FROG DREAMING (1985)
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: PG
Duration: 94 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith
Cast: Henry Thomas, Rachel Friend, Tony Barry, Tamsin West, John Ewart, Dempsey Knight, Chris Gregory, Mark Knight, Katy Manning, Dennis Miller
Frog Dreaming (1985) opens with a local drunk doing some lazy day fishing on a tiny rowboat in a water-filled quarry. His drunken nap is interrupted when the water begins churning violently, nearly swallows him along with his boat, it's a well-edited slice of Spielberg-ian kid-friendly adventure that sets up the 'something in water' mystery of the film.
We then meet adventuresome 14-year old kid Cody (Henry Thomas, E.T.), an orphaned American living with his guardian Gaza (Tony Barry, Mystery Road) in rural Australia. The kid is rambunctious and free-spirited, as demonstrated in the introductory scenes of him fashioning a rig that allows him to ride his bike on the local railroad tracks at high-speed, the rig works wonders until his breaks go out on the bike and he crashes into the local swamp.
Not long after he and his pal Wendy (Rachel Friend) and her little sister Jane (Tamsin West) join him on a bit of a day trip through the local wilds to the water-filled quarry, where aboriginals lore says an ancient spirit monster called the "donkegin" lives. There they have a close encounter with whatever it is under the water, afterward discovering the corpse of the drunk, The authorities warn the kids to keep away from quarry, with the girls parents becoming increasingly concerned about their daughters hanging out with a boy who takes them to find dead bodies.
As the film plays out it's a fun 80's kid's fantasy-adventure film along the lines of The Goonies with young Cody becoming increasingly obsessed with the aboriginal legend, crafting his own homemade cannon, a harpoon gun, and some scuba gear to travel beneath the surface of the lake to battle the mysterious aquatic monster.
Frog Dreaming is a bit of nostalgic memory movie for me, I sort of remember seeing it as a kid on TV in the 80's, but if you'd asked me to identify the movie by name anytime in the last thirty years I couldn't have done it. I'd pretty much forgotten about it, until I popped in this Blu-ray, and even then it didn't occur to me that I'd seen it right up until the final reveal of the underwater behemoth, and only then did it click in my mind that I had seen this only once before. Part of that lapse may have to do with the film's troubled distribution history, including being dropped for theatrical by 20th Century Fox here in the U.S. at the last minute, and nearly being bought by Disney. It's a bit unfortunate this didn't get a bigger initial release here in the US, it has all the earmarks of a Spielberg-ian kiddie-adventure film along the lines of The Goonies, not to mention it stars Henry Thomas who had just coming off the biggest film in the world at that point E.T. - The Extra Terrestrial!
Henry Thomas is quite good in the role, he was always a strong kid actor in the 80's, and he still is to this day. The character's got some good emotional depth if not a lot of back story. I feel like there could have been a whole other movie here about how this American kid was orphaned and ended-up living in Australia, but this movie doesn't tackle any of that, it gets right to this latest adventure and sticks with it. There's definitely some story shortcuts happening here, but nothing that left me wanting much more, the film is well directed by Brian Trechard-Smith who has an eye for stylish action and kiddie adventure fun, including some very Spielberg-ian shots throughout, not that Spielberg has a lock on kids on BMX bikes in the 80's or anything, Tenchard-Smith did direct BMX Bandits (1983) after all, but I do feel there where loads of intentional nods happening all over the place.
Audio/Video: Frog Dreaming (1985) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment branded as part of their Ozploitation Classics line-up. The film is presented in 1080p HD and framed in 1.85:1 widescreen, sourced from a brand new 4K scan of the film. Grain is nicely intact and natural looking, there's a pleasing amount of detail throughout, colors looks good if a bit muted in places with what looks to be a bit of fading happening to the elements used, but generally this is a very attractive HD presentation.
Audio on the disc comes by way of an English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo track, it's clean and well-balanced, there are no issues with hiss or distortion. The adventurous and fun score from prolific Australian film score composer Brian May (Patrick) sounds terrific in the mix.
Umbrella come through with a very generous amount of extras for this film, beginning with an audio commentary with Director Brian Trenchard-Smith, Editor Brian Kavanagh and Costume Designer Aphrodite Kondos moderated by Not Quite Hollywood Director Mark Hartley. It's a great commentary with Trenchard-Smith speaking about coming onto the project after the former director was fired. He speaks about his love of odd angles and makes a reference to Umberto Lenzi's cannibal films which made me laugh. he also touches upon the troubled distribution history, including the financiers passing up a bid from Disney, which probably would have not only increased the film's profitability but ensured the longevity of this film as a kiddie-adventure classic. Also brought up are the locations, and the alternate international alternate titles, including the unfortunate Goonies cash-in in the UK.
32-min of 'Not Quite Hollywood' extended interviews, including writer/co-producer Everette DeRoche who speaks about trying to get it made originally as a TV movie, firing the original director Russell Hagg when investors were not happy with the daily rushes, and bringing in Trenchard-Smith, who unlike his predecessor had a good rapport with the kids and crew. Also touched upon are the shooting location at the quarry and shooting the underwater scenes in a friend's pool. Henry Thomas speaks about his experience on the set including his own recollection of the original director's vision, and being knocked unconscious during the rail-bike sequence, and the working scuba gear props. The director speaks about coming onto the film half way through production, working with the kids and collaborating with Henry Thomas.
In the 28-min 'The Depths of a Legend - Looking Back on Frog Dreaming' actor Henry Thomas and director Brian Trenchard-Smith are reunited in 2018 at the home of Thomas, sitting together and reminiscing about working on the film together, with Thomas describing how he was crushing hard on the older Rachel Friend, and how awkward that was.
'The Go Kids: Looking Back on Frog Dreaming' is a 17-min extra with separate interviews with co-stars Rachel Friend and Tamsin West who played siblings. Each speak about their experiences on the film, including the audition and working with Henry Thomas, both admit to being a bit wowed by working with the kid from the biggest film in the world at the time, and some pranking on the set.
There's also a 6-min shooting locations revisited bit with drone footage of the shooting locations, including the Moorooduc Quarry, Manzies Creek Railway Station and other areas in an around Wood Point, Victoria. The drone footage is pretty great, and looks to be at least partially shot by Urban Legends director Jamie Blanks who did a similar piece for Umbrella's Blu-ray release of Next of Kin.
The disc is buttoned up with a 20-min trailer for the film and a 5-min image gallery with production concept artwork for the 'donkegin', VHS and theatrical artwork, including The Goonies inspired/rip-off UK artwork as 'The Go-Kids', and a Swedish VHS release that makes the film look like a paranormal thriller. We also get behind-the-scenes still and production stills, plus the original story outline, a script excerpt, audience questionnaires from test screenings, news clippings, and what looks to be a shot list from the production. They cram a lot into this image gallery!
There are also a pair of Easter Eggs to be found, an 8-min video piece of Thomas and Trenchard demonstrating their love of fencing and swordplay, plus a behind-the-scenes image of the "donkegin" prop.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Director Brian Trenchard-Smith, Editor Brian Kavanagh, Costume Designer Aphrodite Kondos and Not Quite Hollywood Director Mark Hartley
- Extended Interviews from 'Not Quite Hollywood' with Writer/Co-Producer Everette De Roche, Actor Henry Thomas, Director Brian Trenchard-Smith,
(32 min)
- The Depths of a Legend - Looking Back on Frog Dreaming with Henry Thomas and Brian Trenchard-Smith (28 min)
- The Go Kids: Looking Back on Frog Dreaming with Rachel Friend and Tamsin West (17 min)
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min) HD
- The Dream Quest: Shooting Locations Revisited (6 min)
- Image Gallery (7 min)
I won't spoil this one anymore than some of the artwork already does, but suffice it to say that the movie held up for me. It still has that movie magic about it that made 80's kids films so friggin' awesome, there's a palpable sense of kiddie-wonder about it that still makes me very happy to this day. I am very pleased that Umbrella saw fit to give this Aussie kiddie classic an excellent region-free Blu-ray release overstuffed with cool extras, so kids of all-ages can enjoy it anywhere in the world.
