The Good
A great film that isn’t what you think it is at all.
The Bad
They should have included the book with this release somehow.
Bridge to Terabithia is a wonderful film about the power of friendship and the special time we all have called youth. Jess (Josh Hutcherson) is a boy on the outside. He’s in his own head and he likes to draw and he lives on a farm. This makes him the ire of the school bullies and even his dad. He befriends Leslie (AnnaSophia Robb) who is also different, but where Jess is introspective Leslie is effusive. Leslie convinces Jess that together they can create a place of their own and thus Terabithia is born. This place becomes a refuge for both of them as they are now the rulers of their domain. They even manage to take the things they learn in Terabithia into the real world. Then, out of nowhere, there is a deadly accident but out of this a greater understanding for life and the world emerges.
Features
“Behind The Book: The Themes of Bridge to Terabithia” Featurette
Librarians from various schools are presented here giving testimonials about the importance of the Bridge to Terabithia . The actors talk about what it meant to them and Robb even says something like “it touched it me in a place I’d never been touched.” After that, we are treated to shots of teachers in the classroom discussing passages from the book, and some of the themes like how our friends can be people we had never thought of as being our friends before. Overall, this was interesting, if not a little too serious.
“Digital Imagination: Bringing Terabithia To Life” Featurette
They offer two commentary tracks on this release. One is with the Director Gabor Csupo, writer Jeff Stockwell and producer Hal Lieberman. The other one features Josh Hutcherson, AnnaSophia Robb and producer Lauren Levine. I chose to listen to the second one simply because I thought hearing from the kids would be a lot more fun. They open with Hutcherson pointing out that this movie has a new Disney castle for the opening, how great the woman who played Monster Mouth was, what drawings Hutcherson did and didn’t do, and how he really had to try and look like he was losing the race to Robb’s character. After this they talk about certain themes of the movie, and then Hutcherson discusses how he felt doing ADR on the film enhanced his performance. Some interesting stuff here but I wish the kids didn’t sound so artificially grown up.
Video
Widescreen - 1.85:1 - Enhanced for Widescreen Televisions. Aside from some of the effects not really looking that great, I loved the look of this movie. What the commercials for this film played up was the land of Terabithia. However, there is about 80% of this movie that takes place in the real world. In all honesty, I think that was where this film looked its richest. I loved the way they didn’t try to make Jess’s home life seem too clean, yet Leslie’s was completely different. This film has a special quality about it exemplifying the idea that our minds are the most important tools we have.
Audio
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. French and Spanish Language tracks. French and Spanish Subtitles. The audio in this movie was done to create the wondrous experience that movies of this ilk offer. It was good, but I can’t really say that anything about this film’s soundtrack really grabbed me too much. The audio was solid, it seemed leveled nicely, but I was more taken with the story and the aforementioned themes than anything else.
Package
On the front cover of this DVD we see Hutcherson and Robb in the center, with images and creatures from Terabithia all around them. The back cover has a big picture of them in their treehouse, as well as some smaller images from the movie. There is a well written description of what this film is about, a cast list and technical specs. All in all, I wish this cover didn’t emphasize the fantasy elements so much because that really isn’t what this movie is 100% about.
Final Word
This is one of the best movies of the 21st Century so far. As I was watching this film I was reminded of the joy I had watching films like The Beastmaster and Cloak & Dagger. I know that Bridge to Terabithia isn’t exactly like the films I just mentioned, but they have a certain magic about them that makes them classics for young children and they are able to watch them again and again. As I sat watching this movie, I felt that I was viewing something that wasn’t self conscious. It wasn’t layered in irony. It wasn’t trying to be something that it wasn’t. In short, it simply wasn’t self conscious in the slightest.
So, sit back, enjoy Bridge to Terabithia, and know that you or your kids are watching a movie that is destined to become a fan’s classic.
