The Damn Dirty DVD Review (Blu Ray Edition): Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Posted by Ron Martin on 05.10.2009

Ferris Bueller is very popular. The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads - they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude.


Written By: John Hughes
Directed By: John Hughes

Cast

Ferris Bueller -- Matthew Broderick
Cameron Frye -- Alan Ruck
Sloane Peterson -- Mia Sara
Ed Rooney -- Jeffrey Jones
Jeanie Bueller -- Jennifer Grey
Katie Bueller -- Cindy Pickett
Tom Bueller -- Lyman Ward
Grace -- Edie McClung
Economics Teacher -- Ben Stein



In 1986, there were few people in Hollywood as powerful as John Hughes. With smash hits in Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science and Pretty in Pink, Hughes had his finger on the pulse of the ever coveted American teenager. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is no exception, in fact, it is arguably the best film of his mega-successful career.

The Movie
If you haven’t seen this film by now you either live in a shack in the woods without access to electricity or Matthew Broderick stole your girlfriend in high school. When it comes to teen comedies, few films are on the level of Ferris Bueller. The affable title character is played brilliantly by Broderick, whose own natural charisma makes it virtually impossible to root against Bueller. The rest of the movie is cast nearly perfect. Alan Ruck has already been performing with Broderick for years, so the chemistry between friends was already there. Jeffrey Jones and Edie McClung were some of the best character actors of the 80s, which made them logical choices for the bumbling foes of Bueller. The only question mark was the fresh Mia Sara, but she stepped up and gave an even performance not only holding her own, but playing her part with a sparkle that would make many a teenager boy jealous of Bueller for years to come.



Ferris Bueller is about to graduate high school. Big things are in store for him, and a life of working and responsibility lay ahead. For today, he just needs a day off. One last day to appreciate the things life may never let him appreciate ever again. Bueller is damn near Olivieresque in his sickness performances. In fact, he may be too good as his accrued absences have caught the eye of the school principle, Ed Rooney. Rooney is determined to prove that Bueller is not sick and thus keep him from graduating. Joining Bueller on his day off are his best friend, the introverted Cameron Frye, and his girlfriend the grounded but beautiful Sloane Peterson. Throwing more wrenches in the works is Jeanie Bueller, Ferris’ younger sister, whom despises her older brother because of the attention he gets.



Hughes brings his usual mixture of physical and dialogue based comedy to the movie, with a twist. As always, Hughes does an excellent job of mixing many different characters, having characters that other movies would forget pop up just enough to make Ferris sweat a little. Some of the best moments of the film are when Ferris is talking directly to the audience, breaking down that fourth wall. This has as much to do with Hughes dialogue and character building as it does with Broderick’s ability to pull off working with just a camera. Much of the film falls on Broderick’s shoulders relying on him to make the audience love Ferris. Ferris rides a fine line between annoying high school kid who gets away with too much and lovable hero that we all want to root for. Broderick firmly pushes us in favor of the latter.

Almost 25 years later, Ferris Bueller still holds up. While a lot of John Hughes work is associated with the 80s, outside of fashion, the movies have virtually no pop culture references making them somewhat timeless. Ferris Bueller works today as well as it did back in 1986. It doesn’t rely on cheap, sexual innuendo or shock value. Thus, it has become a timeless classic.

Video
Ferris Bueller is released in your normal 1080p 2.35:1-framed transfer. The movie was never meant for high definition and it shows in random scratches and spots on the film. It’s not enough to be distracting, but enough to make you wonder why you bothered purchasing it in high def. Despite not being made for high def, Ferris is a colorful film and this version shows it. The red of the car sparkles and even the sometimes grungy street of Chicago take on a new life when lifted from shadows and darkness.

Audio
The movie has Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. I have no idea what that means, but I can tell you that the mostly 80s soundtrack sounds pretty amazing on it. The background noise does seem clearer than I remember, but then again, its background noise for a reason.



Special Features
Ah, the real reason to re-up on a movie that you probably already own. Unless you own the 20th Anniversary Bueller…Bueller… edition. Why? Because it’s the exact same special features, just these are in high def.

Getting the Class Together: The Cast of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: This is your basic almost mandatory “how we cast it” feature. Impressively enough, they go through every character from Ferris Bueller to the garage employee to Kristy Swanson who had all of two lines in the whole movie. Most of the cast/production team (including the casting agents) is interviewed. We get almost everyone today except for the main man himself. John Hughes is only present in 1986 form rocking a hardcore mullet with terrible sunglasses on. John should have done an interview for the film to update his look at the very least. Conspicuous by her absence in any form is Mia Sara. This and other vignettes are hurt by her absence and the absence of an updated interview with John Hughes.

The Making of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: Another vignette including all the same people from the previous vignette saying how much fun it was to work together. They do go through some of the individually more difficult scenes to shoot like the parade scene and give some insight to how they were filmed and the scene’s importance to the film. Highlights include Ben Stein telling how he was actually teaching about the Great Depression and improved the entire scene.

Who is Ferris Bueller?: A shorter vignette in which the actors tell what they think about the title character. Opinions range from Bueller is the ultimate best friend to Bueller could not exist in the real world.

The World According to Ben Stein: This is a nice vignette that flips back and forth between 2005 Ben Stein and 1986 Ben Stein, getting his opinions on various topics. As always Stein is entertaining in a dry sort of way. Stein reiterates several times that no matter what else accomplishes, the day on the set of Ferris Bueller was the best day of his life and he loves it when people come up to him with the “Bueller…Bueller…” He even has a good story about Kurt Cobain and George W Bush’s best impersonations of him.

Vintage Ferris Bueller: The Lost Tapes: These are clips of interviews done by Matthew Broderick himself on the set of Ferris Bueller. He interviews Alan Ruck, Mia Sara and Jeffrey Jones. It’s a good thing that Broderick didn’t go into journalism. It’s a fun, but ultimately empty vignette. It does manage to get Mia Sara into the special features for the first time.

Class Album: The new sort of annoying fad of putting production pictures on the DVD/Blu Ray disc. Filler.

The 411: It's Ferris Bueller's Day Off. You can't really go wrong here. This is a classic film that will still make you laugh today. The only caveat I would have is do you really need the blu ray edition? The film wasn't made with high definition in mind. Unless you are the guy that has to have everything in blu ray or you really need to see the pimples on the faces of the kids in Ben Stein's class and the holes in Cameron's hockey shirt, the 2006 DVD will work just fine. The Special Features are nothing to get excited over, but the movie makes up for it.

Final Score:  8.0   [ Very Good ]