreamed he would experience. Don’t get me wrong, Jonathan isn’t a bad bird. He tries hard and wants to make a difference. However, in order to become what he wants he needs to learn to lean on his friends once in a while. Had this have been a cartoon movie with animated characters it might have worked. However, the live action bird theme without humans with the voiceovers so we would know what the birds were thinking was a tad much for me to swallow.

The visual quality of Jonathan Livingston Seagull is offered in 2:35:1 in widescreen format with Dolby Digital. I am not sure of the specifics on sound, but I do know that there were parts that I had a hard time hearing the voiceovers. The score was decent, but it was the only thing worth paying attention to, so it’s possible I liked it out of boredom. The sound issues were a distraction that was especially annoying because the volume had to be toggled more than usual. The visual quality was good though I found myself trying to concentrate on the lovely scenery and less on the birds.

I just couldn’t get over the fact that 99 minutes of my life was spent watching the oddest live action bird movie I’ve ever seen. When it came time to watch special features I was glad to see there were not any on this disc. There weren’t even any trailers on this disc, which is odd as most companies tend to add them.

I cannot in good conscious recommend watching this movie. If you need to see it, I recommend renting it first because at least that’s only a small bit of money wasting if you have the same poor results with the film that I had. While the visual quality was beautiful, the film and the audio were lacking in all of the necessary spots. There are plenty of better things that you could be watching.

Rating:

Technorati Tags: Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Flock, Movie Review, DVD Reviews, Hal Bartlett, Live Action Seagull Movie, Bad Films

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Written by Dominicus - Visit Website
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At 23 years old, I feel that I've lived enough life to share my opinion with the world. That's what I'm doing here, as a writer, for Literary Illusions. I was born in Florida, raised in California, and currently living in Colorado, where I go to a small school in the middle of nowhere. Majoring in Business Administration, I have the goal of one day ruling the world. Interests in life include dating, movies, sports, hanging out with friends, drinking, bar hopping, and writing in both an inebriated and sober state.