The
Breakfast Club: 30th
Anniversary Edition
(1985/Universal Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: B Film: B+
The
Breakfast Club
is classic John Hughes, right up there with Ferris
Bueller's Day Off and
Sixteen
Candles,
and has never looked better than it does now thanks to Universal's
new digital master on Blu-ray disc. For those unfamiliar, The
Breakfast Club
stars Emilio Estevez as Andy, Paul Gleason as the evil Principal,
Anthony Michael Hall as Brian, John Kapelos as the Janitor, Judd
Nelson as John Bender, Molly Ringwald as Claire and Ally Sheedy as
Allison.
The
storyline follows five teenagers, each a member of a different high
school clique, who spend a Saturday in detention together and come to
realize that they are all more than their respective stereotypes,
while facing a villainous principal.
What's
funny is how little the film seems dated after 30 years with teens
facing many of the problems these kids were facing then. The
stereotypes of the princess, the athlete, the brain, a basket case,
and a criminal virtually sums up the high school condition. The
timelessness of the stereotypes, combined with an incredibly written
screenplay that reads almost like a stage play, mixed with strong
young performances make this film unforgettable and quite possibly
the greatest film about high school ever made. Its hard to imagine
other actors in these roles, though I could see a young Robert Downey
Jr. in the role of John Bender (though Judd Nelson really knocked it
out of the park).
The
film works as a great example of an isolation piece where characters
are the study of the film. This really starts to break out during
the film's second act when the characters start to get each other
better. Allison is a compulsive liar; Andrew can't easily think for
himself; John comes from an abusive household; Brian has attempted
suicide due to a bad grade; and Claire is a virgin who feels constant
pressure from her friends. While they begin as enemies, they
ultimately discover that they are all just riding the wave of high
school and are more alike than they previously thought but will they
go out about the next day of school ignoring each other in the
hallways or did detention somehow form a sacred bond between friends?
Picture
and sound on the disc are top notch with a beautiful 1080p 1.85 X 1
high definition transfer and a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track
make the film look and sound better than it has before. This new
digital transfer is so impressive that the studio decided to
re-release the film in theaters in a limited run this year to
celebrate its 30th
anniversary.
Extras
include...
Accepting
the Facts: The Breakfast Club Trivia Track
Sincerely
Yours: A 12 Part Documentary
The
Most Convenient Definitions; The Origins of the Brat Pack
Feature
Commentary with Anthony Michael Hall and Judd Nelson
And
a Theatrical Trailer.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.facebook.com/jhl5films
