Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Lloyd (John Cusack) is the eternal optimist and tries to capture the heart of Diane (Ione Skye), valedictorian of his high school class. When she accepts his invitation to attend an end-of-the-year party, his fellow students are surprised to see the two together, and it's the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Unfortunately for Lloyd, the summer romance of his dreams has its share of emotional pitfalls.

Cameron Crowe's directorial debut is one of the best teen-romance films of all time. Like John Hughes, he captures the spirit of the '80s teenage culture with the appropriate fashion, angst, and vernacular. Growing up, we all wish we had the courage of Lloyd—who's wise beyond his years—but if we were put in the same situation, most of us wouldn't have the chutzpah to set our fear of rejection aside and ask the out-of-our-class girl for a date.

Catalog titles from this era rarely look great on Blu-ray, and this remains true here. The print is in great shape without any nicks or scratches, but the photography has a filtered look and is somewhat soft. Colors are rendered accurately for the most part, but flesh tones have a pinkish tinge. Black levels are elevated, especially in the nighttime sequences, but the shadow detail is good enough to give the image some dimensionality.

The front-loaded DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack features a robust musical score, but the majority of the film is dialog-oriented, which is mostly intelligible. Dynamic range could be better—a few scenes need a boost of volume, but when the music kicks in, it's much too loud by comparison.

Supplements include a newly minted 22-minute featurette entitled "Say Anything…20 Years Later" with director Cameron Crowe and members of the cast, an additional 9-minute interview with Crowe, and a featurette on the popularity of the film (all in HD). Additional bonus materials include a pop-up trivia track, five alternate scenes, 23 extended/deleted scenes, a vintage featurette ported from the DVD, and some trailers and TV spots.

The presentation isn't anything to write home about, but the story is first-rate with its memorable dialog, emotional love story, and excellent acting—particularly by John Cusack. Today's teen comedies rely on crude humor and sex to move the story along, but Crowe never insults the intelligence of his audience and creates a realistic environment to tell his romantic tale. Recommended.

Release Date: November 3, 2009
Studio: Fox

Movie: 9/10
Picture: 7/10
Sound: 6/10

Review System

Source
Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player

Display
JVC DLA-RS1 projector
Stewart FireHawk screen (76.5" wide, 16:9)

Electronics
Onkyo Pro PR-SC885 pre/pro
Anthem PVA-7 power amplifier
Belkin PF60 power conditioner

Speakers
M&K S-150s (L, C, R)
M&K SS-150s (LS, RS, SBL, SBR)
SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer

Cables
Monoprice HDMI cables (source to pre/pro)
Best Deal analog-audio cables
PureLink HDC Fiber Optic HDMI Cable System (15 meters) from pre/pro to projector

Acoustical treatments from GIK Acoustics