Review of Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog

Introduction

Far From Home is a kids` movie which, although having had a cinema run, feels in every other way like a TV movie.

Angus, finding himself lost from his father in a barren part of the country after their boat capsizes in a storm, resolves to fend for himself after no rescue comes by. Luckily his best friend Yellow is there to keep him company as their try to find their way home through the wilderness.

Video

Although the original aspect ratio was 1.85:1 and the region 1 DVD has the film in its anamorphic glory, we are given a pan and scanned 4:3 version. But this, albeit major, quibble aside, the picture is in pretty good shape. The colours are rich, with the wilderness looking beautiful in its greens, and the sharpness of the picture is also very satisfactory. There was no print damage nor grain, and I could see no sign of compression artifacts.

Audio

The 2.0 stereo track does its job pretty well: the dialogue is easily audible, and even some surround effects can be heard.

Features

Only the theatrical trailer.

Conclusion

Far From Home falls into the category of `good` TV movies, even though as I said earlier it wasn`t strictly made for TV. Although the plot is a pretty predictable boys` own type of adventure, and most of the obstacles in Angus and Yellow`s way seem pretty contrived, this is still an entertaining kids` movie. Solid acting by Mimi Rogers (X-Files, Austin Powers 1) and Bruce Davison (Senator Kelly in X-Men) provides good backup to the main action, and to its credit, the movie never slips into over-sentimentality. The kind of fun, lazy viewing reserved for a Sunday afternoon.