Born Free/Living Free (1966)

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     Born Free and Living Free, especially the former, are superb 'old fashioned' family films, presented together on a single DVD. They contain excitement, humour, lovely scenery and reasonably fast moving true stories that should entertain all ages. Born Free is by far the superior film, so you could consider that you're buying this film and getting Living Free for "free"! Give yourself a break from the modern CGI based family films, and see how things were done 'back then' when Pixar probably wasn't even a computer enhanced twinkle in a programmer's eye!

    Both films are presented well, in widescreen (in their original theatrical ratios) and with reasonable sound. It might have been nice to have extras such as documentaries on the Adamsons, as well as an isolated music score (perhaps in place of Living Free), but this is nevertheless an excellent set.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Born Free (1966)

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General		Extras
Category	Family	Theatrical Trailer Trailer-Running Free, Stuart Little 1 And 2, Living Free
Rating
Year Of Production	1966
Running Time	91:14 (Case: 95)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Version Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	James Hill Tom McGowan
Studio Distributor	Sony Pictures Home Entertain	Starring	Virginia McKenna Bill Travers Geoffrey Keen Peter Lukoye Omar Chambati Bill Godden Robert S. Young Bryan Epsom Geoffrey Best Robert Cheetham Surya Patel
Case	?
RPI	Box	Music	John Barry

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Born Free is based on the book by Joy Adamson, first published in 1960. Adamson was born in 1910 in Austria as Friederike Gessner and was apparently always interested in lions, though at one stage she seriously considered psychotherapy (as a career, not as a solution...).

    Together with her third husband, George, she worked tirelessly to help wildlife in Africa until her violent death at the hands of poachers in Kenya in 1980. Her efforts via books and films (Born Free and Living Free) did much to draw the world's attention to the plight of wildlife in Africa.

    This film, directed by James Hill and Tom McGowan, was released in 1966 and was a hit upon its release, even winning 2 Oscars (for John Barry's theme song and original score).

    Most readers will probably be aware that Born Free focuses mainly on Joy, played somewhat stiffly by Virginia McKenna and her husband George, played occasionally hysterically stiffly by Bill Travers, and their relationship with the three lion cubs they 'adopt'. The story follows the couple's eventually successful attempts to bring up one of these lions, Elsa, from infancy (with no previous experience available anywhere), and to release her back into the wild rather than have her live out her days in captivity.

    This is a classic film, as effective now as it was on its release. There is plenty of wonderful scenery, grand music and lovely real animals (not witty animated facsimiles that dominate family films of late). The story itself is actually reasonably fast moving and contains elements of drama, tension and genuinely humorous moments as the animals adapt to human life, and vice versa!  Look past the occasionally stiff acting and stilted dialogue that seems to typify such films of the era, and you'll find a film that is just wonderful to watch in widescreen for the first time since its theatrical release.

Video

    It's great to see this film presented on DVD in its original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1. The transfer is 16x9 enhanced.

    In general, the picture is quite sharp, considering the age of the source material. Only the occasional insert of stock footage of wildlife is a little softer.

    Shadow detail is somewhat lacking, again due to the age of the source film and perhaps to the location shooting required. Some examples where the shadow detail is lacking include 38:20 and 48:00.

   The transfer is reasonably free of noticeable grain, except when stock footage is used. There is no low level noise apparent.

    Colour is rich and fresh looking for the majority of the film. Some particularly lovely examples include the scenes at 28:00, 36:09, 43:38 and 55:49. However, there are occasional scenes that look somewhat washed out. Again, the stock footage that is used is generally the culprit although there is also some variation in colour rendering between reels, perhaps as a result of using reels of differing origin for the mastering.

    Some of the dissolves between scenes looked a little 'jerky' or broken-up, again probably attributable to the condition of the original film.

    Edge enhancement is used quite extensively but not to an extent that becomes overwhelming. Aliasing was noticeable in the wire mesh door at 29:00 and in the zebra skin wall hanging at 30:25.

    There were occasional negative film artefacts in the form of white specks, but these were not too bad considering the age of the source material. These artefacts were more apparent in some parts of the film, perhaps due to the varying condition of the various source reels.

    There was some telecine wobble apparent at 49:25 and 51:30 when the frame jumps about a little.

    The subtitles are offered in English only and are a little strange looking as they are white text on a black background. They were, however, accurate and were positioned on screen so as to be below the character whose voice they represented at any given time.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The single audio track on this disk is in English Dolby Digital 2.0, although sadly it's actually very much mono. The original film was recorded with 70mm 6-track audio so it would have been great had the DVD been provided with at least a Dolby Surround soundtrack, especially for the music.

    The dialogue is clear at all times and in sync with the actors' lips. There was no distortion even with the very loud effects such as gunshots, shouts or lion roars. However, some effects did sound somewhat phoney or echoey, such as the roars of the lions fighting at 82:30.

    The music is by one of the greatest composers for the cinema, John Barry (Goldfinger, Out of Africa, Dances with Wolves). As mentioned earlier, Barry won 2 Oscars for his music in Born Free. The main title theme, which actually closes the film, was sung by Matt Munro, and is of course known by just about everyone  This fantastic theme is reflected in much of the incidental music throughout the film in various forms. It variously appears tranquil, playful or majestic depending on the scene. Some of the music, particularly in dramatic or tense moments, strongly echoes incidental music from Barry's 007 scores, such as Thunderball or You Only Live Twice. I really wish there was an isolated music score on this disc!

    This being a mono soundtrack, the rear surrounds were not used at all.

    The subwoofer was called on to support some lion roars and of course the music when required.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Trailers

• Running Free (2:08). This film is not part of the Born Free series, but is actually about a horse.
• Stuart Little 1 (2:22)
• Stuart Little 2 (2:21)
• Born Free (0:58)
• Living Free (3:01) - the follow up to Born Free.

    All trailers are 16x9 enhanced but in various screen ratios. Anyone spot the 'theme' running through all these trailers?

    This R4 release actually combines two films on a single disc; Born Free and the follow up, Living Free.

    The R1 release is slightly different. There are 2 separate versions of Born Free on DVD, a fullscreen (pan and scan) version, and a widescreen 16x9 enhanced version.

    There are no additional extras on either R1 version, so unless you are keen on the fullscreen version, the R4 is definitely the better choice.

    A superb film which stands the test of time very well. This film will entertain families of all ages, especially those getting bored or jaded with the endless stream of animated or CGI movies which, as good as they are, get a little too much after a while. Sit back and take in the splendour of the African scenery and wildlife, especially the undeniable charm of the lions (particularly in their younger phase), and enjoy a comparatively simple, almost documentary-like story with wonderful music.

    The film has been pretty well restored for this DVD release which is thankfully in its original theatrical ratio.

    The picture, in the main, looks far fresher than one would expect given the age of the film. The audio has that slightly strident mono feel of lower-budget films of that era, though it's still quite fine. The extras are, sadly, limited to a few trailers for other animal-related films. The producers of the DVD could have left out the Living Free film and instead included documentaries on Joy Adamson or her work in African wildlife protection. They should have also provided an isolated music score as the complete original soundtrack is nigh on impossible to find these days.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Living Free (1972)

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General		Extras
Category	Family	Theatrical Trailer Trailer-Running Free, Stuart Little 1 And 2, Born Free
Rating	?
Year Of Production	1972
Running Time	88:06
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Version Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Jack Couffer
Studio Distributor	Sony Pictures Home Entertain	Starring	Nigel Davenport Susan Hampshire Geoffrey Keen Peter Lukoye Edward Judd
Case	?
RPI	Box	Music	Sol Kaplan

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Living Free is the sequel to the 1966 film Born Free, which really helped to kick off the genre of wildlife based big-screen movies. Like its predecessor, this story is based on a book by Joy Adamson, this time focussing on Joy, George and on the 'next generation' of lions, i.e. the cubs that were born to Elsa at the end of Born Free. The story is basically the struggle that the Adamsons went through to rehabilitate the recently orphaned cubs from the wild to a nature reserve (the Serengeti).

    Although the characters are the same in both films, the roles of the leads are played by different actors this time round. Joy Adamson is played by Susan Hampshire (Monte Carlo or Bust), and her onscreen husband, George, is played by Nigel Davenport (Zulu Dawn, The Last Valley). Geoffrey Keen reprises his role of Kendall and actually seems to have gained some extra screen time.

    Much of the film crew had also changed, including director, Jack Couffer (Ring of Bright Water) , whose biography reveals that he was a noted wildlife photographer.

    Living Free seems to contain even more wildlife photography than its predecessor, though some of that footage is either stock footage, or recycled from Born Free. Although the film seems to contain more action scenes that its predecessor, to me the film didn't quite hold the viewer's attention in the same way, and actually appeared to drag on a little more than its short running time would indicate. It lacked the pace and the natural humour that ran through Born Free, and sadly also lacked John Barry's wonderful musical score which really added to many scenes.

    Nevertheless, Living Free is an enjoyable film in its own right as it contains an interesting and true story, and some wonderful location footage of Africa and its wildlife. The first 15 minutes or so serve to recap much of the story from Born Free, so even if you missed that great film, you can still enjoy its sequel.

    The Adamsons continued to contribute some of the profits from their films and books towards the struggle to protect African wildlife from human poachers, a struggle which ultimately cost Joy her life at the hands of poachers in 1980.

Video

    The film is presented on this disc in its original ratio of 1.85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    The sharpness, in most scenes, is actually rather good considering the age of the source material. However there is the occasional shot, such as at 4:04, which is out-of-focus, a result probably of the original camerawork, rather than any fault of the transfer. Stock footage, as well as footage that has been filched from Born Free looks noticeably softer and more aged in comparison.

    Shadow detail, at least in the 'newly' shot sequences is quite good and allows the viewer to discern the action in some of the dark sequences.

    The transfer contained very slight traces of grain, except notably in the stock wildlife footage or excerpts from Born Free that have been spliced into the film. These sequences were quite rife with grain. There was no low level noise apparent at any stage.

    Colour was quite rich with the slightest overall tendency towards a 'redness' which resulted in flesh tones becoming a little too red. Once again the scenes of stock footage or that had been copied from the earlier film were notably faded, and lacking in contrast, and generally looked much 'older'. This contrast in the mixture of footage to some extent ruined the film's overall appearance. A particularly noticeable example of the difference is at 13:17. 

    The transfer was free from aliasing despite the many sharp, panned shots of greenery and desert sands.

    Edge enhancement was used throughout the film but was never particularly distracting.

    What I first thought was an alarming case of telecine wobble at 20:51 was actually just shimmer from the heat haze from a fire below the camera's view!

    There were the occasional positive and negative film artefacts throughout the film, but nothing particularly noticeable in terms of size or clustering.

    The subtitles were only available in English and were presented as white text on their own black background. The subtitles were accurate to the spoken word.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There is one audio track on this disc and it's English Dolby Digital 2.0, although the actual recorded audio is very much mono (as per the original film).

    The dialogue is clear at all times and there is no distortion even in the very loud parts such as lion roars or gunshots. There are no issues with lip sync.

    The music is by Sol Kaplan, perhaps best known for his work on Star Trek, The Original Series. It is a reasonable effort though it pales in comparison with John Barry's magnificent score for Born Free. Sadly only some minor incidental snatches from Born Free have been used in this film. The title theme, sung by Julie Budd, obviously tries to mimic the style of its predecessor but comes across as somewhat lame and corny. I also felt that there just wasn't enough music in many scenes which made them drag a little and lose the viewer's interest.

    Being a mono soundtrack, no speakers other than the front centre were called upon to exercise their capabilities.

    The subwoofer, depending on one's bass management setup, was called on to support some sound effects as well as the music.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Trailers

• Running Free (2:08). This film is not part of the Born Free series, but is actually about a horse.
• Stuart Little 1 (2:22)
• Stuart Little 2 (2:21)
• Born Free (0:58)
• Living Free (3:01)

    All trailers are 16x9 enhanced but in various screen ratios.

    The R1 DVD release of Living Free  is only available as a fullscreen, pan & scan transfer. The R1 release also has fewer trailers than the R4.

    This R4 release comes on the same disc as Born Free. There is no comparison really - the R4 version wins hands down, unless for some bizarre reason one wants a full-screen version of this movie.

    Though this film is nowhere near as great, nor as memorable, as its illustrious predecessor, it's still good, clean family entertainment that harks back to the days before CGI or 'animals' with rapier-sharp wit!  In some ways the director has made this film feel more like a wildlife documentary than a 'film', which might result in the viewer's attention straying in some sequences.

    The video quality is quite acceptable, except for the inserts of older film segments. It is great to see the film presented in widescreen, and with 16x9 enhancement.

    The audio is good, especially considering the age of the original film.

    The extras are limited to a few trailers. It would have been nicer to have had a documentary on the Adamsons, or perhaps on the making of the two films.

    The fact that this film comes on the same disc as Born Free means that you can buy the disc for Born Free and consider that you're getting Living Free for nothing!

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall