Fly Away Home
Columbia / 1996 / 103 Mins / Rated PG


MOVIE

I first saw this movie on a plane trip a few years ago, at first I was hesitant about watching it, but it is a really touching and delightful movie. It stars Anna Paquin as Amy Alden a young girl living in New Zealand with her mother. After a terrible car accident her mother dies and we have enter stage right Jeff Daniels as her father Thomas. 

After her recovery he takes her home to Canada. At first she doesn't like this and has trouble adjusting. When she meets her father's girlfriend things seem to go from bad to worse, but then she finds a bunch of goose eggs and decides to look after them. 

After they hatch she becomes an adoptive mother towards them, this is a good thing though as it slowly helps her adjust to her new life. But then we have the resident bad guy enter into the story, a park ranger. He wants the birds wings clipped so they cannot fly, well our little hero won't have anything to do with this and refuses, so now with the local park ranger after them they need to figure out a way to keep them safe. 

They learn of a parkland area in the U.S. that will look after the birds if they can migrate there. But the birds can't fly that well and not without there adoptive mother. Now plans begins to fly in ultra-light aircraft to assist in the birds migration to there new home.

VIDEO
Pretty impressive really, the movie is very clear and looks clean. Of course there is the occasional speck and a little noise in the print in certain scenes but this is rare. The colors look vibrant and look good. I'm was impressed seeing this is one of the earlier Columbia/Tri-Star releases.

Fly Away Home is Framed at 1:85:1 and is 16:9 enhanced.

This is a single sided, single layer disc.

AUDIO
There are several formats on this movie. DD5.1 MPEG 5.1 and MPEG Surround. I listened to the Dolby mix. Now while it's not the most aggressive and enveloping soundtrack around, it is acceptable for this type of movie. The surrounds were used mainly for music, and the .1 channel only really made a couple of sound effect noises and to assist some of the music. Pretty light on really.
EXTRAS
An early Columbia disc, so this only has the DVD trailer and that's it!

Subtitles include: English, Cantonese, Italian, Greek, Hebrew, Polish, Czech, Hungarian.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Not the best disc around. But if your looking for one for the kids, grab it. I only brought it because I liked the movie, not for it's sound and picture features.

16:9 ENHANCEMENT DISC RATING

VIDEO:
AUDIO:
EXTRAS:
PLOT:
OVERALL:

REVIEW EQUIPMENT

Display: 48" Sony RPTV.
DVD Player:
Panasonic A350 Player using S-Video Cables.
Receiver:
Pioneer VSX-D508 Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround.
Speakers:
Accusound 5.1 speaker system.

Copyright © 2000 by [Roger Ward].
Revised: 25 May 2000 14:26:45 +1100 .

DVD INFORMATION
Region Coding: Region 4
No of Discs: 1
OFLC Rating PG
Running Time: 103 minutes
Case Type: Keep Case
Release Date: 5/5/98
Catalog Number: D24511
List Price: $34.95
Distributor: Columbia/Tri-Star
DISC SPECIFICATIONS
Disc Format: PAL
Disc Type: Label only
Disc Format: SS-SL
Chapters: 20
Macrovision: Yes
Manufacturer: Sony DVD Center
VIDEO SPECIFICATIONS
Aspect Ratio: 1:85:1
Anamorphic: Yes
Film Format: 35mm
SOUND SPECIFICATIONS
Dolby Digital:

5.1 Surround

DTS: None
PCM Stereo: None
Other: MPEG 5.1
MPEG 2.0
Languages: English
Subtitles: Yes
SPECIAL FEATURES
Audio Commentary: None
Theatrical Trailer: None
Teaser Trailer: None
TV Spots: None
Dolby Trailer: None
Documentary: None
Cast & Crew Bios: None
Deleted Scenes: None
Music Videos: None
DVD Rom Content: None
Collectable Booklet: None
Scene Access: Yes
Animated Menus: None
Production Notes: None
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INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE INFO
OFFICIAL WEB SITE
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VIEW TRAILER
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