Big [Blu-ray]

I saw this movie when it was in theaters during the summer of 1988 and remembering how much myself and the other people laughed out loud at certain scenes (in particular, remembering the scene in the bathroom on the morning that Josh Baskin wakes up to find himself transformed from a 12-year-old boy into a man somewhere in his 30's, that scene caused a HUGE burst of laughter from the theater goers who were in attendance, I'll never forget the hearty guffaw one of my friends from that time of my life uttered spontaneously when Josh peeked inside his underwear in front of the bathroom mirror) I knew that I needed to own a copy of this on videotape. So, I went to Amazon.com and found the least costly option that was available, and it arrived in my mail a few days after I ordered it. All I can say is thank you to the folks who sent it to me. Favorite scenes of mine from the movie (specifically, scenes that "touch" me emotionally) include the following. First, the scene in the hotel room where 30-year-old Josh collapses onto his bed and bursts into tears, immediately pulling the curtain down over his head for protection against his cruel surroundings and beginning to become aware of the sometimes harsh realities of living in the adult world by crying out for his mother's protection: "Mom ... (sob, sob). Mom." The humor is in seeing a man who is somewhere in his 30's acting like a 12-year-old boy, for the transformation was only a purely physical one, I believe. That is, Josh retained the mind, heart and soul of a 12-year-old boy, having been transformed only physically into the body of a man who is somewhere in his 30's. Examples of this type of humor include seeing 30-year-old Josh slurping at the very bottom of drink cups with a straw, trying to eke out those last few drops of the drink in typical 12-year-old fashion, and the scene in the limousine with co-worker Susan where 30-year-old Josh seemingly ignores her pleas to him that the two of them get to know each other better, Josh instead crawls around the back seat of the limousine and tests out the various gadgets. He fiddles with the two overhead light switches, flipping them on and off, he makes the "unlock" button on the rear passenger-side door of the limousine pop up and down with a repetitive noise that gets the attention of the limousine driver, he fiddles with a portable phone, and Susan asks him, "You're going to call someone?" Josh replies, "No," and proceeds the fiddle with the controls on the limousine's radio, only to have Susan reprimand him by telling him not to do that. Josh eventually comes to the realization that he is not ready for the responsibilities and sophistication of being an adult, and seeks to find the fortune-teller machine, Zoltar, that changed him into an adult, in order that he can change back into his original 13-year-old self. A scene that evoked a big, heart-felt "Awwww..." from me was the scene where Josh, immediately after having been changed back into his 13-year-old self when Susan drops him off back at his parents' house in New Jersey, is re-united with his mother after a long absence. To see how much the two of them realize how much they really did miss each other in this final scene is VERY emotionally touching, at least I think so. I have no regrets about having purchased this item. I enjoyed the movie when I saw it in the theater, so a copy of it on video was a "must-have" for me! Thanks to my sellers.

As a person who loves extras on DVDs, this product is a real winner. It has both a Blu-ray and DVD disk. The DVD only has a trailer as an extra as all the other bonus items are on the Blu-ray copy. These disks come in the normal smaller Blu-Ray keepsake box and each has its slot to fit into. I had absolutely no play issues with either disk.The movie, of course, is wonderful. It's a great comedy and pretty much my type of movie. There's not much I'd change, except for a line of profanity that I never like. Regardless, my review here is focused on the bonus material and the set itself.The one thing I really disliked about the set up of the extras was that instead of utilizing the entire screen to show a list of the extras, there is just a small box near the bottom that had two lines only of description. You have to use the down arrow to move from item to item and sometimes from left to right to make a selection. This was not user friendly in my view. Also, while they had a wonderful play all option for deleted scenes that even included the option of whether or not to include director Penny Marshall's comments, they did not include a play all button for all of the trailers and TV spots.The rest is pretty much all good. There are several featurettes on how the movie came to be with Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg being interviewed. As mentioned, there are several deleted scenes, including some with the Marshall intros. Frances Fisher is included in one of those. There is a featurette that deals with the real life toy makers, like the ones depicted in the film. An episode of Hollywood Backstories focused on Big is included. There's also a short piece on a carnival that was part of the premier with Tom Hanks.The Blu-ray disk contains both the original theatrical cut and the extended version that has all of the deleted scenes included in the movie. In addition, there is commentary by Ross and Spielberg. However, the commentary is not like what is normally found. In the features, you hear a lot about audiotapes that Spielberg made while she and Ross were brainstorming and developing Big. In the commentary, they actually play several large sections of the tapes. Then they talk about it. It is not a case of them watching the movie and then talking about what is happening; rather, it's the playing of the tapes and then talking about how things happened. It's pretty fascinating if you enjoy really learning about the evolution of a project.Finally, there are a couple of Zoltar Speaks cards included.My only regret about the extras is that apparently Tom Hanks did not participate at all. He's seen in vintage clips from the day, but he did not do any of the updated clips from when the disks were released. I did enjoy seeing the two young boys featured as Josh and Billy, now grown up, in the extras.The extras were well done and made me a happy one for adding this movie to my collection. Even with my frustration at the special features set up and the lack of Hanks' participation, I'm still giving it 5 stars.

I’ll never forget the first time I watched Big and how I fell in love with the talent of Tom Hanks. He’d been around, but this guy was already starting to stand out as a spectacular talent - you just knew he was going to have an amazing career. What he brought to Big all those years ago he brings to every role, in a different way. But here - for me in many ways - is where it all started. At least, that’s how I remember it. Now all these years later, spending time with Big is like hanging with an old friend - just as warm, comfortable, and memorable. I’m so glad Amazon had a nice deal because we’ve added it to our streaming library.What happens when one young boy decides life would be better if he were Big? That’s the simple, but brilliant premise here. It’s brilliant because I highly doubt ANY of us hasn’t thought of that at least once in our lives... but when you’re younger you can’t wait to be Big and when you’re older... you finally get it. So anyone watching - or rewatching at another time of life - will come away with various outlooks on how this question would be, play out, and make life be. Tom Hanks being the kid in the man’s body was pretty much meant to play the role - he inhabits this young boy as likely no one else would or could. All these years later, my wife and I have enjoyed the visit again... and we look forward to even more. Tom Hanks lets us relive that dream of being older when young, and appreciating being older when you get there... tell me he isn’t an amazing talent...