Blu-ray Movie Reviews

High school senior is tired of being Mr. All-American and facing such traumatic decisions as which Ivy League college to attend. His life gets turned around when he meets a sexy call girl who transforms his house into a brothel while his parents are away.

Without a doubt this is the film that put Tom Cruise on the map. The infamous dancing in the underwear sequence has become an iconic scene from 80’s cinema and brought Cruise into the limelight. This is a great raunchy sex comedy from the 80’s that dares to go in directions that today’s teen angst comedies just fall flat. Sure the script can be a bit silly at times, but the performances and tone keep the film edgy enough to still entertain. Still one of the greats.

This new HD presentation is good but falls short of the better HD titles out there. The image is definitely on the softer side and dimensionality is lacking overall. Colors have a very natural tone with only a hint of noise but contrast levels are slightly muted. Fine object detail is okay but longer shots look slightly filtered. I wasn’t really expecting this to be a great looking disc to begin with given the age and honestly it fell right about where I predicted it would. There is no doubt that this is a clear step up from the previous video releases, it just isn’t the eye candy we are constantly spoiled with on Blu-ray.

Warner has included a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix for this one but the mix is a bit on the front heavy side. Dynamic range is lacking and the fidelity has a dated quality to it. Bass response is a bit anemic but thankfully nothing sounds bright or tinny. Dialogue sounds a bit boxed in at times but the film’s score opens up the front soundstage nicely.

Warner includes a Bonus View enabled disc with a picture-in-picture video commentary featuring the director, producer and Cruise. This sheds some fun on the filming and a nice retrospective from the people involved on the film. You also get some HD featurettes including a look back at the film and its impact on Hollywood and Cruise’s career, some screen tests and the trailer.

One of the great 80’s teen sex comedies finds its way to Blu-ray. Warner has done a good job given the material and I’m happy to see them step up to some more advanced supplements and lossless audio for this one.