The Boy in the Plastic Bubble

"The Boy in the Plastic Bubble" was a made for TV movie which gave John Travolta a chance to do something beyond his lunk-head character on "Welcome Back Kotter"...and just before he shot to super-stardom with "Saturday Night Fever". He plays a young man who was born without an immune system and the show details his difficulties dealing with having a plastic wall always between himself and the outside world. The problem becomes MUCH worse when he falls in love with the girl next door and he realizes he probably will never be able to touch her.

The story is based very broadly on a real case. Travolta is decent in the role and the film is a decent family movie, though the ending is a bit bizarre as it leaves you on such a cliffhanger. I liked it as lot as a kid--seen now, it just seems okay. Generally enjoyable and well written but the ending is a letdown...at least for me.

Here is a film for the pandemic! This is the story of a boy born with no immunity from disease, meaning he has to spend his life living in a germ-free bubble. This is one of the first starring roles from John Travolta and its one which relies on the goofy, dumb charm he brought to his early appearances. It's a TV movie from Aaron Spelling and it is melodramatic with a requisite romantic sub-plot involving the girl next door but all that basically works and we are rooting for germ-free John the whole way and we hope he gets the girl! Scenes of him wearing a space suit to school or chilling on the beach in a plastic box, are a bit dorky but that's part of the over all charm. Pretty good!

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.

I just read that there's a movie coming out this year (2001) called Bubble Boy. It sounds like a take off of The Boy in the Plastic Bubble with the exception that it's a comedy. This was one of those great chic flicks in 1976, where you could have a great emotional moment with the girls. I can't believe anyone would make this story into a comedy.

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