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Heathers: 20th High School Reunion Edition
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Anchor Bay Entertainment Review written by and copyright: James Teitelbaum & Noor Razzak (1st December 2008). |
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The Film
 At the end of a decade in which dozens of high school hijinx comedies ruled the cinemas, director Michael Lehmann decided to wrap the 1980's up with a black comedy that turns mawkish trash like "The Breakfast Club" (1985) and the rest of the John Hughes ouvre on their collective heads. "Heathers" is a teen drama in the quintessential 1980's mold, but it is also a deconstruction of the 1980's teen film, and it is also often a parody of itself. Christian Slater plays J.D. (either James Dean or Juvenile Delinquent - or both) the new kid in town. He cracks wise and rides a motorcycle. Winona Ryder plays Veronica, a girl who hangs out with a clique of three very popular girls, all named Heather. The Heathers (played by Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk) and Kim Walker) color-code their wardrobes so they know which of them is in charge of the clique at any time, and they are also extremely unpleasant people. As the 'cool' kids in class, the Heathers feel superior to all of the kids whom they deem to be less hip or unworthy of admission into their circle. This is pretty much everyone. The Heathers are petty, cruel, selfish people, and yet the other kids all want to be friends with them... So, it is like so totally like real life, like for sure. Before being accepted into the inner circle of the Heathers, Veronica was once best friends with the nerdiest girl in class (Betty - get it?), and also has a hidden sympathy for the token outcast fat girl character. Veronica's loyalty is torn between these basically decent (if less than fashionable) girls, and the Heathers. When the disturbed J.D. jokes about killing one of the Heathers - and then really does it - things get twisted as Heather after Heather faces an unexpected fate. At first Veronica is on J.D.'s side, but as he proves to be more and more psychopathic, she realizes that she wants no part of him or the remaining Heathers. They all become the enemy. Writer Daniel Waters has a good grip on the mechanics of teen social life, in particular those few popular kids who always made things unbearable for the rest of us. More than any of its predecessors earlier in the decade, "Heathers" reminds us how obnoxious teenagers can be, and lets those of us who were tortured by 'Heathers' in real life live vicariously through Veronica or J.D. The film pulls no punches, takes big risks, and actually includes some poignant reminders of the sheep mentality of suburban teens - such as when the fat chick jumps in front of a bus thinking that death will make her popular. We really feel for this poor confused girl who's life has been ruined by the unavoidable social influence of the harpies she is locked into a schoolhouse with every day. Veronica feels for her too, and after vanquishing the evil J.D. - who has in turn eliminated a few Heathers - she emerges a changed girl, free of the pretention of her peers. She rekindles her friendship with the shy Betty and the now-disabled fat chick... and is destined, no doubt, to go off to college and do a lot of drugs. Anyone who was surprised by the massacre at Columbine High School didn't see "Heathers": the murderous thugs who perpretrated the hideous crimes in Colorado are exactly the sort of outsiders that "Heathers" was drawing attenton to. "Heathers" in no way inspired Columbine, but it was a warning, ten years in advance, that was apparently not heeded. It is the real-life "Heathers" of the world who drive the real-life J.D.'s of the world to murder. In reality as in cinema, perhaps the parents and teachers of children at all levels of social strata need to pay more attention to bringing our kids up as decent and well adjusted people, rather than continuing to produce more examples of the equally reprehensible J.D.'s or Heathers. If I had to pick three 1980's teen comedies that are really worth watching, the black "Heathers" is on the list, with perhaps "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (1982), and the forgotten and underrated "Three O'Clock High" (1987). Interestingly, Jeremy Applegate (who plays a jock that is nervous about his susceptibility to suicide) offed himself with a shotgun in 2000. Kim Walker (who played Heather Chandler, uttering the immortal line "Did you have a brain tumor for breakfast?") died of a brain tumor in March of 2001.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 1.85:1 in high-definition 1080p 24/fps and has been mastered in AVC MPEG-4 compression. Anchor bay has been hit or miss as far as catalogue titles go on Blu-ray, but "Heathers" looks good for its age, the image is sharp and crisp. I found that it was clean and relatively speck free. Colors appear vibrant, skin tones are natural and blacks are deep and bold. Detail holds up real well, depth is excellent but my only problem with this release is that it's not entirely 100% perfect. The image looks like it's been cleaned up of grain, it appears too smooth and thus makes the skin textures seem like plastic at times. The opening and closing credits have the grain present (especially the closing), the transition from digitally cleaned image to a grainy one is jumpy and makes it all the more obvious that that type of manipulation was carried out. I cannot confirm 100% that Anchor Bay performed some digital noise reduction, but it certainly looks that way and it's annoying.
Audio
A single English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Lossless track is included, the audio is a significant upgrade from the standard 5.1 tracks as heard on previous DVD releases. However, the film was originally released in mono so in order to create this 5.1 mix the original mono elements would have been used to expand it into 5.1 surround. The problem is that the original mono elements are limited in depth and range to expand into 5.1 and the result is often a lacking surround experience. This is case here, although dialogue is clear and the film's score transfers well, ambient noise is limited, there's no real immersive quality and basically it lacks any punch or real presence. But despite this it's a good audio track, but I would have liked it if Anchor Bay had also included the original audio track as well. Optional subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired and Spanish.
Extras
Anchor Bay has released this film with an audio commentary, a couple of featurettes, a theatrical trailer, a screenplay segment and a trivia track. Below is a closer look at these supplements. First up is a feature-length screen-specific audio commentary by the film's director Michael Lehmann, producer Denise Di Novi, and screenwriter Daniel Waters. This is an insightful track that doesn't feel boring, the participants comment on the film's production and provide ample background for fans of the film going back to the scripting of the film, the casting process including the various young stars in which this film was originally offered to. They talk about their involvement in the film, on working with each other and the cast, on the impact of the film years later and the significance it holds on their careers among other things. The first featurette we have on this disc is "Swatch Dogs and Diet Cokeheads" which runs for exactly 30 minutes. This retrospective features interviews with the key players as they share memories from the production and on the parts they played. It takes a look at how the film was a cornerstone in their young careers. "Return to Westerburg High" is the second featurette which runs for 21 minutes 21 seconds. This is another retrospective clip which was originally featured on the previous DVD edition of the film. Here we get yet more interviews with key personnel as they comment on the films production and it's cult status which developed over the years among other things. The film's original theatrical trailer is also included on this disc and runs for 1 minute 47 seconds. The disc also features a screenplay segment of the film's originally conceived ending, which is presented in a PDF format. There's a Blu-ray exclusive extra, which is a “Fast film Facts” trivia track which features information popping up as you watch the film.
Overall
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