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Free Willy
10th Anniversary Special Edition
Studio: Warner Bros.
Year: 1993
Rated: PG
Film Length: 112 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 16X9 Enhanced Widescreen (2.35:1)
Subtitles: English, French and Spanish
How far would you go for a friend?
You won't find it too hard to believe that when
I received my screener copy of Free Willy
last week, chills started running up my spine.
Family films are not particularly my cup of tea,
and this was a film I had absolutely no desire to
watch. Still, Warner Bros. was kind enough to
send me this film and its two sequels, so I
compromised myself to agreeing to give the original
film a review. As in all cases like this, I managed
to come away with a totally different opinion than
what I expected.
That's right folks, I am going to admit that I
found Free Willy to be the most enjoyable
home theater experience I have had this year (and
we are only in our 2nd week of that year). Not
only was I suckered into its heartwarming story
about the friendship that develops between a boy
and a whale, but I thought the entire home theatrical
experience was tremendous. This is one spectacular
DVD, and I'll tell you why in a moment.
Jesse (Jason James Richter) is a mischievous twelve-
year-old boy who has never known his mother or
father. He has been escaping from one foster home
to another, living on the streets and stealing
whatever he can to survive. One night, while
vandalizing a run-down aquarium with spray paint,
he comes face to face with a giant Orca killer
whale named Willy. When Jesse gets caught, he is
punished and made to clean up his painted graffiti.
Upon their second meeting, the whale and the boy
seem to understand one another, and Jesse is thrilled
when Willy responds to the music of his harmonica and
imitates his motions. Meanwhile, Jesse has been
adopted by Annie and Glen Greenwood (Michael Madsen),
who hope to give Jesse the family support he needs.
Of course, what would a film like this be without
a bad guy. In this case, that bad guy is park owner
Dial (Michael Ironside) whose only interest in the
whale is to make him money. When the greedy owner
sees that Willy is not going to repay his investment,
he devises another means to recoup his financial
loss. When Jesse finds out about the owner's
diabolical scheme, he sets plans in motion to free
the whale and return him to the sea.
Sure the film is extremely sappy, but you gotta
hand it to Executive Producer Richard Donner
(Superman, Lethal Weapon) for putting together
what has got to be one of the best family films
of the past 10 years. At its very core, it's a
film about two outcasts and how love brings them
home at last. By the way, this film features a
real killer whale named Keiko (who is doubled in
some scenes by animatronic models).
How is the transfer?
Behold! This is one of the most gorgeous catalog
transfers ever to be seen on DVD. I was held
captive for the film's entire length by a picture
that can be described as nothing short of perfection.
No kidding! Picture is extremely vibrant, ultra-
sharp and with colors that are eye-poppingly vivid.
This is one of those transfers that just leaps off
the screen because it seems to be multi-dimensional.
It's been a long time since I have seen a catalog
title look this magnificent with deep reds and
blues leaping out from an ultra smooth background
that exhibits not a single spec of noise or grain.
There is so much detail to be seen here, and none
of it gets lost during the film's darker night
scenes. This is absolute perfection!
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is also equally as
impressive as the transfer. This is a highly
active mix with excellent sound direction. The
audio is distinctively crisp and clean. Every
sound is well defined. Dialogue rests squarely
in the front channel with nice wide dynamic audio
across the fronts. Basil Poledouris's score is
the real highlight here, as it warmly wraps itself
around the rear channels. Speaking of the rear
channels, there's a lot of activity going on here --
particularly under water. You'll feel yourself
surrounded by the sounds of wisping water while
you watch the ballet-like movements of a pod of
wales. These underwater noises are later intensified
as you watch Willy swim inside his holding tank.
The LFE channel not only provides a nice amount
of bass support to the film's score but is used
in accenting things like Willy's tail slapping and
the amount of force in water rushing out of a huge
holding tank.
Special Features
It's a real shame that very much like the
Harry Potter DVD, Warner Bros. can't seem
to put out a family title whose extras serve the
interests of both adults and kids. Everything here
is mostly all for young kids -- not that this is
a bad thing -- but for adults, there is nothing
about the making of the film. For instance, I
would have loved to know about the mechanical
whale that was used in the movie or perhaps a
behind-the-scenes featurette.
In A conversation with Bob Talbot, we are
introduced to the world renowned wildlife
cinematographer -- a man who has been in love
with whales ever since he was a young kid. Bob
gives us some basic background information on
these intelligent creatures that have a life
expectancy between 25 and 75 years (pending on
who you talk to). We learn what an ordinary day
for a whale photographer is like (mostly waiting),
and even get to see the photographer and his
cameraman in action as they photograph a pod of
whales off in the distance.
(length: approx. 5 minutes)
This is great for kids! A Whale's Tale
is a fun and educational tool that encourages
your child to use the DVD remote and click on
any part of an Orca Whale's body to learn more
about their living environment, body coloration,
fins, tail and "melon" (to name a few). I must
confess that I managed to learn a lot about
whales just from playing around with this for
a few minutes.
Escape The Nets is a very simplistic game
that requires you to maneuver Willy around obstacles
that block his path. As Willy swims across the
ocean, a blue dot appears, indicating you press
the proper key on your remote (up or down) to
steer the whale in the right direction.
Whale Ballet is nothing more than a
2-minute collage of scenes from the film set to
Basil Poledouris's beautiful score.
You not only get the film's original theatrical
trailer, but trailers for Free Willy 2
and Free Willy 3: The Rescue. There are
also DVD promotional trailers for Scooby-Doo,
The Wizard Of Oz and Willy Wonka & The
Chocolate Factory.
Michael Jackson's Will You Be There Music
Video is also included as well.
DVD-ROM content is mostly WB KIDS website
related, although there is a Shockwave game for
kids to play. Unfortunately, my new computer did
not have Shockwave installed and MACROMEDIA.COM
was temporarily down at the time of this review.
Final Thoughts
I have to admit, I have always loved the pot shots
that have been taken at Free Willy -- especially
Robin William's infamous sexual innuendo joke. It
was probably those kind of cheap shots that never
made me want to see this film in the first place.
Having just seen Free Willy, I can't help
but applaud the fact that this is probably the best
solid piece of family entertainment that has graced
the screen in a long time. What kid can resist being
moved to tears by this story of a whale in trouble.
What parent can resist a story that teaches a child
family values and how human strength can overcome
any situation.
For those of you like myself who have no children,
you'll certainly appreciate the fact that this is
a tremendously beautiful transfer that is as near
to perfection as a transfer can get. If the story
doesn't move you to tears, the gorgeous transfer
will!
Release Date: January 28, 2003
All screen captures have been further compressed.
They are for illustrative purposes only and do not
represent actual picture quality
