Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (I Love The 80s Edition)

DVD Review

Paramount Home Entertainment

Released: August 5, 2008

Paramount Home Entertainment has teamed up with VH1 to help promote a brand new line of DVDs called "I Love The 80s." The idea behind this set-up is to help celebrate the decade of top films throughout the 80s, starting with a batch of 5, and eventually releasing 40 classic titles in 80s retro packaging. The first DVD we will take a look at is Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (I Love The 80s Edition).

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is an absolutely classic film, which to this day is still an extremely popular film. The movie has been featured on various different DVD releases in the past, and the latest is in this I Love The 80s collection.

The film, which released in 1986, gets some cool new retro packaging, as well as a CD with 1980s music, pretty cool

Everybody knows the story to this point, as you have Matthew Broderick playing the infamous teenager Ferris Bueller.

Ferris Bueller knows all the tricks, how to manipulate people, get things to go his way for his own benefit, etc. He decided to skip school one day, so he talks his cheerleader girlfriend and best friend to go along with him. Needless to say, it was a day they would not forget. Mr. Rooney and others are back and are still making us laugh.

The film, directed and written by John Hughes truly is a classic as it is funny, bright, and extremely creative.

The video quality for this DVD release is the same transfer that Paramount seems to have been using for quite some time, as it looked identical to another version of the same film we have.

The picture quality is very clean, presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, with nice deep and rich colors throughout. There is also a bit of print grain which you will be able to pick up on, but nothing major.

The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and comes across nicely, pumping the film’s soundtrack for viewers to enjoy. The dialogue is also handled well throughout, as it is backed up by nice use of the rear channels.

The I Love the 80s edition does not have much in terms of extras, as all you get is a commentary track by director John Hughes.

The other nice extra though is the CD called Music from the 80s, which has songs including Lips Like Sugar, Chains of Love, Need You Tonight, and Take On me.

Paramount has done a nice job to re-release the film once again on DVD in this I Love the 80s collection. The packaging may be pretty nice-looking, but if you already own this one on DVD, there is no reason to double dip.

Film: 8.5

A classic film with some terrific characters, a great story, and some over-the-top antics.

Video: 7.0

A nice clean transfer which has deep, rich colors.

Audio: 8.0

A well-done audio mix which presents the soundtrack and dialogue well.

Special Features: 7.5

The saving grace to this is the included music CD, as the DVD itself has just one commentary.

Final Score: 7.5