The Big Year Extended Version Review

The Big Year is coming to the home market on DVD and Blu-ray on January 31st. The Blu-ray includes an extended version of the movie, as well as some other extras not available on the DVD version.

In the extended version of The Big Year, the story is told not via Brad Harris but by the narrator of the intro in the theatrical version (John Cleese). Because of this, certain scenes are edited a bit differently, and the movie has a slightly different feel from what was shown in cinemas last fall. The relationship between Brad and Stu is still pivotal, but it has a less one-sided feel (an improvement). In the extended version we also learn just a bit more about Brad's personal life, which may have been awkward if included in the narrated-by-Brad version of the story.

The narrator talks during many of the scenes that Brad narrates in the theatrical version of the film. In these scenes and in others, John Cleese's narrator often uses bird analogies when speaking about the characters of The Big Year. Some of these are a bit cheesy, but for the most part they work. In a movie about birders, it makes sense to compare important moments in the lives of the main characters to the pivotal moments in the lives of birds.

Parts of the extended version are framed by scenes featuring a Ruby-throated Hummingbird; the female bird's migration in particular transitions between certain parts of the movie in a very effective way. The bird is CGI and looks beautiful.

These small differences between the theatrical and extended versions of The Big Year actually make a big difference in the story; I loved what I saw in the cinema but I may have loved the extended version even more. If you enjoyed The Big Year in cinemas last fall, you'll probably enjoy the extended version, too. And if you didn't get a chance to see it (its run was quite short!), I suggest you give both versions a try. I give The Big Year extended version 5 Goldfinches out of 5.

Thank you to Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and Think Jam for providing me with a screener copy of The Big Year for review.

Comments

Sum Guy on January 26, 2012 at 1:00 PM wrote:
For a movie on location at various popular bird-watching locations, it's a shame they didn't do a scene at Point Pelee National Park - the southern-most point in Canada (in Ontario) - known world wide as a significant migration landmark.
Supercilious on April 18, 2012 at 1:00 PM wrote:
Sum Guy - I believe the birds had to be viewed in the United States to qualify for the count.
Rachel Rasmussen on June 14, 2017 at 1:00 PM wrote:
That can't be. The hummingbird was seen in British Columbia. For the record, the extended version is absolutely enchanting. The movie would probably have done much better if the extended version had been the theatrical version.

Leave a comment

Comments with links or HTML will be deleted. Your comment will be published pending approval.
Your email address will not be published

Movie Review: Hoot

Wil Shriner's Hoot tells the story of three young environmental warriors who band together to save a colony of Burrowing Owls from the bulldozers of development in Florida. Hoot is based upon a young adult novel by Carl Hiassen. The story revolves around new kid in town Roy...

Netflix Instant Watch for Birders

We love our Netflix subscription. Arthur has been catching up on television series with discs in the mail. We also use Netflix to watch recent DVD releases and the number of DVDs we purchase nowadays is virtually nil. Yay for less stuff! (Actually it means we have more...

American Birder

Enjoy beautiful birds and lovely banjo work in this new short film by Daniel Roca.

Fantasy Christmas Gift for Falconer: $150,000

Each year Neiman Marcus offers a Fantasy Gift catalog with a range of experiences and products aimed at the very, very wealthy. This year a special falconry accessory set is in the offering, with a price tag of $150k. Look at the opulence!