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The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (TV) More at IMDbPro »

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23 reviews in total

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10 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Touching story marred by unclear ending, 4 January 2005

Author: leczorn (stevenmcatee@yahoo.com) from Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

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.

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7 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
"What Would They Say?" (Paul Williams song from movie)., 26 February 2005

Author: happipuppi13 from Phx. Arizona ("Arizona Smells Funny"!- Homer Simpson)

Indeed,what would they say? That is,the cast of this film if they could see how time has only served to treat this above par TV movie,like it's some sort of 1970's retro-joke?!

I'm sure if Robert Reed were alive today he'd be outraged! My main thought though,does Travolta know about this? ...and if he does,why hasn't he done something about it? If I were an actor I'd certainly find a way!

I bought this on VHS in 1997 after having not seen it for over 18 years. On the cover of mine is a fairly young Travolta wearing a white turtleneck. (Ick!) It was a mere $2 at Montgomery Wards and here's why...it was a cheap knock-off recorded off FOX Channel 32 in Chicago! The stations logo briefly appearing during the scene of Todd's fist day in High School.

Okay,enough of the tirade! My opinion of the movie itself? I think it's one of the finest "movies of the week" ever made at the time and in some cases,since. I saw this in it's initial airing on Nov. 12th,1976 and never forgot it. Travolta gives us a waterfall of emotions in this film:Joy,Sadness,Anger,Fear,etc. Films about medical conditions usually would have been preachy or maudlin. This treats Todd's condition like it should be,not "oh poor Todd,he's an outcast!"

Like Robert Reed says to the reporters,"My son's not a freak!" He turns in a very good performance as well. He doesn't completely do a 360 from Mike Brady but it was a good start. The other young actors do a fine job of being exactly what kids are like when faced with something they don't understand. They talk about Todd behind his back and Gina plays a cruel joke on him at a beach outing. I wont say more about them,I don't want to ruin it for those who haven't seen it.

It's no wonder that Travolta became as big as he did! "Welcome Back Kotter" was a mere stepping stone compared to this. This was his spring- board to "Saturday Night Fever" and beyond,in my view. To all those under 30 who haven't seen this....forget that it's made in the '70s and watch it for the story alone. I know you will not be disappointed.

In closing,one amusing thing I remember. Without giving away anything,when I saw the ending back in '76 at age 8,I thought he was "all better"! (Ha-ha,talk about innocence).

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2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
I would have cried if i was by myself, 24 September 2002

Author: cupboardie from England

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Spoiler Alerrt So, me and some mates were bored and my friend wanted to watch this movie, and i thought it sounded terrible, especially when 'produced by Aaron Spelling' came up on the screen! But, i gave it a go, and by the end i was so glad I'd stuck it out. At first it had a TV movie feel about it, and the early 70's technicolor didn't help. But the powerful performances by Travolta and his mum made it stand out from the rest. The plot itself is quite dreary, and the fashion (especially todds orange suit) were hilarious! But by the end we were all rooting for him to step out and go get his girl!

Some people have complained in their comments that there should have been a definite ending, but personally i think it was a brave decision to leave it open ended. The beauty of this movie is the uncertainty of todds future, Think about it, if they showed us what happened next, would you still remember the film today? He could have died, but in my head, todd has enough immunities built up over the years to survive. He and the girl marry and have kids, who are perfectly healthy, and when new drugs are invented for AIDS victims, he becomes an astronaut!

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7 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
Back around the circle to great, 15 August 2001
Author: bek6c

I caught this movie on HBO late one night recently, after hearing about it for years as "that John Travolta movie about the boy in the bubble."

It was bad. No, it was awful. As someone suggested earlier, it's a wonder that MST3K never got a hold of it. But a funny thing happened on the way - the movie went around the circle of quality until it got to bad. It then kept going, getting worse and worse, until it made its way full circle back to great. I'll admit - Citizen Kane this ain't, but it's great for a really, really, bad movie.

Just for laughs, imagine Travolta in his Vinnie Barbarino voice saying "Heyyy... I'm in a bubble heah..."

It's too bad he couldn't have stayed in that bubble, sparing us the agony of Battleship Earth and the Look Who's Talking series.

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Who has the master?, 9 March 2012

Author: hello94960 from United States

1. I truly believe if this is Travolta's best movie.

2. Glynnis O'Conner never got the respect she earned.

3. Plus--she was Adorable.

4. If Twentieth Century Fox could send the Master to Lucas and one of his Yodas' cleaned up the film technically-- people would pay 10 bucks to see it.

5. It a shame the celluloid degraded. It almost aged like the actors?

6. If anyone know who owns the master, please email me.

7. I know a non-profit in San Francisco archived the movie, but it's the same horrid quality.

8. A film like this should have been preserved.

9. I hope someone is preventing this careless destruction of old movies?

10. Maybe the actors have a better copy?

11. I saw the original as a kid, and it was crystal clear; I think?

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A Few Holes In The Story, But A Pretty Good Early Role For John Travolta, 3 November 2009

Author: sddavis63 (revsdd@gmail.com) from Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

When this movie was made, John Travolta was at the height of his popularity as the tough guy sex symbol "sweathog" Vinnie Barbarino from the TV series "Welcome Back, Kotter." Obviously, he had plans to become a major star and to do that he would have to demonstrate some range of ability; he would have to show that he had the capacity to take on a very different role and make it work. Certainly he managed to do that as "Tod Lubitch - "The Boy In The Plastic Bubble." This is an obviously made for TV movie in both budget and quality. In fact, I think I remember watching it when it first aired. Still, it's a pretty good movie with an interesting subject. In spite of what it claims, I don't believe it's really "based on a true story" except in the sense that there are people who live with this problem. There was no Tod Lubitch, though. The character is (at best) a composite of people who live with the condition and an imagining of what their life must be like. According to the movie, Tod is born with an immune deficiency - in fact, with no active immune system - so that he has to be constantly kept in a sterile environment, able to interact with people only through the plastic walls that constantly surround him. Travolta, who takes over the role after brief accounts of Tod's life as an infant and as a 4 year old, does a good job of showing Tod's growing frustration with the limitation he has to live with and of his desire to be free of it, as well as of his growing feelings for his neighbour Gina, with whom he falls in love. Tod experiences a growing independence, up to and including attending high school in a sort of space suit and graduating. When Gina makes her decision to go to art school in New York City, Tod is left with a decision - to stay in his safe but sterile (in every way) environment, or to take the risk of walking out into the world. In the end, he enters the world, and the last scene is of Tod and Gina riding off on a horse together (a bit too romantic a scene, perhaps) so that Tod's ultimate fate is left unknown to the viewer. Instead, we're left with a strange combination of hopefulness but also anxiety - a somewhat unsatisfying ending, I thought.

The supporting cast was good, but this was Travolta's movie. There were some plot problems created by the scene in which Tod runs out of air in his suit and has to run back to his "bubble" in the classroom before he suffocates. He just runs right into the bubble. Wouldn't his suit have been contaminated? And after he goes in, a classmate - who lost a $10 bet to him - slips the $10 bill right into the bubble. Again, wouldn't it be contaminated? Plot oversights aside, it's a pretty well done and interesting story. 7/10

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1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
John Travolta Puts on Protection, 24 April 2010

Author: wes-connors from Earth

"John Travolta stars as Tod Lubitsch, a teenager who was born without disease immunities. Tod is forced to live out his life in incubator conditions. When he ventures outdoors, he must be encased in a huge plastic bubble. He falls in love with Gina Biggs (Glynnis O'Connor), and must decide between following his heart or facing near-certain death," according to the DVD sleeve description, "Diana Hyland won an Emmy for her portrayal of Travolta's mother."

Ms. Hyland was nominated posthumously, as "Best supporting Actress"; and, Mr. Travolta accepted the award.

This corny "ABC Friday Night Movie" was, nevertheless, a TV winner. There seems to be a serious mistake is storytelling as, following Mr. Travolta's clapping push-up contest with Kelly Ward (as Tom Shuster), we see Travolta's perfect "bubble" environment contaminated by both his young co-stars and a dirty $10 bill. You could also point out Travolta was well past high school age - then again, he spent more years there on "Welcome Back, Kotter" than he did in reality.

Changing hairstyles and demeanor, Hyland and father Robert Reed (as Johnny) manage the passing decades well.

This drama is not about the lead character's medical condition. It is about sex - specifically, about the desire for sex between two young people who are obviously falling in love. Teenagers who saw this movie on television in 1976 (and in rerun) surely made the connection. Travolta looks very sexy in his gym shorts and eye make-up. And, Ms. O'Connor appears in an eye-popping baby-blue bikini which would have, if applicable, worn off many a remote's rewind button.

"I wanna be dirty!" Travolta's roommate John Friedrich exclaims, "I wanna make it with everything that walks!"

The sexual content didn't stop at the cutting room floor, with Travolta letting known an affair with one of his co-stars. If you're NOT already "in the know" you'd surely think it was O'Connor. Well, surprise, you're wrong… You're next guess is Mr. Reed. Good one. But, wrong again… It was revealed to be movie "mother" Hyland. An familiar American TV favorite, she tragically died of breast cancer within a year. This movie was an important part of Travolta's post-"Kotter" stardom.

Neatly directed by Randal Kleiser, the ending is an exhilaratingly symbolic release of tension.

***** The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (11/12/76) Randal Kleiser ~ John Travolta, Glynnis O'Connor, Robert Reed, Diana Hyland

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2 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
One of Many, 29 April 2003
Author: Brian Washington (Sargebri@att.net) from Los Angeles, California

This film will always be one of many in the long line of disease of the week movies that were, and still are, so prevalent. The only thing that differentiates this film from the others is the fact that it introduced John Travolta to the woman whom many have said was his greatest love, Diana Hyland. Its almost weird to think that Travolta would fall in love with the woman who played his mother. The other crazy thing is looking at him all of a sudden playing a sensitive, almost sympathetic character as opposed to the cool, but dumb, Vinnie Barbarino.

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2 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Bubble sputters and deflates, 17 November 2001
Author: mikhail080 from the ruins beneath the Planet of the Apes

This tv movie provided a big stepping stone for John Travolta, but its 70s sensibilities provoke more laughter than empathy for the plight of the title character. The "disease of the week" plot makes Glynnis O'Connor into a cruel and easy highschool bimbo, smoking cigarettes and parading about in a bikini. All to the frustration of trapped Travolta, who is desperate for companionship other than that of his dreary parents.

Does anyone still remember that Travolta had a passionate love affair in real life with the actress Diana Hyland, who played his mother here? He was devastated when she died of cancer a few years later. It's riotous fun to see his pre-"Saturday Night Fever" dance steps as he boogies down inside his bubble. It's obvious that he had some training before that other movie!

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3 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
One Of Travolta's Best Movies., 24 April 1999

Author: Dave Rowland from Markham, Ontario

I can still remember this movie when it was shown on TV back in 1976. I thought it was a good story. It still is, but I was extremely disappointed in the DVD release of it. It's a really bad transfer & the packaging that it came in is really pitiful. I can't understand why they (Essex Entertainment) would want to cheapen the best format in the world?

There was also a huge error on it as well. On the disc they have: "The Boy In The Bubble".

It's a shame that this great movie had to be wrecked by a very poor DVD release.

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