Search - Fly Away Home [Widescreen] [Special Edition] on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG Content Advisory: Watch With Your Kids, Scary Moments Movie Release: 1996 DVD Release: 08/07/2001 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English, French, Spanish Subtitles: English, French, Korean, Spanish, Thai SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 48 mins Studio: Columbia TriStar Total Copies: 15 Genres: Drama, Children's/Family, Animal Picture, Family-Oriented Adventure, Family Drama, Coming-of-Age See Also: Fly Away Home [Fullscreen], Fly Away Home [Widescreen] [Blu-ray]

Inspired by a true story, Fly Away Home is a family drama about Amy Alden (Anna Paquin), a 13-year-old girl who, after the tragic death of her mother, is sent to live with her father Thomas (Jeff Daniels), a sculptor. Amy misses her mother and has never enjoyed a very warm relationship with her father, so the first few months in her new home are very difficult for her. However, one day Amy finds a nest full of eggs, which was tossed away by land developers clearing a wooded area. Amy brings the eggs home and builds a makeshift incubator; a few weeks later, a flock of tiny Canadian Geese are hatched. While caring for her new pets makes Amy happier, a problem soon presents itself -- young geese "imprint" on the first creature they see after hatching and follow it, as if it's their mother. Without a mother to show them how to fly south for the winter, how will they learn normal migratory patterns? Thomas comes up with a solution to the problem: as a hobby, he flies Ultralights, lightweight aircraft that look like gliders with engines. If he puts Amy in an Ultralight and has her fly the migratory route to the South, perhaps the birds will follow her and learn the route their mother would normally teach them. Amy's adventures help her learn about independence as she tries to teach it to the birds, bringing her closer to her father. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Jeff Daniels - Thomas Alden
Anna Paquin - Amy Alden
Dana Delany - Susan Barnes
Terry Kinney - David Alden
Holter Graham

While production companies quickly realized that consumers prefer that DVDs come in the widescreen format, it remains common for them to release family films only in the pan and scan format. Perhaps they feel that children don't deserve the same kind of high quality that adults expect. Perhaps they don't realize that adults are also family members who enjoy such films as Witches or Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The first DVD release of the wonderful Fly Away Home may have been botched but thankfully Columbia has realized their mistake and issued this exceptional special edition DVD of the Carroll Ballard film. Cinematographer Caleb Deschanel's (whose credits include The Natural and The Black Stallion) camera work here is spectacular and is captured on this flawless widescreen anamorphic transfer. Ballard and Deschanel have a long working relationship and are justly famous for making movies in the great outdoors. Their audio commentary is compelling and entertaining and should be of interest to both movie and nature buffs. The Dolby Digital 5.1 Stereo audio track is crystalline and showcases Mark Isham's impressive score. Isham also has an audio commentary and the movie features his lovely collaboration with Mary Chapin Carpenter. Since convoluted legal and financial reasons kept a soundtrack album from being issued, this DVD is a real boon for fans. The fictional movie is also based on the real exploits of Bill Lishman and the DVD features documentaries on this very cool Canadian and also other featurettes on the making of the movie Lishman inspired. Fly Away Home truly is a family film in the best sense of the word and this is a DVD that will be enjoyed by any member of a family, regardless of age. ~ Nick Dedina, All Movie Guide