Jonathan Livingston Seagull - October 28th - Blu-ray Forum

Kamdan · 08-03-2020, 11:43 AM

Pre-order is now up.

https://viavision.com.au/shop/jonath...ljf9qLkChj0zRo

Adam Zanzie · 08-04-2020, 12:04 AM

The Blu-Ray will most likely have a running time of 99 minutes, not 108 minutes. The technical error concerning the running time must be a glitch that's been carried over from the Warner Archive DVD release from 2013. Via Vision tells me that they're gonna double-check the running time of the copy that they're working with.

The only version of this film that I've ever seen is 1 hour and 39 minutes long. Yet for some inexplicable reason, various websites and books have tended to report the running time inaccurately. IMDb claims that the film has a running time of 2 hours; it's definitely not that long.

Director Hall Bartlett owned much of the rights to the film himself, and the film almost didn't get released in theaters because he was simultaneously fighting lawsuits by Richard Bach and Neil Diamond, both of whom had conflicting demands about how they wanted the film to be edited. In order to even produce the film in the first place, Bartlett had granted both Bach *and* Diamond an unprecedented amount of contractual power over the final cut. This caused serious legal problems for him later on, first when Bach complained there was too much music and (allegedly) too much religious-sounding dialogue, and then, when Diamond complained that there wasn't enough music.

As far as I'm aware, none of the earlier, pre-lawsuit cuts of the film were ever released to the public. I don't even know if they still exist. None of the surviving cast & crew members whom I've spoken with can recall the initial cuts being drastically different. Even Richard Bach has only ever told me that he was simply concerned about Hall Bartlett destroying his script; Richard has never said anything to me about being offended by the dialogue (something which I discovered only after reading an old book from the 80's which explains a lot about what transpired during the lawsuits). The finished film is not at all religious, unless you count certain lyrics in the Diamond songs.

JLS is the only film which Hall Bartlett directed from the 1970's onward that has always looked and sounded fair on home video. I suspect the reason why so many of Bartlett's other films are difficult to find in good quality nowadays is because his estate has not gone through the proper channels to make his work more easily accessible in the 21st century. The Sandpit Generals (1971), which I've heard is actually a decent film of his, has never gotten a U.S. release that I know of, so I still have not seen it. There are versions of it floating around on YouTube that look just hideous, so I haven't bothered. The Children of Sanchez (1978) looks and sounds AWFUL on DVD, as does the upload of Love is Forever (1983) which I watched on YouTube.

Hall Bartlett died in 1993, and it's possible that his estate has the answers to some of these questions, but the estate has declined to speak to me. They have loving memories of him, and they are sensitive about what the rest of the world might do with information about him. To some extent, I can understand their concern, but back in 2017, I repeatedly tried to tell them that this great film was falling into obscurity, and that it needed a new re-release (a Blu-Ray, for instance), yet I never got very far in my exchanges with them. Going on my own journey to uncover the incredible story behind the making of this film was an ordeal in and of itself.

lesco · 08-04-2020, 07:32 AM

Well, I for one would like to see an HD copy of The Children of Sanchez which, like JLS, I watched primarily out of interest after hearing the soundtrack album (by Chuck Mangione, in this instance). I remember seeing an awful copy of it and thinking "This could have looked pretty good in a cinema".

Adam Zanzie · 08-04-2020, 09:43 AM

The Mangione song in Children of Sanchez won a Grammy, but the song was far too upbeat for a film which was as depressing as Sanchez.

Somehow, Bartlett got Sanchez screened in front of President Jimmy Carter. He was a wealthy independent director who had all sorts of mysterious connections to high-level figures.

Yes, the DVD quality for Sanchez sucks, and I am convinced that this is because the estate hasn't done the best job of taking care of Bartlett's legacy. He owned the rights to many of his own films because he funded them himself (or borrowed money from investors whom he often never paid back...), but this caused problems with the distribution of his work after his death in 1993, because his estate isn't motivated enough to pass his work onto new generations of interested movie buffs in the 21st century.

I am reminded of what the user bigshot once wrote about Russ Meyer:

"Russ Meyer was bucking the system back in the VHS era. He manufactured and distributed his own tapes. He charged high prices. You rarely saw his films for sale except in specialty video stores. He probably made sure the trustees would do the same thing. He was as independent as you could get. He didn't want his films to be absorbed by a big studio and he made sure they never would be. In the end, it wasn't a good idea because it prevented his heirs from moving with the times."

^^Yep. And that sums up a lot of the issues with Hall Bartlett's estate as well.

In my opinion, Hall Bartlett was a passionate director, but not a supremely talented one. What enabled him to make movies was his wealth. It was his money that opened doors in Hollywood. Not his talent. His money.

Films like Zero Hour!, The Caretakers, The Children of Sanchez and Love is Forever all have their moments, but none of them have endured very well, except as curiosities.

JLS is the one film of Bartlett's where he assembled the greatest talents from all corners of the film industry, and the end result was a visually and musically innovative film. I'm trying to fight against the stigma which it got in 1973 as supposedly being one of the worst movies ever made. It might be the only film where Bartlett fully realized his vision. As he himself once said: It's the film he was born to make.

Adam Zanzie · 08-20-2020, 05:53 AM

Via Vision now informs me that it looks as though the theatrical trailer will not be on the Blu-Ray.

Sadly, Paramount charges thousands of dollars to get their trailers transferred from 35mm film onto digital, so it's probably not gonna happen.

As far as I'm aware, the film's U.S. theatrical trailer has not been seen by the public since 1973.

Paramount stupidly and lazily has a false "trailer" uploaded onto YouTube:

^^THIS IS NOT THE REAL TRAILER. It's just the scene from the film in which Jonathan accidentally flies into the Flock.

However, I did find something which appears to be the 1973 German trailer:

My hunch is that the U.S. trailer must look a lot like that one... but we'll never know, because Paramount still has it trapped in their archives. Perhaps their belief is that that there's not enough of a demand from the public to see the trailer, so to invest in getting it digitized wouldn't be worth it, which is why the trailer was not included on their 2007 DVD or on the Warner Archive 2013 DVD.

gottaget · 10-26-2020, 04:20 AM

Good work on your commentary Adam. From the brief snippet I've listened to, your passion and knowledge for JLS shines.

Walrus Gumboot · 11-01-2020, 06:51 AM

I had a pleasant afternoon yesterday watching this and then listening to Adams audio commentary track.
Having watched it (twice) I'm still not sure if I'd seen this before or not... I instantly recognised the Neil Diamond songs which my friends Mum used to play a lot back then... I do recollect the book was a big deal as well and I've always admired the graphics on the one-sheet movie poster, which is what Imprint used on the Blu-ray slipcover that mimics the book cover.

The cinematography is excellent! The shots of Jonathan soaring above the cloud cover are beyond spectacular. There's a shot where he glides and lands on this chunk of rock out in the ocean which is like watching a flying ballet, such beauty...
My favorite shot is where he is shown in flight, gliding, with his feet tucked up, making him a perfect aerodynamic foil, gliding through the sky and space. I won't go on as I don't want to spoil anyone's viewing, but the animal trainers and cinematographers did such a great job.

[Show spoiler]

The most important thing I took away from this movie was that it wasn't a talking seagull movie... It's a thinking seagull movie... About a seagull who goes on a spiritual journey, who's seeking something which the flock can't give him... Who embarks on a quest away from the safety of the flock! Who embarks on what turns out to be his life's spiritual journey...

Is it worth a blind buy? Absolutely!!!

Walrus Gumboot · 11-01-2020, 07:27 AM

I should've mentioned that Adam's commentary is exceptional. Imprint struck gold when they stumbled onto him. His research is exhaustive and I like how he quoted verbatim from his research sources on the correspondence he had with the author, director, producer, crew and voice actors.
It's disappointing we'll never see his documentary on the making of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, but at least now we can watch/listen to the commentary track with a lot of this information in there, so it won't be lost to time!

Adam Zanzie · 11-01-2020, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walrus Gumboot

I should've mentioned that Adam's commentary is exceptional. Imprint struck gold when they stumbled onto him. His research is exhaustive and I like how he quoted verbatim from his research sources on the correspondence he had with the author, director, producer, crew and voice actors.
It's disappointing we'll never see his documentary on the making of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, but at least now we can watch/listen to the commentary track with a lot of this information in there, so it won't be lost to time!

Walrus, thank you, and I am happy that you enjoyed both the film and the commentary. I should clarify that I never met director Hall Bartlett, who died when I was only two years old -- but yes, I do know Richard Bach (Richard and I have a complicated history) and I also know several members of the surviving cast/crew.

My copy of the Blu-Ray arrived late last night. This morning, I woke up, and the first thing that I did was look briefly over the film itself (which I've already seen multiple times on VHS and DVD; I would rather reserve another complete viewing when I have a chance to introduce the film to friends).

Imprint did a fine job on the visual transfer. The film looks great in 1080p. The audio transfer appears to be the same one carried over from the DVD releases, but I don't blame Imprint for this. This is a nearly half-a-century-old film, and I doubt that it will ever get a perfect audio transfer unless Paramount is willing to shell out money for an expensive restoration. Ideally, this film needs to be watched on 35mm in an IMAX theater. Nevertheless, this is without question the most satisfying home video release which the film has ever received.

As for my commentary: I am 95% pleased with the way that it turned out. Occasionally, I'll stumble over a word or two. Of course, I ran out of time with everything that I intended to say, but I think I mentioned all of the important information.

As David Ladd (who voiced Fletcher) insisted to me: "The controversy is what's interesting."

I agree. I love this film, but we can't sugarcoat what went on during the making of it. Everyone has remained silent about it for far too long.

Who knows: Maybe this Blu-Ray will help to bring us back around to a time where the name "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" will really mean something again.

Walrus Gumboot · 11-02-2020, 08:57 AM

After hearing your commentary Adam, I was inspired to seek out the sound track album... As you mentioned the lawsuit between Neil Diamond and Hall Bartlett, I'm curious as to how much of the music is missing from the film. I recollect the judge said Hall had to return some of the music that was cut before it could be released.

It's a shame you didn't get to interview Neil Diamond as it would've been interesting to know more about how he wrote the music... Looking at the album track listing it does look like it was written scene specific;
1. Prologue
2. Be (Introduction Of Jonathan)
3. Flight Of The Gull
4. Dear Father (Instrumental)
5. Skybird (Instrumental)
6. Lonely Looking Sky
7. The Odyssey (Be / Lonely Looking Sky / Dear Father)
8. Anthem
9. Be (Jonathan Returns)
10. Skybird
11. Dear Father (Rebuked)
12. Be (Recapitulation And Farewell To Fletcher)

As you mentioned, It's so unfortunate Lee Holdridge's music isn't on the album, as it really does thread the film soundtrack together.
It also would've been great to get an isolated music track as a special feature, but I guess that would be asking for trouble.
s-l1600.jpg

Adam Zanzie · 11-02-2020, 01:16 PM

Neil Diamond’s manager is his wife Katie, but whenever I sent her messages, I would instead get transferred to Diamond’s publicist, Deborah Radel, who always told me that Diamond was unavailable, first because he was on tour, then for no given reason. The theory which I’ve heard elsewhere is that Diamond might be embarrassed by what went on during JLS, which may explain why information about the lawsuit has been buried so deep nowadays that I had to locate an out-of-print bio from the 80’s just to get the legal details straight.

It would take forever to dissect how much the music got chopped up in the film, but for example, in the soundtrack version of the song “Anthem”, we hear Diamond chanting the words, “Transcend, purify, glorious...” but in the film, we don’t hear that part of the song.

Lee Holdridge tells me that he later took all that Other World music and put it into a Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra, and that it has been performed a few times.

Brief sections of the Other World music can be found floating on YouTube:

gottaget · 11-04-2020, 07:32 PM

Watched the movie this morning when I awoke hours earlier than usual. I decided to put on JLS since it seemed like an early morning kind of film.

The cinematography was great. I really like the shots of Jonathan underwater, gliding near cliffs, as well as when he was taking shelter from the rain. The story was alright albeit cliche. I do think the flow of the film could be better spliced. Music was pleasant, as was the voice acting, though I found it difficult to hear dialogue at times since I had the volume on low.

In any case, it's definitely not as bad as what some people have said (for example, Siskel & Ebert). I liked what I watched and I think I will like it more when I watch it again with Adam's commentary.

I recommend watching the film like I did. When the mind feels fresh and there are hardly any distractions. I feel that I would enjoy the film less had I watched it on a sunny day, in the afternoon, with my kid, or if my mind was preoccupied. Might be just me, but I am glad I chose to watch it early in the morning, just after 3AM.

On a side note, has anyone seen the film Amazonia? It is in the same vein as JLS. Check it out if you haven't and enjoyed JLS.

Walrus Gumboot · 11-05-2020, 01:14 AM

I also don't understand why JLS gets a bad rap. I enjoyed it enough to re-watch it straight away with the commentary and I also bought the soundtrack album.

My one criticism of the film would be when it went grey screen... Adam does briefly mention it in his commentary and I do get why the director did it.

[Show spoiler]

Just watched the trailer for Amazonia and it looks really good. A lot of beautiful animals in there too. I'll definitely check it out!

Tomko · 12-19-2020, 07:28 PM

A grey December afternoon afforded me the opportunity to watch this just now. I’d read the book as an eight or nine year old back in the day and can hardly remember anything from it. But this Blu-ray is just gorgeous and I suspect the best that this motion picture will ever get.

Having said that, the Neil Diamond soundtrack was recorded in living stereo and it’s sad to listen to it in monaural. As well, there are occasional dots on the screen, that look like dead pixels but are not, as are occasional vertical lines. Perhaps telltales of the 1973 SFX, but sadly not cleaned up in 2020 by someone with the talent and time.

Adam Zanzie · 12-22-2020, 12:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomko

A grey December afternoon afforded me the opportunity to watch this just now. I’d read the book as an eight or nine year old back in the day and can hardly remember anything from it. But this Blu-ray is just gorgeous and I suspect the best that this motion picture will ever get.

Having said that, the Neil Diamond soundtrack was recorded in living stereo and it’s sad to listen to it in monaural. As well, there are occasional dots on the screen, that look like dead pixels but are not, as are occasional vertical lines. Perhaps telltales of the 1973 SFX, but sadly not cleaned up in 2020 by someone with the talent and time.

It’s moreso that Paramount is the one company that can afford a proper restoration. There was only so much that Imprint could do.

I believe that someday, the film may look and sound even better, but it will need to acquire the interest of someone who has the power to make that happen. As I explain on the Blu-Ray commentary, the film’s multiple copyright owners have been a continuous issue.

lemonski · 12-29-2020, 12:17 PM

Just finished watching this back to back, first time straight through and second with the commentary. Jonathan Livingston Seagull is clearly not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but it's a remarkable film in many ways - the cinematography, the seagull effects, the editing, the score...I threw it up onto a 130" 2.35:1 screen, seeing the aerial footage at that size and cranking the music up loud is an incredible thrill. As a narrative it can't escape the problems of stretching the very thin source material to support a 90 minute film, but given the difficulties of adapting a novella that uses seagulls for characters, they give it a pretty good go, often with outstanding results.

Picture quality it'll never be mistaken for a 4K transfer from the camera negative - I'm not even sure how much improvement there would be even if Paramount were to magically invest in doing one - but it comfortably beats the old DVD, so I'm pretty happy with it. The only thing I noticed was some brief but annoying density fluctuation in one specific scene, I might try and dig out the DVD and see if it's the transfer or the source. Audio is LPCM dual mono - not as good as a true stereo soundtrack, but again probably a cost thing and better than the lossy mono on the DVD.

Adam Zanzie's commentary is terrific, it's absolutely jam packed with behind the scenes information - there's not a moment of dead air. I suspect he could have kept going for twice the film's running time, and that would have been alright by me

Anyway, a big thumbs up to Imprint for stepping up and putting this film out.

Adam Zanzie · 12-30-2020, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Adam Zanzie's commentary is terrific, it's absolutely jam packed with behind the scenes information - there's not a moment of dead air. I suspect he could have kept going for twice the film's running time, and that would have been alright by me

There was a lot I ended up having to cut out, too. Nothing terribly important, just extraneous stuff about the filmmakers' later work that I wanted to add.

Once it got to the climax of Fletcher flying into the rock wall, however, I thought to myself: "Oh, no! There's less than ten minutes of the movie left!" and you may notice that my voice becomes rushed from that moment onwards, because I realize that I'm running out of time. It's like being on a ship that's on the verge of capsizing: Throw anything unnecessary overboard! So I had to jettison, for instance, a lot of the information that I wanted to say about Hall Bartlett's final years as a director.

Of course, I also could have spoken more at-length about my friendship with Richard, and our falling-out in 2016, but I held myself back on that matter, for legal reasons.

I think Richard and I are cool now -- he and I had a pleasant reconciliation in 2018 -- but there is someone else in Richard's circle who I am no longer on speaking terms with, who I expected to vouch for me, back when all my work for my planned documentary was collapsing.

Instead, this individual began ghosting me, and when I persisted for months to reopen communication with them, they tried to intimidate me with their legal representative. Which I did not appreciate. And which still causes me to feel bitterness.

Participating in this Blu-Ray release was by far the most exciting thing I did in an otherwise dismal year for the film industry. I'm just sorry that it hasn't found much of an audience yet. Most of the critics who have reviewed this Blu-Ray have casually shrugged and dismissed the film without listening to the commentary or taking an interest in how the film was made... which disappointments me... although I know that I should not be too surprised.

It's not a film for everyone. There are writers that I greatly respect who aggressively disliked the film, from the late Roger Ebert (a personal hero of mine), to Richard himself. I have accepted that this film doesn't play for all. What I do maintain is that its production was a thrilling, wholesome, collaborative effort by a team of some the wisest minds working in Hollywood at the time, a crucial achievement in the legacy of American movies.

tucker_cleveland · 01-01-2021, 06:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam Zanzie

There was a lot I ended up having to cut out, too. Nothing terribly important, just extraneous stuff about the filmmakers' later work that I wanted to add.

Once it got to the climax of Fletcher flying into the rock wall, however, I thought to myself: "Oh, no! There's less than ten minutes of the movie left!" and you may notice that my voice becomes rushed from that moment onwards, because I realize that I'm running out of time. It's like being on a ship that's on the verge of capsizing: Throw anything unnecessary overboard! So I had to jettison, for instance, a lot of the information that I wanted to say about Hall Bartlett's final years as a director.

Of course, I also could have spoken more at-length about my friendship with Richard, and our falling-out in 2016, but I held myself back on that matter, for legal reasons.

I think Richard and I are cool now -- he and I had a pleasant reconciliation in 2018 -- but there is someone else in Richard's circle who I am no longer on speaking terms with, who I expected to vouch for me, back when all my work for my planned documentary was collapsing.

Instead, this individual began ghosting me, and when I persisted for months to reopen communication with them, they tried to intimidate me with their legal representative. Which I did not appreciate. And which still causes me to feel bitterness.

Participating in this Blu-Ray release was by far the most exciting thing I did in an otherwise dismal year for the film industry. I'm just sorry that it hasn't found much of an audience yet. Most of the critics who have reviewed this Blu-Ray have casually shrugged and dismissed the film without listening to the commentary or taking an interest in how the film was made... which disappointments me... although I know that I should not be too surprised.

It's not a film for everyone. There are writers that I greatly respect who aggressively disliked the film, from the late Roger Ebert (a personal hero of mine), to Richard himself. I have accepted that this film doesn't play for all. What I do maintain is that its production was a thrilling, wholesome, collaborative effort by a team of some the wisest minds working in Hollywood at the time, a crucial achievement in the legacy of American movies.

I appreciate your effort and I'm glad to hear your experience helping to produce the Blu-ray was a positive one.

Yes, unfortunately, the release hasn't sold particularly well, but I'm glad I chose to review the disc when Imprint offered it. Often it can be hard getting through all the bonus content especially when I have a stack of 'screeners' to get through, but I always try to make an effort.

Adam Zanzie · 01-01-2021, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tucker_cleveland

I appreciate your effort and I'm glad to hear your experience helping to produce the Blu-ray was a positive one.

Yes, unfortunately, the release hasn't sold particularly well, but I'm glad I chose to review the disc when Imprint offered it. Often it can be hard getting through all the bonus content especially when I have a stack of 'screeners' to get through, but I always try to make an effort.

Is your review up yet? I'd like to read it.

tucker_cleveland · 01-02-2021, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam Zanzie

Is your review up yet? I'd like to read it.

I believe you already have. You were kind enough to share it on December 31st to the film's Facebook page.

08-03-2020, 11:43 AM	#1
Kamdan Senior Member Member since:Dec 2010	Jonathan Livingston Seagull - October 28th Pre-order is now up. https://viavision.com.au/shop/jonath...ljf9qLkChj0zRo

08-04-2020, 12:04 AM	#2
Adam Zanzie Junior Member Member since:Aug 2020	The Blu-Ray will most likely have a running time of 99 minutes, not 108 minutes. The technical error concerning the running time must be a glitch that's been carried over from the Warner Archive DVD release from 2013. Via Vision tells me that they're gonna double-check the running time of the copy that they're working with. The only version of this film that I've ever seen is 1 hour and 39 minutes long. Yet for some inexplicable reason, various websites and books have tended to report the running time inaccurately. IMDb claims that the film has a running time of 2 hours; it's definitely not that long. Director Hall Bartlett owned much of the rights to the film himself, and the film almost didn't get released in theaters because he was simultaneously fighting lawsuits by Richard Bach and Neil Diamond, both of whom had conflicting demands about how they wanted the film to be edited. In order to even produce the film in the first place, Bartlett had granted both Bach and Diamond an unprecedented amount of contractual power over the final cut. This caused serious legal problems for him later on, first when Bach complained there was too much music and (allegedly) too much religious-sounding dialogue, and then, when Diamond complained that there wasn't enough music. As far as I'm aware, none of the earlier, pre-lawsuit cuts of the film were ever released to the public. I don't even know if they still exist. None of the surviving cast & crew members whom I've spoken with can recall the initial cuts being drastically different. Even Richard Bach has only ever told me that he was simply concerned about Hall Bartlett destroying his script; Richard has never said anything to me about being offended by the dialogue (something which I discovered only after reading an old book from the 80's which explains a lot about what transpired during the lawsuits). The finished film is not at all religious, unless you count certain lyrics in the Diamond songs. JLS is the only film which Hall Bartlett directed from the 1970's onward that has always looked and sounded fair on home video. I suspect the reason why so many of Bartlett's other films are difficult to find in good quality nowadays is because his estate has not gone through the proper channels to make his work more easily accessible in the 21st century. The Sandpit Generals (1971), which I've heard is actually a decent film of his, has never gotten a U.S. release that I know of, so I still have not seen it. There are versions of it floating around on YouTube that look just hideous, so I haven't bothered. The Children of Sanchez (1978) looks and sounds AWFUL on DVD, as does the upload of Love is Forever (1983) which I watched on YouTube. Hall Bartlett died in 1993, and it's possible that his estate has the answers to some of these questions, but the estate has declined to speak to me. They have loving memories of him, and they are sensitive about what the rest of the world might do with information about him. To some extent, I can understand their concern, but back in 2017, I repeatedly tried to tell them that this great film was falling into obscurity, and that it needed a new re-release (a Blu-Ray, for instance), yet I never got very far in my exchanges with them. Going on my own journey to uncover the incredible story behind the making of this film was an ordeal in and of itself. Last edited by Adam Zanzie; 10-26-2020 at 11:28 AM. Reason: corrected a typo

11-05-2020, 01:14 AM	#13
Walrus Gumboot Senior Member Top contributor Member since:Mar 2017 Location:Sydney, Australia 4K collection:581 Blu-ray collection:5702 DVD collection:763 Trading Score:1	I also don't understand why JLS gets a bad rap. I enjoyed it enough to re-watch it straight away with the commentary and I also bought the soundtrack album. My one criticism of the film would be when it went grey screen... Adam does briefly mention it in his commentary and I do get why the director did it. [Show spoiler] Just watched the trailer for Amazonia and it looks really good. A lot of beautiful animals in there too. I'll definitely check it out! Last edited by Walrus Gumboot; 11-05-2020 at 02:08 AM. Reason: add spoiler tag

08-04-2020, 07:32 AM	#3
lesco Senior Member Member since:Jun 2012 4K collection:4 Blu-ray collection:314	Well, I for one would like to see an HD copy of The Children of Sanchez which, like JLS, I watched primarily out of interest after hearing the soundtrack album (by Chuck Mangione, in this instance). I remember seeing an awful copy of it and thinking "This could have looked pretty good in a cinema".

08-04-2020, 09:43 AM	#4
Adam Zanzie Junior Member Member since:Aug 2020	The Mangione song in Children of Sanchez won a Grammy, but the song was far too upbeat for a film which was as depressing as Sanchez. Somehow, Bartlett got Sanchez screened in front of President Jimmy Carter. He was a wealthy independent director who had all sorts of mysterious connections to high-level figures. Yes, the DVD quality for Sanchez sucks, and I am convinced that this is because the estate hasn't done the best job of taking care of Bartlett's legacy. He owned the rights to many of his own films because he funded them himself (or borrowed money from investors whom he often never paid back...), but this caused problems with the distribution of his work after his death in 1993, because his estate isn't motivated enough to pass his work onto new generations of interested movie buffs in the 21st century. I am reminded of what the user bigshot once wrote about Russ Meyer: "Russ Meyer was bucking the system back in the VHS era. He manufactured and distributed his own tapes. He charged high prices. You rarely saw his films for sale except in specialty video stores. He probably made sure the trustees would do the same thing. He was as independent as you could get. He didn't want his films to be absorbed by a big studio and he made sure they never would be. In the end, it wasn't a good idea because it prevented his heirs from moving with the times." ^^Yep. And that sums up a lot of the issues with Hall Bartlett's estate as well. In my opinion, Hall Bartlett was a passionate director, but not a supremely talented one. What enabled him to make movies was his wealth. It was his money that opened doors in Hollywood. Not his talent. His money. Films like Zero Hour!, The Caretakers, The Children of Sanchez and Love is Forever all have their moments, but none of them have endured very well, except as curiosities. JLS is the one film of Bartlett's where he assembled the greatest talents from all corners of the film industry, and the end result was a visually and musically innovative film. I'm trying to fight against the stigma which it got in 1973 as supposedly being one of the worst movies ever made. It might be the only film where Bartlett fully realized his vision. As he himself once said: It's the film he was born to make.

10-26-2020, 04:20 AM	#6
gottaget Expert Member Top contributor Member since:Jul 2020 4K collection:879 Blu-ray collection:4087 DVD collection:278	Good work on your commentary Adam. From the brief snippet I've listened to, your passion and knowledge for JLS shines.

11-01-2020, 06:51 AM	#7
Walrus Gumboot Senior Member Top contributor Member since:Mar 2017 Location:Sydney, Australia 4K collection:581 Blu-ray collection:5702 DVD collection:763 Trading Score:1	I had a pleasant afternoon yesterday watching this and then listening to Adams audio commentary track. Having watched it (twice) I'm still not sure if I'd seen this before or not... I instantly recognised the Neil Diamond songs which my friends Mum used to play a lot back then... I do recollect the book was a big deal as well and I've always admired the graphics on the one-sheet movie poster, which is what Imprint used on the Blu-ray slipcover that mimics the book cover. The cinematography is excellent! The shots of Jonathan soaring above the cloud cover are beyond spectacular. There's a shot where he glides and lands on this chunk of rock out in the ocean which is like watching a flying ballet, such beauty... My favorite shot is where he is shown in flight, gliding, with his feet tucked up, making him a perfect aerodynamic foil, gliding through the sky and space. I won't go on as I don't want to spoil anyone's viewing, but the animal trainers and cinematographers did such a great job. [Show spoiler] The most important thing I took away from this movie was that it wasn't a talking seagull movie... It's a thinking seagull movie... About a seagull who goes on a spiritual journey, who's seeking something which the flock can't give him... Who embarks on a quest away from the safety of the flock! Who embarks on what turns out to be his life's spiritual journey... Is it worth a blind buy? Absolutely!!!

11-01-2020, 07:27 AM	#8
Walrus Gumboot Senior Member Top contributor Member since:Mar 2017 Location:Sydney, Australia 4K collection:581 Blu-ray collection:5702 DVD collection:763 Trading Score:1	I should've mentioned that Adam's commentary is exceptional. Imprint struck gold when they stumbled onto him. His research is exhaustive and I like how he quoted verbatim from his research sources on the correspondence he had with the author, director, producer, crew and voice actors. It's disappointing we'll never see his documentary on the making of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, but at least now we can watch/listen to the commentary track with a lot of this information in there, so it won't be lost to time!

11-02-2020, 08:57 AM	#10
Walrus Gumboot Senior Member Top contributor Member since:Mar 2017 Location:Sydney, Australia 4K collection:581 Blu-ray collection:5702 DVD collection:763 Trading Score:1	After hearing your commentary Adam, I was inspired to seek out the sound track album... As you mentioned the lawsuit between Neil Diamond and Hall Bartlett, I'm curious as to how much of the music is missing from the film. I recollect the judge said Hall had to return some of the music that was cut before it could be released. It's a shame you didn't get to interview Neil Diamond as it would've been interesting to know more about how he wrote the music... Looking at the album track listing it does look like it was written scene specific; 1. Prologue 2. Be (Introduction Of Jonathan) 3. Flight Of The Gull 4. Dear Father (Instrumental) 5. Skybird (Instrumental) 6. Lonely Looking Sky 7. The Odyssey (Be / Lonely Looking Sky / Dear Father) 8. Anthem 9. Be (Jonathan Returns) 10. Skybird 11. Dear Father (Rebuked) 12. Be (Recapitulation And Farewell To Fletcher) As you mentioned, It's so unfortunate Lee Holdridge's music isn't on the album, as it really does thread the film soundtrack together. It also would've been great to get an isolated music track as a special feature, but I guess that would be asking for trouble. s-l1600.jpg

11-04-2020, 07:32 PM	#12
gottaget Expert Member Top contributor Member since:Jul 2020 4K collection:879 Blu-ray collection:4087 DVD collection:278	Watched the movie this morning when I awoke hours earlier than usual. I decided to put on JLS since it seemed like an early morning kind of film. The cinematography was great. I really like the shots of Jonathan underwater, gliding near cliffs, as well as when he was taking shelter from the rain. The story was alright albeit cliche. I do think the flow of the film could be better spliced. Music was pleasant, as was the voice acting, though I found it difficult to hear dialogue at times since I had the volume on low. In any case, it's definitely not as bad as what some people have said (for example, Siskel & Ebert). I liked what I watched and I think I will like it more when I watch it again with Adam's commentary. I recommend watching the film like I did. When the mind feels fresh and there are hardly any distractions. I feel that I would enjoy the film less had I watched it on a sunny day, in the afternoon, with my kid, or if my mind was preoccupied. Might be just me, but I am glad I chose to watch it early in the morning, just after 3AM. On a side note, has anyone seen the film Amazonia? It is in the same vein as JLS. Check it out if you haven't and enjoyed JLS.

12-19-2020, 07:28 PM	#14
Tomko Member Member since:Feb 2007 4K collection:17 Blu-ray collection:112 DVD collection:8	A grey December afternoon afforded me the opportunity to watch this just now. I’d read the book as an eight or nine year old back in the day and can hardly remember anything from it. But this Blu-ray is just gorgeous and I suspect the best that this motion picture will ever get. Having said that, the Neil Diamond soundtrack was recorded in living stereo and it’s sad to listen to it in monaural. As well, there are occasional dots on the screen, that look like dead pixels but are not, as are occasional vertical lines. Perhaps telltales of the 1973 SFX, but sadly not cleaned up in 2020 by someone with the talent and time.

12-29-2020, 12:17 PM	#16
lemonski Blu-ray Samurai Top contributor Member since:Sep 2007 4K collection:219 Blu-ray collection:2304 Trading Score:5	Just finished watching this back to back, first time straight through and second with the commentary. Jonathan Livingston Seagull is clearly not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but it's a remarkable film in many ways - the cinematography, the seagull effects, the editing, the score...I threw it up onto a 130" 2.35:1 screen, seeing the aerial footage at that size and cranking the music up loud is an incredible thrill. As a narrative it can't escape the problems of stretching the very thin source material to support a 90 minute film, but given the difficulties of adapting a novella that uses seagulls for characters, they give it a pretty good go, often with outstanding results. Picture quality it'll never be mistaken for a 4K transfer from the camera negative - I'm not even sure how much improvement there would be even if Paramount were to magically invest in doing one - but it comfortably beats the old DVD, so I'm pretty happy with it. The only thing I noticed was some brief but annoying density fluctuation in one specific scene, I might try and dig out the DVD and see if it's the transfer or the source. Audio is LPCM dual mono - not as good as a true stereo soundtrack, but again probably a cost thing and better than the lossy mono on the DVD. Adam Zanzie's commentary is terrific, it's absolutely jam packed with behind the scenes information - there's not a moment of dead air. I suspect he could have kept going for twice the film's running time, and that would have been alright by me Anyway, a big thumbs up to Imprint for stepping up and putting this film out.

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