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!!
The 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.
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.
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