Powerful

Best movie of this year hands down!

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Remenbering my teenagers years when this movie aired for first time in Brazil by Globo TV in 1978....based in real facts about the boy who was born without immune system, so the doctor developed a bubble added with device to supply sterile air to secure him against bacteria....so he lives inside the bubble since then....the movie made a huge success at this time even though it a low budge and lousy work...also catapulted John Travolta's career before Staying Alive...unfortunately the DVD released here has a poor image needing a complete restoration, it's a crying shame that so important movie didn't has it before to sell... but even so brings me good memories from this time!!!Resume: First watch: 1978 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 6

I thought this movie was very good. You must consider that it was made in 1976 and also made for TV. Therefore it is not going to look like the movies we are used to seeing. I feel that it told the story very well. The movie IS based on a true story. It is not a made-up story of Hollywood, like a lot of people think. The only thing I did not like about the movie was the fact that they didn't take the story to the end. The movie leaves you hanging with questions. I feel that it did a good job conveying the emotions that Todd had. The camera positions in some shots really helped the viewer understand Todd's life and struggle. I would recommend this movie to all especially those who like movies based on true stories.

During one of my frequent raids of the $1 DVD bins, I found this 1976 made for TV movie. When reading the synopsis on the package I saw that it was "based on a true story" of a boy named Tod Lubitch (played by John Travolta) who was born without an immune system and had to live in a sterile environment. That brought to my mind a Houston boy named David Joseph Vetter III who was in the news a lot when I was growing up. David had the same problem, lived in the same environment and died at the age of 12.Upon my research I discovered that this movie is fictional. There was no Tod Lubitch. "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble" was inspired by the aforementioned David but isn't about him. $1 DVDs have a bad habit of providing false information and the "true story" claim is yet another example, as is the cover photo of Travolta, which appears to be only a few years old. He was actually in his early 20s when this movie originally aired.Now for the movie. After spending a few minutes each showing Tod's life as an infant and a four year old - when he begins spending some time at home, where a sterile room is set up for him - the remainder of the movie shows him around the age of 17.Despite the way he's forced live, Tod is a happy kid who has a close relationship with his parents. But he holds out hope that someday his body will build up enough immunities for him to leave his sterile environment.Gradually, Tod is able to live a more normal life. He is sometimes wheeled outside in a protective cart. He participates in high school through televisions and cameras set up in his room and the classroom. And later he begins attending school in person by wearing a protective suit much like one an astronaut wears. Tod actually blends in fairly well with the other students. He is a victim of some insensitivity but not a lot and he ends up graduating.As the movie progresses, Tod falls in love with classmate and next door neighbor Gina Biggs (Glynnis O'Connor). In one scene about midway through the movie, she pretends to express romantic interest in him but then he realizes she was just trying to win a bet with two of her male friends, which devastates Tod. But she later has a change of heart and falls for Tod, too.This leaves Tod with a monumental decision - continue to remain in his sterile environment, in which is only human contact is gloved hands, or risk his life to be with Gina.For the most part, I like this movie. It tells a bittersweet story in a very moving way. Travolta's performance is convincing and he shows great signs of things to come. I found myself feeling really sorry for Tod. The supporting cast is also strong and includes the late Robert Reed ("The Brady Bunch") as Tod's father, Johnny Lubitch. I think this is the only role I've ever seen Reed play other than Mike Brady. He displays good serious acting skill.But the movie is marred by its unclear ending. And I noticed one other significant flaw - in a scene in which Tod's protective suit runs out of oxygen, he rushes into the sterile section of his classroom, aided by classmates, and takes the suit off inside. It seems to me that the outside of the suit would be carrying germs, which would contaminate the sterile section and open Tod to germs that very well might kill him.The technical quality of the DVD that I have isn't great and looks like it might have been a direct transfer from a master tape that had been sitting on a shelf for years. But the quality is decent enough to watch comfortably.Overall, this is a very good movie that is well worth the dollar. 7/10.

Cheap melodramatic made-for-TV production (supposedly based on a true story) about a young man (John Travolta) who has a rare immune disease that prevents his body from keeping out deadly germs, so he spends his days in a gigantic plastic bubble. Very predictable and full of sappy TV cliches. It's just not very good. I refer the comedy remake of 2001, "Bubble Boy," despite its critical insultations.