Dirty Dancing Blu-ray Review

Starring: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Jerry Orbach, Cynthia Rhodes, Jane Brucker, Kelly Bishop
Director: Emile Ardolino
Studio: Lionsgate Films
Media Release Date: May 8, 2007
Rating: PG-13
Length: 105 minutes

Movie

Dirty Dancing isn’t so much worthy of a four-star rating based on the film itself, but more because of the iconic status it holds in the minds of women (and maybe even some men).

I won’t waste much time on plot synopsis – we all know it’s a coming-of-age love story set against the backdrop of a foxtrot-dancing, talent-show-holding retro resort, where the staff and teenage daughters of the guests attempt to curb their raging hormones with some after-hours bumping and grinding.

Instead, I’ll recount my new take on a movie I’ve seen more times than I can count or should even think about – watching it with a group of three guys who all agreed to give it a chance (while reserving the right to make fun of it unmercifully) honor of the passing of the great Patrick Swayze.

“I Carried a Watermelon?”

I thought that maybe the more serious issues in the plot – abortion rights, class stereotyping and father-daughter dynamics, to name a few – might at least stem some of the ridicule that was sure to come from those bearing a Y chromosome, even if Baby’s (Jennifer Grey) struggles to be taken seriously as a grown woman didn’t quite hit home.

Alas, these underlying messages seemed to be lost to them during moments like the watermelon scene and any time Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze) made an appearance in his tank-topped, tight-pantsed glory. I’ll admit, the door was wide open for criticism of the cheese factor.

But watching the film again, even after a few year have passed since the last time, I had to wonder, is it really deserving of such criticism or is it just engrained in us to dole it out in light of the massive over-hype and over-exposure that has followed the film over the two decades since its release?

I can’t speak for everyone, but from my own perspective, after seeing this movie at least 20 times spanning over nearly as many years, it still gets to me somehow. The passion, the black leather jacket, the “No one puts Baby in a corner,” flash me right back to when I was 17 and experienced the same emotional upheaval that Baby does as she tries to cross the line between Daddy’s little girl and a mature young woman.

The Proof is in the Lift

If there’s one clincher that proves Dirty Dancing is as iconic as ever, it’s this:

Even while enduring the testosterone-laden Peanut Gallery’s falsetto renditions of “I’ve Had the Time of My Life”, and between picking up the pieces of my broken heart when they dubbed Patrick Swayze “Captain Dance Pants”, I still got chills in the scene where Johnny gives Baby the look.

You know the one – right before she gives him the nod, and he lifts her off the stage so she can leap into his arms and they can perform the lift in front of everyone, then slowly fall into each others’ gaze, so completely in love that the whole room disappears.

That look.

The chemistry and peak of emotion in that scene is still is as nostalgic as ever – and that’s gotta be saying something.

Audio

• English: LPCM 6.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)English: Dolby Digital 5.1 EX

The uncompressed soundtrack included with the film may seem like a bit of overkill for this movie, but who cares? Hungry Eyes has never sounded better! All kidding aside, though you probably don’t get the full impact out of the soundtrack like you would from other, more speaker-intensive (is that even a term?) films, there is sufficient use of the surrounds – particularly in musical sequences – to draw you in and create the right atmosphere. Dialogue remains clear throughout, no problems there.

Video

• Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
• Video resolution: 1080p
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Dirty Dancing is a 22-year-old low-budget movie, which means not only are you getting a restoration, but one of a film that was made with less than stellar film stock in the first place. There is a fair bit of graininess and lack of detail in many outdoor scenes, and the color palette is noticeably washed-out. But still, this version beats the heck out of the standard definition one, and there was one little bonus I can’t resist passing on: If your screen is big enough, keep your eyes open for a small fly ruining Baby and Johnny’s romantic moment in Johnny’s cabin. We saw it, and though it basically killed the mood, it was hilarious!

Special Features

(High Definition)

Though it’s pretty well known that I don’t have a high tolerance special features – a short attention span and a desire not to ruin the film generally keep me from examining them too closely – I often give a recap of all the bonus material included on the disk. In the case of Dirty Dancing, however, I’m going to have to hit the bench.

There is simply too much stuff here to even begin to chronicle it all. Maybe because it’s the 20th Anniversary, Lionsgate felt they had to include 20-years-worth of footage – screen tests, deleted and extended scenes, tributes (to Jerry Orbach and Emile Ardolino, both of whom have passed), trivia and so much more, and this is on top of the commentaries included on the original DVD. I tell you, a girl could exhaust herself.

If you’re up to the challenge, pore through these babies, by all means. I certainly will, though maybe in small doses. In the meantime, I’ll give them a 5-star rating, for sheer volume alone.

Overall

If you haven’t seen Dirty Dancing in a few years, or you’re a die-hard fan who watches this movie every time it comes on TV and every time you need to indulge the part of you that is still 17, my advice is to pick it up on Blu-ray. It’s still everything you remember it being, it just looks and sounds even better.

I should note that when I polled the men in the room after we reached the dramatic dance sequence ending in the film, reactions ranged from “dull and kinda fluffy” to “a complete and utter load of [expletive deleted]”. These reactions were expected of course, and only served to reinforce my belief that men – who never had the pain and privilege of being 17-year-old girls – will simply never get this movie.

But the good ones, the Johnny Castles we all hopefully have in our lives, will watch it with us anyway.

Tagged as: dance movies, dirty dancing, emile ardolino, jennifer gray, jerry orbach, patrick swayze