BIG MIRACLE DVD (2012)

SYNOPSIS: Inspired by the true story that captured the hearts of people across the world, the rescue adventure Big Miracle tells the amazing tale of a small town news reporter (John Krasinski) and an animal-loving volunteer (Drew Barrymore) who are joined by rival world superpowers to save a family of majestic gray whales trapped by rapidly forming ice in the Arctic Circle.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Everybody loves whales. So do we.

In addition, we love Drew Barrymore as well ever since she appeared in a little movie called "E.T". The bubbly actress together with three whales will likely warmed your hearts again in “Big Miracle”.

First discovered by his television news reporter ex-boyfriend, Adam Carlson (John Krasinki), a gung-ho Greenpeace activist, Rachel Kramer played by Drew Barrymore travelled to Alaska to coordinate a rescue mission to free three trapped California gray whales. Based on a true story and a 1989 book, “Freeing the Whales”, the rescue effort involves international parties, the National Guard, the President of the United States, entrepreneurs, the Inupiat whale hunters and the influx of media circuses.

Despite the scale of the premise, “Big Miracle” scores high on sentiments and aim to please the general audience instead of being an ambitious, educating title on the environment. Sure, there are some speeches of that by Barrymore’s character though mostly director Ken Kwapis (He’s Just Not Into You, License to Wed) and his writers took a light-heartened approach and rather amusing takes on the story that is set in 1988. For examples, a helicopter pilot getting his eye glued because of the icy cold wind and taking audience back to the days where families spend their family time glued to the goggle box for the latest news development before media technology took the world by storm.

The large cast assembled never disappoints and they include the beautiful Kristen Bell as a gutsy up-and-coming news reporter but the one that really caught our attention is Ted Danson (3 Men And A Baby) as an enterprising oil baron cashing in on all the media attention. The “Cheers” actor is so charismatic and goes to show how we missed his screen presence. Barrymore and “Office” John Krasinki on the other hand makes a cute, instantly likeable onscreen couple.

“Big Miracle” is a predictable family-affair. If you love “Free Willy”, “Flipper” or the recent “Dolphin Tale”, you will surely adore “Big Miracle” despite knowing the whales are CG and puppeteer by some handy crew. Yet, be prepared for some emotional moments that is aimed squarely at your tear ducts.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The visual is filled with gorgeous images with deep black levels for the darker scenes. The surround track is rich with active ambient sound effects such as the swimming whales and rowdy swarm of reporters.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee