Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book [DVD]

While most well-known for its animated films, Walt Disney Pictures has actually had a series of seperate golden ages of film technique. First of course was the 60's/70's which brought us amazing entertainment like The Island at the Top of the World, Third Man on the Mountain, Pollyanna, Summer Magic and the like. Then came a new age of more modern films like Tron, Flight of the Navigator, Little Spies, The Blue Yonder, Spooner, and other made-for-TV and endlessly-played-on-the-Disney-Channel theatrical features. But this led to a film era that coincided with the Disney Animated Film Renaissance. In other words while more people may remember The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin, arguably the film-craft was just as great for the under-appreciated Newsies, The Mighty Ducks, Iron Will, Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken, and...this masterpiece.Fresh off of Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, we get Jason Scott Lee absolutely inhabiting the character of Mowgli, a boy raised in the jungle by animals, who grew into a man. The premise, while of course a literary classic, seems a bit ridiculous to modern tastes, and to pull it off without degenerating into George of the Jungle (not a bad thing; just not the goal here) took a tour-de-force of acting skill, and yes, JSL pulls it off with aplomb. This is a Disney family film but you'd think he was the lead in Dances With Wolves from how flawlessly he carries out the moments of drama (wait...drama???). But I'm getting ahead of myself.This film was from the era when Walt Disney Pictures dreamed to think they were making great films...because they were. They were elevating family faire with pictures like White Fang and The Rocketeer, and had released The Lion King. They were at the top of the world and raising their sights. It wasn't just "The Jungle Book". It was "Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book", a nod to the more serious tone and plot of the literary classic. And what Disney did with it was bold and daring. It may have been The Jungle Book, but Disney was aiming for something more akin to Tarzan, with drama and romance. And to reach their goal, Disney took risks.You need only look at the rest of the cast for this film to get an idea of Disney's ambition. You have Sam Neal, fresh off Jurassic Park. You have John Cleese while Monty Python was still fresh in people's minds. You have Cary Elwes brilliantly cast-against-type (everyone still remembered him as Westley from The Princess Bride). Oh yeah and you have an absolutely luminous Lena Headey as Mowgli's love interest. Wow.This cast is not wasted either. Almost right from the start this film jumps into the action. After a brilliant musical introduction which really gives you time to immerse yourself into the time period (Colonial India) we have a tiger menace in the form of arch-villain (here arch nemesis) Shere Kahn. Immediatley we know we have one foot in reality and the other in legend. Sam Neil's character is brave and heroic seems to be foiled only by a force of destiny (Shere Kahn is Guardian/Keeper of the Black Jungle and may be immortal). Mowgli's father tries to save one of Shere Kahn's targets and instead falls prey to the beast himself (quickly establishing a villain in Boldeo). All this is just setting the stage for Mowgli getting lost and orphaned, growing into a man in the Black Jungle, and stumbling upon a Monkey City and it's hidden treasure, before discovering his old childhood friend on the border of civilization and the jungle.At this point there's some great fish-out-of-water comedy (as Mowgli learns to be a man) and some great slow-burn villain building as his rival for childhood friend Kitty's affection shows himself to be a shady, greedy slimy, fiend (if his introduction where he instructs his friends to immediatley shoot Mowgli didn't give it away). These scenes are, for lack of better words, perfection. There's just much subtlety that shows the animal in JSL's character (squawking at birds, purring when touched gently) that make him just...natural. Fantastic. John Cleese is in top form here and Lena Headey's sincerity is just marvelous.Then the film comes to a romantic crowning moment of heartbreak as Mowgli realizes the savagery of the jungle is nothing compared to the monstrous cruelty of man, and he must go back to where he belongs. Kitty is no push-over, however, and all this just ends the second act and sets the stage for the third, where the movie REALLY kicks into high gear, as Mowgli is forced to lead his adversaries into the heart of the Black Jungle to find their lost city of gold in order to protect his friends...and proceeds to have a Rambo/Die Hard series of confrontations, escapes, and showdowns as the villains are undone by their own bumbling, their own violent tendancies, and their own greed. Oh my!All of this is accomplished with VERY good cinematography and a fantastic musical score. It's a crying shame that this film was treated like trash by Disney for so long, as we were first "treated" to a crappy pan-and-scan VHS, then a crappy pan-and-scan DVD, and now to a crappy widescreen transfer. In the theater this film was dark and saturated and had a very film quality to it. Unfortunately, as with White Fang, poor color and brightness calibration has made the transfer washed out, night scenes almost look like day scenes, and set dressing is far more obvious than it was in the theater. There's several films in the Disney canon from this era that deseve a Criterion release, but this film is the pinnacle and deserves far better.Just the same, finally being able to see this film widescreen on my projector is a treat. When I first saw it I was 13 years old in the theater. And I remember all the scenes when the theater laughed (imitating the villain, Kitty's cinical comment at a villain's death), and when they cheered (a slap for the villain when he's finally gone too far). Maybe a few people were even tearing up at one point (I sure was). My point is, this is a GREAT movie and deserves far more attention than it has had up to this point.The only other downside I can think of for this film is that it's a problematic period of history to portray in an adventure film these days. Personally, I hardly view this as a glorification of colonialism (the racial slurs are uttered by the villains), and while there are some indigineous villains, the HERO of the film is also indiginous (narratively speaking). Sure, even Sam Nei's character views him as unsuitable for his daughter as a friend ("People are talking!"), but by being shown friendship and compassions turns his attitude "Mowgli, a man would consider himself lucky to have you as a friend." I don't see attitudes within the framework of the time being much more idealized than that.This film was a real risk for Disney. It's got swearing, violence, peril, and some genuinely disturbing death. But it's also full of the kind of swooning romance that made it my mother's favorite film. You should take a risk and watch it if you haven't already. It just may become YOUR favorite movie.

Good old movie that's hard to find but ratio and picture quality stinks and can't change it

Muy linda esta película, nunca me canso de verla

Great movie!

Wonderful movie. The picture and sound quality of dvd was good.

Glad I finally took a pretty penny to pay for this movie. Grew up in the 90s watching this version of The Jungle Book. I think my only complaint would be that every adaption I've seen doesn't dive deeper into Mowgli's back story and or some of Rudyard's other jungle related stories because if you remember, the original book was a collection of short stories about Mowgli's adventures. I'm imagining that it's written in the same fashion that the Winnie the Pooh shorts were done.What sets this version apart from the rest is the use of live animals that don't speak. Ka is found in the ancient temple this time, but I remember thinking the first time I saw this, it wasn't the same python snake. The renegades that attempt to ravage the temple also get killed off, one by one, showing that this should be considered something even for the teenagers, but still remains a fun watch. It's also nice to see Carey Elwes step into the role of the villain, and this was before Kiss The Girls came out, and I remember being very impressed with what he did there as well.

I never really liked this movie growing up, but came to appreciate it as an adult. Maybe that's because it's an acquired taste. But it does treat issues like racism in India fairly well and is a unique take on the Jungle Book.

The DVD arrived on time and undamaged. It was brand new with shrink wrap and sticker across the top. It played beautifully from start to finish and the quality of the picture was very good. This is such an excellent film. I have the old VHS of this film from the 90's and am so pleased to have a good quality DVD now. P.S. There was a mail in rebate included that expired 2002! Further confirmation that I did not receive a cheap knock off but a true official DVD.