| Such a sweet and touching adventure that will
have you engrossed in the story right from the beginning. Jesse (Jason James Richter) is a
lonely street kid who has been deserted by his mother. He turns to vandalism and rebellion
in an effort to express his emotions. He is caught vandalising the underwater observatory
at a marine park, where he first meets Willy. Willy
is a 3.5 tonne Orca whale who is very unhappy in his tiny enclosure. From here he can here
his family in the bay and is constantly home sick. Jesse, however, as part of his parole
is to clean the mess he made at the observatory. He develops a special relationship with
Willy, who seems to understand his longing for a real Mother and Family, as he misses his
just as much.
Jesse faces some trials and tribulations with his new
foster family but soon begins to open up to them. He and Willy develop such a good
friendship that he is the only person he trusts and he is able to train him easily. The
businessmen who invested all their money in Willy are pleased to see that he is performing
at last, however when show time comes Willy has some trouble dealing with the crowds of
children and he then becomes too scared to perform. This gives the investors a reason to
do away with Willy as he isn’t bringing in the dollars and has a healthy insurance
policy.
This is where Jesse steps in to save the day.
So How Does This Transfer Hold Up?
VIDEO
Nice to see a good 16:9 enhanced transfer from Warner, although it does
need a little work. I found that almost the entire film was very dark. There are a lot of
problems with scene’s that have been backlit but show no fill in for the foreground
subjects. As a photographer uses reflectors and fill flash to light the front of a subject
that is backlit. There are a lot of instances where this would have really brought the
film to life, but this is more a problem in the making of the film. There were also some
problems with the sharpness of images where scene’s showed softness to the shot and
then the following shot is nice and sharp, lacking a constant quality in the image. I was
also annoyed at the amount of ailiasing in the transfer. Every prone scene showed bad
ailiasing, especially the shots of Willy’s enclosure where the stairs are
particularly bad. In all an average transfer that is still quite pleasing to watch.
Video Highlights
Ch 03 5:05 – Stairs ailiasing in the background.
Ch 19 59:17 – Stairs at the park ailiasing badly.
Ch 22 72:09 – Soft focus shot and the next is extremely sharp.
Ch 33 100:13 – Classic example of a shot with no front fill lighting.
AUDIO
Also a good Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. While there isn’t too
much opportunity to really beef up the audio with surrounds here, they are still used
quite readily for effects such as beeping horns, sirens etc. There is a fantastic ambience
about the film created by a great classical score from Basil Poledouris, which fills the
entire room right from the opening scenes. The opening music was actually the first thing
that really struck me. Other than the score the front sound stage is quite widely used in
nice clear dialogue. A quite impressive audio track. Loved the finale song "Will You
Be There" from Michael Jackson too.
Audio Highlights
Opening sequence of surrounding classical music.
Ch 33 100:47- Willy crying in the surrounds.
EXTRAS
Still searching for extras :-)
Overall I was quite impressed with this film. Certainly not
to be categorised as children’s entertainment this is a wonderful family adventure
film that everyone will love. A welcomed addition to my collection.
| PICTURE QUALITY |
7/10 needs some work |
| SOUND QUALITY |
8/10 lovely |
| FEATURES |
0/10 boo hoo |
| OVERALL |
7.5/10 What can i Say, it's nice |
Review Equipment
TV: GE 68cm (16:9 selectable)
DVD: Samsung DVD907 (via S-Video)
Receiver/Proc: Sansui A505/Sony Amp & Yamaha DSP-E390
Speakers:-
Fronts: Wharfdale Diamond R6 (on a pair of custom made stands you'd KILL for)
Centre: Venturi
Rears: Sony bookshelf
- Reviewed 4nd January 2000 |
