 MGM // Buy from Amazon.comRodney Dangerfield (Caddyshack, Meet Wally Sparks) makes the grade with this laugh-riot comedy that's in a class of its own! Higher education will never be the same when co-stars Sally Kellerman, Robert Downey, Jr., Sam Kinison, Ned Beatty and more join the maniac as he takes on the brainiacs! Thornton Melon's (Dangerfield) son is a college misfit, so Thornton's lending some fatherly support...by enrolling as a fellow freshman! Who cares if the owner of the "Tall and Fat" clothing empire never finished high school? Thornton's pockets are deep enough to buy a ticket to class...and hire NASA to do his homework! But when he ticks off his professorand then steals his girlfriendThornton takes things just a little too far. Now, he'll have to hit the booksinstead of his bank accountor go back to being the world's wealthiest dropout! "Dangerfield is sensational" (The Hollywood Reporter) in this howlingly funny comedy that scores an A+! While I was definitely a John Hughes fan during the 80s, there was still a wealth of comedic gems to choose from at my local video store, and "Back to School" was a regular rental for me, alongside such gems as "Caddyshack II" and "Great 2" (what was it about the sequels that made me seem to always pick them over the first films in the series?) Rodney Dangerfield seemed like such a pop-eyed goofball, and his comedy was just ripe for an adolescent boy who liked a bit of raciness to his yuk-yuks, but not too intellectual (or dirty) to make it so I didn't understand (or didn't want to.) Send him to college, throw in Robert Downy Jr. delivering a career-making move ("Do me, do me, do me!" - c'mon Dwayne, where you at? Remember when you used to stop, drop & re-enact?!) Watching this film now, 20 years later, it still holds up pretty well, although it definitely suffers from the curse of the 80s (that is, too many forced dramatic/serious moments shoved in-between the hilarity). However, seeing the superb DVD treatment MGM has afford this film - anamorphic widescreen, Dolby 5.1 and MANY extras - makes me giddy with glee and am very happy to be able to add this film - with this release - to my collection! Video For the first time this 80s classic is available in an anamorphic widescreen transfer and it looks great! Sure, a bit of 80s grain is included, but that's the original source material, so no faulting the transfer itself. Audio Despite being a mostly front-heavy comedy mix, the film does get a Dolby 5.1 surround mix which is decent & solid throughout. Extras Many extras, and nearly all are 1080p HD quality themselves! Closing Thoughts Beloved 80s classic + surprising assortment of extras = great DVD for a great piece o' comedy! Labels: review |
