It's good to see the renewed interest in Neil Diamond's work. Although most people know him via his hits during the 60s, 70s and early 80s, this album is completely different from most of his other recordings.

I heard this album the first time a few years after its release and despite a young age got hooked on it. It has a majestic feel all over, as if it flew over the musical landscape of its period, and probably would do the same even if being released today. One could claim that it gave signals of the new age sound that later developed. In other words, it has aged remarkably well.

Anyone who has any of his compilations and actually listens to them should not let this Jonathan Livingston pass them by. Even those who do not have any interest in Diamond's other work may enjoy this album. It is timeless and a constant pleasure.

I waited many years to see this movie as I was a kid when it came out and no one would take me to it. Watch it with an open mind and gain some spirituality. The music is excellent and the message is as good for today as it was then. In a time when special effects rule our movies, this one is all natural.

Neil Diamond was coming off of his last recording for MCA (Hot August Nights) and he spent several years working on this project. It is different than his other earlier recordings but you have to remember that this is a soundtrack for a movie that did nothing at the box office (based on a book that sold well). Anyway, each song flows into the next and the music takes you a lot further than the movie did.

I read the book and I loved it. Then I heard there was a movie about this, so I did some research and found the movie here at amazon. Reading other reviews, it was clear that the conversion to DVD was poorly done.

Well, the reviews are right. The movie is stunning, the story is beautiful, the photography is spectacular, the Soundtrack great, and the sound... Well, the sound is what took two stars away from my review.

Paramount should be ashamed of letting such a wonderful movie, where the soundtrack is basically half of everything, being release with no work at all at the sound quality. Zero, zero. The sound is MONO, and looks like somebody took an old voice recorder into the movie theater hidden in his pocket and recorded the whole thing.

I think this movie deserved a little more time and money dedicated to create a better package.

But still, the movie is worth it. I will complain at Paramount's site about this.

The soundtrack from Johnathan Livingston Seagull is one of the most beautiful, relaxing celebratory of life CDs I have ever heard. I took my brother's record album when we were young, and I have missed the music since my record collection was ruined in the rain. I would have paid more for this beautiful music.

This was Neil's first project for Columbia Records, following up his glorious "Moods" album on the MCA label, the one that opens with what would become his signature tune, "Song Sung Blue," and closes out with several songs that seem to hint he was already in "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" mode: "Walk On Water," "Theme," "Prelude in E Major" and "Morningside." Having just listened again to the JLS soundtrack for the umpteenth time, and then having watched the movie for the first time, I would suggest that any ND fans out there who, like me, went decades without seeing JLS should continue avoiding that movie at all costs, and give another listen to "Moods" again.

The main problem with the movie is that Neil ran out of songs about halfway through the film, at which point either there's no sound at all for many long minutes at a time (I exaggerate slightly -- there's the occasional sound of ocean waves crashing into shore), or you get to hear James Franciscus' voiceover as Jonathan. Now, Franciscus was a fine actor in his day, in projects as diverse as "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" and the underrated TV show "Longstreet," but his was not the voice of JLS. Neil should've written another half-dozen songs and they could've had a better movie just with the seagulls flying around and letting Neil narrate/sing the whole thing, kind of like "Tommy" but as a bird opera.

Instead, we get one really good song on the soundtrack, "Be," which you'll notice appears four times out of 12 tracks, so clearly Neil recognized he had a dearth of good material so he had to stretch out the good stuff as far as it would go. "Dear Father" is okay, but feels like it's half-finished, and it appears three times. "Skybird" starts out great, but also feels unfinished, and it appears twice on the soundtrack. See the pattern here? The rest of the songs aren't really even songs -- just snippets of songs. If you want to listen to a well-thought-out spiritual odyssey, then listen to "The African Trilogy" songs on the "Taproot Manuscript" album. Much better stuff.

It's been many years since I've watched Jonathan Livingston Seagull. To now be able to view it on HD video with surround sound brings back the wonderful memories of taking my daughter to see it, and to once again experience the incredible photography and the powerful music, in the comfort of our own living room means so much to my family. This DVD is worth every cent, and will be a treasured addition to our growing video library.

The book and this movie are about "Metaphysics". A seagull learning to fly (be the best you can be at whatever you do) and learning to love others without limits is Beautiful. Metaphysics believes all religons have value. To learn more about Metaphysics watch the DVD's "The Secret" and "What the Bleep do we know".

Jonathan Livingston Seagull is filled with gorgeous vistas, incredible aerial photography and beautiful animals. Unfortunately if you have not read the book (and everyone had in 1973) the plot is thin to nonexistent. You are likely to be lost without that knowledge.

This is also a 1973 film. No CGI seagulls here. That does not hurt the film too much, but some of the complex flying scenes such as aerial acrobatics would look so much better if they had been redone with 2007 technology.

For fans of Neil Diamond, he makes many appearances in songs that are integral to the film. The symphonic work he did is excellent.

Overall I like this film. It is great to look at and listen to. It just is hard to follow if you do not know where it is going, and it shows its age just a bit.

This review assumes that you are already familiar with the movie and are interested in what the DVD has to offer. If you want a review of the movie itself, see the other reviews; people either love it or hate it. I love it.

That being said, this is one of the poorer conversions to DVD that I have seen (the worst being my "Red Dawn" DVD, but don't get me started). Colors are not vibrant, blacks are not that deep, and about the only positive thing I have to say about the video quality is that it has been cleaned up to remove artificts (unlike "Red Dawn," grr). So, while the video is clean, it is nothing spectacular.

Audio has got to be the biggest disappointment; it has been remastered in Dolby Digital mono. That's right, mono. Not DTS, not 5.1, not even stereo, but mono. Adding insult to injury is the quality of the audio. Sure, there is no hiss or sound of scratches, but the audio is flat. Specifially, the music. Dialogue in the movie does not really need much, and it would have been better in stereo, and better yet in 5.1. But the music, one of the best components of the movie, is disappointing.

Thus music has no range, no depth, no life. My sub rarely kicked in. Neil Diamond's voice sounded muffled, as did the music itself. What should have been a great musical experience turned into a pale shadow of what might have been.

On top of all this, there are no extra features or frills. This is pretty much a straight burn of the video to DVD. The menu screen is a still pic with just three choices (play, audio setup, and scene selection). That's it.

Don't get me wrong, I still love the movie. I was disappointed years ago when I heard there were no plans to release JLS to DVD. This DVD is definitely better than a VHS alternative, so I am very glad Paramount released it to DVD. It is just disappointing that they did not spend some extra money to improve the video quality, and nearly a crime they did not remaster the audio better (and in 5.1).

The scenery and photography here are spectacular, to say the least. I saw the movie when it first came out, and I have owned Neil Diamond's soundtrack album for years and have loved it, have known it note by note. I play some of the songs. I have since earned a degree in music and am familiar with music from all genres, but this remains a favorite, a constant. It's nice again to see how the music relates to the visual aspects of the film. This film isn't for everyone. People who like fast action, gunfights, car chases, and such will find this film boring. However, if you can accept it for what it is, it's a beautiful experience all around. I don't mind the talking birds--remember "Babe," the talking pig? I like watching Jonathan working out his struggles in learning how to fly better, faster, higher and seeing him succeed. For me, it's a very uplifting movie. I only received it the other night, and I have already watched it five times. You might think of it too has an extended music video with all those gorgeous scenes--think wildlife, nature photography--together with the lush, mostly orchestral music. It's a different kind of movie. I know it has been ridiculed by many people for many reasons, but to some of us, it remains special. Like it says on the box, it is a movie with stunning beauty.

I know that I read the book, "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" by Richard Bach and that my girl friend in high school gave me the soundtrack album, so I remembered the handful of Neil Diamond songs that show up in this movie, but I remembered nothing about the plot. I mean, yes, I knew there was this seagull and that there was some sort of simplistic life lesson to be learned here, but it was not until the seagull started talking about flying really fast that I remembered that was the catalyst for the title character's quest, exile, and ultimate redemption. I also remembered that the message was not why I went to go see this movie when it came out in 1973.

I still think this is a beautiful film, which deservedly received an Oscar nomination for Jack Couffer's cinematography because basically this film was IMAX before IMAX was around. The beginning is gorgeous and it takes you a moment to remember that you want to pay attention to the seagull and not the scenery. This proves to be the fatal flaw in this film. Because once we start focusing on the seagulls we focus on one in particular, and he has a story that has to be communicated through voiceovers. I recognize the voice of Philip Ahn as Chang, because I watched "Kung Fu" when it was on, but I never would have guessed that was James Franciscus doing the voice of Jonathan. The problem is that every time we get to the voice-overs in this movie, I start to get bored, even though I know the dialogue is necessary to advance the plot of the film (this sentiment is extend to Dimaond's work, where I like the music way more than the lyrics). It is just that suddenly I seem to remember a joke about the book, namely that it was a best seller because there were more people than you would have thought who had never read "The Little Engine That Could," and I have to wonder about people with so little in their lives that the book could have meant so much.

To be fair, the movie should not be confused with the book, if for no other reason that Bach sued Columbia over the changes they made to his story when they filmed it. Then again, I have no idea what those changes might be or how the vision of the author has been corrupted by this adaptation. There are no DVD extras and there are six--count them, six--scenes to select. They are numbered (you guessed it) 1 through 6, and if you can look at the pictures above the numbers and figure out what part of the film it is, then you must really love this movie. I was going to round up on this one, just because the cinematography is as gorgeous as I remember, but when I saw the film was divided into six numbered scenes, I had to head in the other direction. This is one of those films that I have to think will interest only those people who saw it before and want to see it again, whether such an interest is restricted only to the beautiful photograph or to the whole "message" it has to offer.

Inherently, this is a truly awful picture. Meaningless footage of seagulls (and nothing but), Neil Diamond at his most saccharine, new age glurge at it most repellent passing as philosophy. Ugh.

But what gets this awful, yet not even laughable, picture more than a single star from me from is the desperation of 70s Hollywood to try something different, and it doesn't get much more different than this, and that they would put this bomb on DVD.

A turkey in every sense of the word. But it still represents the cinematic uniqueness of the 70s as readily as any Scorcese masterpiece or art house classic.

A really stunning film. Perhaps some see it as a bit of new age nostalgia from 1973, but it's relevant now as it ever was.The cinematography is done by the same people who now do alot of IMAX films, McGillvray/Freeman. One comment on the DVD I will make and that that the sound is pretty poor-for some odd reason it's all in mono(!) and the result is it sounds "far off" and you need to turn up the sound to hear things.

The wise words of Jonathan Livingston Seagull live today as well. "You have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now, and nothing can stand in your way." This movie is something the whole family can enjoy. And if you haven't already buy the soundtrack on CD and Richard Bach's book. It's a pleasant dream when you need one. That is one bedtime story I want to wake up to. And for those of you who are going to ask me, "hey didn't you say these exact words when you reviewed the VHS copy?", you better believe it because now we can appreciate Jon's story forever on DVD.

We had an old record of this - scratches. Love the music. Sounds great. Glad we purchased

The music from this soundtrack is a perfect blend of popular and classical style symphonic music. It is an uplifting recording and proves that popular music can be done with high quality.

"Lost...on a painted sky...you may find Him...if you may",I mean...How Neil Diamond made this? Where he flew to see this? From all the icons I've seen in my life - "A seagull flying high in the sky + the sound of BE" is one of the strongest. An absolutelly beautiful work, timeless, for all times, powerful as our own will, transparent, marvelous to the tears roll down for pure emotions. To me, this music put sound to the book. A book I read 15, 20, 30 times? I don't know. Every theme evokes part of JL Seagul's journey - "Lonely looking sky, lonely sky" - Provably one of the best spiritual go up music made in the western culture. The journey to awakening is lonely...now you can fly with this music as a companion and don't fasten your seatbelt.

I am sorry that the last review was so negative on unbox. I have a recent Dell, XP, have not had any tech issues. If you want to see some decent reviews of this 1973 movie, look at the VHS version. There are several. The movie is worth watching. I have read the book several times over the years and it is still one of my favorite stories. Enjoy.

I have owned this soundtrack since it was on LP, bought the 8-track. Had the cassette and now I have three CDs; one at home, one at work and one in the car. It lifts me up every time I hear it. It is music I consider Neil Diamond at his best. Very spiritual.

when I ordered this cd, I was hoping it was the actual 'talking' of the book of Jonathan Livingston Seagull. not sure who it was that was talking, but you will swear it was that darn seagull. they did have the music included, not sure where/what that was. but I am still looking to buy that spoken book. I think I had it one a large 33 1/3 album. i guess that kinda dates me, huh?

What can be said without sounding redundant of the other reviewers here? Even if you are not a Neil Diamond fan (who isn't?) you will enjoy this CD. Neil Diamond's music never sounds dated even years later when listened to.

Every song on this relaxing CD is well done.

Listening to this soundtrack brought tears to my eyes just as it did when it was originally released. I remember seeing Neil Diamond do a concert several years ago, and he had Jonathan Livingston Seagull in its entirety as his encore. It's just amazing! I play it over and over.

Neil Diamond's soundtrack for Jonathan Livingston Seagull got me through most of my high school years....I was happy to find that it was a lovely and uplifting and spiritual as I remembered it. Neil Diamond is one of those guys whose work ya either love or ya don't....I love it and if you are an ND fan who hasn't heard this one I absolutely recommend it!

fantastic cd. I have loved this for years, had it on an album and on my desktop. just had to have it. is the most haunting and lovely sounds, really relaxing, mellow music. really helps me get back on track when I have had a bad day.

Unbox sucks. Keep getting error message when trying to play movie. Got latest windows updates and still no good. Can't redownload even when deleated the corrupt files. Wasted 10.00. Would love to have seen the movie. Bad service. No help. Sucks Sucks Sucks.

First, like others in these responses, I have to ask: "Why has this not been released in dvd format?"

It appeals to both adults and children, and Lord knows we have few enough films available that can fill that bill.

Please, Amazon, use your influence to suggest to the copyright holder that they get busy and make a decent quality dvd transfer. We could all use a dose of Jonathan's philosophy of life.

This may not initially appeal to some of today's moviegoers because it lacks slam bang, bloody, gratuitous violence, but it will grow on the viewers who give it a chance.

I am in my low 40's, but I can remember going to see this movie, so many years ago. I remember the incredible cinematography (even as a kid I recognize it's beauty), and the haunting music that stays with you. I bought this CD a few months ago, and I just love it, it brought back a lot of memories of the film. I'm not a big Neil Diamond fan - I've always liked his work, but I've never been an enthusiastic fan - but I realy like this CD. Almost hypnotic and very relaxing to listen to, I hope they'll one day release the movie on DVD, I'd love to see it again.

In the early 1970s I began having spontaneous, conscious "out-of-body" experiences. As they progressed, I struggled to learn how to induce the experiences ... as well as being able to exercise some control over them. I read every book on "out-of-body' experiences that I could get my hands on. Then came the film "Jonathan Livingston Seagull"! I was utterely captivated! I identified with the character of Jonathan from the begining of the story to end. I related his personal struggles to my own ... his love of "flight" and his determination to prove that there is more to life than what "meets the eye".
I also identified with his moods of discouragment ... due to all the voices of negativity from those who do not understand. Finally, I identified with his ultimate victory ... knowing that something is true (human potential beyond our "normal" everyday understanding) and maintaining that belief no matter what... until it is finally manifested and PROVEN to ourselves.
This movie (and sound track) has proven the test of time ... it is a timeless masterpiece. The music is spiritually inspiring to say the very least. I STILL play the music as a springboard for inducing conscious out-of-body experiences ... and it STILL works!

It haunted me as a child of nine years when my mother took me to see it on its original theatrical release. It inspires me today as an adult. Why is this not out on DVD?!!!

Until this afternoon, I did not realize just how old this wonderful movie is. Not that it matters that it's older than I am. I grew up watching this and was wondering if it would be possible to replace that old tape if there ever were reason. This film and the soundtrack LP have inspired me a great many times over the years. I will echo some others here in saying that if you watch this film the same as you would watch most feature films today, you'll miss out. You have to be able to just sit back and relax with it. Pay attention to what's going on, and what Johnathan is actually experiencing. If I could walk into a brick and mortar store and see this video on the shelf in any format, I'd probably go into debt buying 5 copies. I love this hard to find film. Just to make sure I never have to worry about losing it forever.

This is a rare, timeless work. I've been a fan of the book for many, many years. It took me until 2005 to track down and order the movie. While the film (30+ years old) doesn't live up to the book, I give it 5 stars becuase it stands alone as a superb movie. I guess I would give the book 6 stars if Amazon let me.

Songs from this album were played at my mom's second marriage 30 years ago. Yesterday, selections were played at her funeral. She wore out her album several times and finally got it on CD. The music ands songs are as relevant today as they were 30 years ago.

I remember seeing this in a theater in Nashville, Tennessee, with my two young sons, when it was first released -- so long ago, and yet the magnificient story and music are still the same. Now, my twelve-yr-old cat, Star, likes to look at the birds on the t.v. screen but is perplexed by their human voices.

The music was just great! Neil Diamond was simply marvelous back then providing the music for this and the remake of THE JAZZ SINGER. Both make me cry sometimes as they tug at the heart strings. Killing me softly with his song!

Hal Holbrook was good as the voice of the mean one, the elder who banned Jon from the flock for daring to be different, and later did the same to poor Fletcher, because of his crippled wing. When you get past the noise of the birds feeding on garbage, the story soars just as Jonathan Livingston Seagull at a fairly fast clip, on the wings of a prayer. The narration is perfectly done: both Jon L. and the angel Seagull who comes to take him to a better place.

He returns the favor to Fletcher and teaches him that he can fly with the best of them. The worst part was near the end of the movie when the baby bird is knocked into the rock cliff and dies. That made me sad initially, but I can understand the significance now that I am older. It's not easy being old, but it's much worse to die young.

Jonny will always be a bird after my heart. As a result of this movie, I feed the pigeons here in town and the few birds who returned after last year's bad treatment. I fed the geese at one place I lived out of town here and, as a result, had to move. We do have small flocks of seagulls near the malls and out west at that Walmart. We are far from any sea, but the Tennessee River can furnish them with carp and other dietary fish they may need. Just so they leave the catfish for me!

thank you.
the itam came on time and it was in good condition.