Plot: What’s it about?
Aside from being a punch line on Saturday Night Live (in reference to former President Clinton), Free Willy is actually a watch able movie. Yes, really. Granted it’s meant for families and the little tykes, but its one of those movies, like Star Wars, that has meaning and promotes generally good morals. Now the Summer of 1993 saw many a big budget movie, obviously headed by Jurassic Park. However movies like The Firm, Sleepless in Seattle and Mrs. Doubtfire (released in the Fall) did some big numbers as well. Free Willy was somewhat of a “sleeper” hit, but found its audience and even spawned (no pun intended) two sequels. Aside from having two “tough guys” in the cast, Michael Madsen and Michael Ironside, they managed to play somewhat decent parts. But the question is begged, what do we care about some whale who was taken away from his family?
The movie, geared for kids, isn’t that hard to follow; I’m sure this was the premise all along. We meet Jesse (Jason James Richter) as he has just been forced to move away from his real family. His new foster parents are nice enough, fun-loving and caring, though Jesse feels it necessary to rebel against them; that’s what 12 year-olds do. As he sprays graffiti on the walls, he is forced to clean it up for his punishment. Naturally, this is in an aquarium and he finds himself startled to come face to face with Willy, an Orca whale. Very early on in the movie, we see that Willy can react to the tunes in Jesse’s harmonica. The staff of the aquarium, who had previously been unable to “communicate” with the whale, sees Jesse as a whale trainer and not as the delinquent that he was just a few days before. Naturally you have the owners of the park who try and exploit the child in order to get what they want (and naturally Michael Ironside plays the one of the bad guys…no one does it better).
Yes, the plot has been done before, think Old Yeller if he weighed a few thousand pounds! This leads us to the inevitable conclusion (hint: look at the box cover), but getting there is half the fun. Free Willy was a kind of movie that no one really expected to do well, but it was aimed at the younger demographic. Never underestimate the power of kids as a target market. The cast is surprisingly well-rounded with Lori Petty playing a worker at the aquarium, Michael Madsen and Ironside playing roles as well (Madsen had previously been seen in Reservoir Dogs, about the exact opposite of his role here). Kids who were the age of Jesse are now in or graduating from college now, the world changes, but this isn’t that bad of a movie and if you’ve never had the chance to see it, then I’d have to say there are worse ways to pass a few hours. Recommended.
Video: How does it look?
Free Willy is now over two decades old and I can remember when it came out to VHS in early 1994. How’s the for dating myself? Still, it’s nice to have this title in an HD format and it’s been a while since I last saw the film (most likely for its 2003 10th Anniversary release on DVD). As you can imagine, there are lots of shots of water, underwater and such. The 2.40:1 AVC HD image seems to have withstood the test of time, though it looks a bit spotty in a few areas (notably the exterior shots), the overall composition satisfies. Fleshiness are warm and natural, contrast (essential when your main character is a black and white orca whale) seems solid and constant – a good-looking transfer that most will be delighted with.
Audio: How does it sound?
The original stereo mix has now been upgraded to a full on DTS HD Master Audio track. Don’t let that mouthful fool you, it’s essentially a stereo mix. Dialogue, as you can imagine, is very clean and the surround effects do their fair share to help out. The score for the film is beautiful and I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t nearly tear up at Michael Jackson’s “Will You Be There” song. I mean, it passed, but still – it kind of gets you a bit. Admittedly, it’s not the best soundtrack in the world, but I’ve heard far worse.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Sadly, no new supplements have been added for this Blu-ray release, most of the supplements that were on the 10th Anniversary edition have made the cut here. The DVD-ROM features were lost as was a game and “A Whale’s Tale”, text-based supplement seemed to have gone extinct.
- A Conversation with Bob Talbot—Wildlife Cinematographer – Talbot helped film the opening sequence for the movie. He expresses his love for the whale and was obviously the right choice to help out here.
- Music Video – Michael Jackson’s “Will You Be There.”
- Whale Ballet Montage – Pretty much what it says, just whales and some tranquil music.
- Theatrical Trailer
The Bottom Line
Forgetting the countless sequels that came after, Free Willy was somewhat of a surprise in a year when Jurassic Park ruled the box office. I guess those that were too frightened of dinosaurs could watch a killer whale instead? The Blu-ray offers upgraded audio and video quality from the previous DVD and though we lose some supplements from the previous DVD edition, it’s not that much of a loss.
