Fly Away Home: Special Edition

Writing in VL-1/97, K. Lee Benson called this "soaring girl-and-her-geese drama one of 1996's best films. Anna Paquin (the young Oscar-winning star of The Piano) gives an enchanting performance as a morose 13-year-old reunited, after the death of her mother, with her estranged father, an unconventional artist and inventor (Jeff Daniels). Her spirit is renewed when she finds and nurtures a nest of geese eggs, and together, father and daughter endeavor to lead the adorable, scene-stealing goslings south for the winter via a glider contraption. Families should flock to this family classic by the director and cinematographer of The Black Stallion." Inspired by the true story of Bill Lishman, a Canadian artist/inventor who, together with Joe Duff and Dr. William Sladen, mounted "Operation Migration" designed to teach birds new and safer migration patterns, Fly Away Home: Special Edition not only presents Carroll Ballard's heartwarming tale in a widescreen edition with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, it also takes viewers behind-the-factual-scenes with three separate documentaries, including the hour-long The Ultra Geese on Lishman's 1993 project which captured worldwide attention. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)[Blu-ray Review—Mar. 31, 2009—Sony, 107 min., PG, $28.95—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1996's Fly Away Home features a good transfer and a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack. Blu-ray extras are nearly identical to the previous DVD release, including audio commentary by director Carroll Ballard and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, the 49-minute “The Ultra Geese” making-of documentary, an “Operation Migration: Birds of a Feather” behind-the-scenes featurette (18 min.), the “HBO Making Of: Leading the Flock” featurette (13 min.), and trailers. Excusive to the Blu-ray version is the BD-Live function (missing are the filmographies from the DVD). Bottom line: a solid Blu-ray debut for a winning family film.]