Review of Ring of Bright Water

Introduction

Most of our "younger readers" probably won`t have heard of this film. I certainly hadn`t, although my other half has read the book on which it is based. It stars Bill Travers (most famous for Born Free) and Virginia McKenna (likewise most famous for Born Free but more recently seen in Sliding Doors). And it`s all about an otter. Yes, that`s right, an otter called Mij.

A man escapes the rat race of London by buying an otter and moving to the west of Scotland, where he befriends a local doctor named Mary, and her dog. I can see that you`re gripped by the plot already. The film follows their collective friendships.

Video

We are presented with a non-anamorphic 1.66:1 transfer, which is how the film was shot. For the most part this does look pretty good for its age. There are flecks and specks of dust and dirt cropping up fairly frequently, and a few green/purple blotches now and again, but a film like this is unlikely to undergo painstaking frame-by-frame restoration! Some of the "dusk" scenes also look rather odd, and it doesn`t look intentional. Some brief underwater footage looks a bit ropey too.

As it was filmed largely in Scotland there`s lots of nice scenery on offer, including some nice snow-covered scenes. This all looks good thanks to the work of Wolfgang Suschitzky who was in charge of cinematography - he also worked on more famous films like the original version of Get Carter.

Audio

A DD2.0 soundtrack, which is the original mono track replayed over both channels. For the most part this does its job adequately, although there is some distortion evident during louder parts of the score. The score is also rather predictable given the nature of the film, with comical overtones whenever an animal does something cute, and some very unsubtle changes when something slightly dramatic is about to happen.

The other element that annoys is the rather comical narration, which is meant to be deadly serious. It sounds almost like a patronising road safety commercial at times, and seems very intrusive.

And one final note, the title song is sung by Val Doonican, who I cannot stand!

Features

Old it may be, but there are still some brief extras to be found. We get more than the region 1 version of the disc, although the trailer that is found on that version is omitted here.

First we have biographies for our two human stars, and also one for the otter! There`s also a photo gallery, some production notes, and some movie "trivia" which is really just 2 facts about the film. Nothing to get excited about then.

The only reasonably interesting extra is the clickable location map, which takes you to information about filming, including stills from various scenes, and information about some of the buildings appearing in the film that no longer exist.

Conclusion

I`m afraid that I really can`t say anything good about this film. Ok, there are some nice shots of otters, and an otter playing with a dog, but if I wanted to see that I`d watch a nature documentary. There are some nice pictures of Scotland, but if I wanted those I`d watch a documentary too! Or I`d take a holiday there.

This is just a film that goes nowhere, and I wouldn`t even recommend it for children as they will just get bored with it. If you happen to be a fan though (somebody might be) then this disc is about the best you`re going to get.

Recommended for fans of the film or terminal insomniacs only!