Monday, May 6, 2019

Arrow Video's 4K Film Restoration For Writer/Director John Hughes' Weird Science Arrives On Blu-ray On July 23


DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
Arrow Video, with domestic sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has a new 4K restoration (from the original camera negative) of writer/director John Hughes’ summer of 1985 high school nerd fantasy comedy, Weird Science, ready for Blu-ray release on July 23.

Wedged between The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, this fantasy comedy from Hughes, although a theatrical hit, has never achieved the iconic status of the aforementioned films that proceeded and followed it — or Sixteen Candles, for that matter.

All four films have similar themes … high school, nerds, outcasts and an the underlying sexual angst of those formative years.   Weird Science doesn’t go for the more insightful (subtle) story-telling aspects of its three brethren, which Hughes was very good at, but instead is an all out fantasy tale about two high school nerds — Gary (Anthony Michael Hall) and Wyatt (Ilan Mitchell-Smith) — who know that their romantic lives will be unfilled and so they create their own “wonder woman.”   The results are nothing short of amazing!!

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph TribbeyThe filming was done on closed sets to tamp down speculation as to what the film was about (three weeks of location shooting in the Chicago and then to Universal Studios for closed-set filming and post production).    
The production itself actually got off to a rocky start when the original Lisa walked off the set after two days and had be replaced at the last minute with Kelly LeBrock (who had made her film debut in the Gene Wilder comedy, The Woman in Red, the previous summer).

In addition to the fantasy elements of two high school nerds creating the perfect woman (god-like with her powers as it turns out), the film has a cast that makes it a fun watch … you have the likes of Bill Paxton (as Wyatt’s bullying older brother), Robert Downey, Jr. (in a very early role) and Michael Berry from The Hills Have Eyes.

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
As to bonus goodies, there are two viewing options.   The first is the original theatrical cut (clocking in at 94 minutes) and an extended cut, which features an additional three minutes of restored footage.  

Additionally, there are new-prepared video sessions with special makeup creator Craig Reardon (seven Emmy nominations for his work, including wins for The X Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), composer Ira Newborn, casting director Jackie Burch and support actor John Kapelos (as Dino), plus a vintage documentary titled It’s Alive: Resurrecting Weird Science.

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey




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