Director: Emile Ardolino
Cast: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Jerry Orbach
Release Date: February 7, 2017
A Review By: Kevin Lovell
Disc Rating: 9/10
Synopsis:
In the summer of 1963, innocent 17-year-old Baby (Jennifer Grey) vacations with her parents at a Catskills resort. One evening she is drawn to the staff quarters by stirring music. There she meets Johnny (Patrick Swayze), the hotel dance instructor, who is as experienced as Baby is naive. Baby soon becomes Johnny’s pupil in dance and love.
Relive the timeless romantic tale in celebration of its 30th birthday via this new Anniversary Edition on Blu-ray. ‘Dirty Dancing’ tells the story of teenager Baby (Grey) on vacation with her family at a resort in the early 1960’s where she inadvertently becomes enthralled with a good lucking dance instructor named Johnny (Swayze) which sets her upon an unexpected journey of love and self discovery that will change her life forever. Directed by the late Emile Ardolino (Sister Act), written by Eleanor Bergstein (Let It Bet Me) and starring Patrick Swayze (Road House) and Jennifer Grey (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), ‘Dirty Dancing’ is an iconic, heartfelt and memorable tale that achieved unexpected success at the box office during its initial release in 1987 and has repeatedly proved itself capable of standing the test of time in the thirty years since, remaining a favorite to this day with moviegoers everywhere.
Many fans of the infamous classic ‘Dirty Dancing’ may want to consider picking up a copy of the 30th Anniversary Edition on Blu-ray, especially if you don’t already own a copy of the previous Blu-ray release. As far as I can ascertain, this latest edition doesn’t include a new master of the film and the video and audio presentations appear to be identical to the previous release. Nonetheless, it still holds up splendidly and delivers quite the fantastic high definition video and audio presentations, along with a healthy collection of bonus content that includes a number of brand new extras such as never before seen Intimate Interviews with Patrick Swayze, and more (more detailed information regarding the bonus content can be found in the special features section of the technical specification coverage below). The fans who don’t already own the film on Blu-ray will definitely want to consider purchasing a copy of this new anniversary edition, while those who already own the last BD edition of the movie will probably want to decide how important the new extras are to you in order to determine whether it’s worth double dipping. While I wasn’t personally able to check out the Limited Edition Collector’s Box Set, the noteworthy physical extras included might also make the deluxe edition worth considering for some of the real diehard fans out there.
Overall, the new 30th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray release of ‘Dirty Dancing’ is a pretty fantastic release altogether and for any fan of the film who doesn’t already own it on Blu-ray, this should definitely serve as the perfect version to grab a copy of. It offers top notch high definition video and audio presentations on the feature film, along with hours of noteworthy extras including some brand never before seen bonus goodies. The fans who already own the previous Blu-ray release of the movie on the other hand will probably want to consider how important the new supplemental material is to them in order to decide whether or not it’s worthy justifying the funds on a double dip.
VIDEO:
The 30th Anniversary Blu-ray release of ‘Dirty Dancing’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing a 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation may not offer a new transfer of the feature film, yet the included transfer looks great and offers a sharp, detailed and gorgeous presentation from start to finish with no notable faults to be found within, even retaining notable amounts of grain and other natural artifacts representative of the source material. It holds up beautifully even during the fast paced, heavily populated and darkly lit sequences, never causing anything occurring on screen to become negatively affected or rendered indiscernible. Overall, this is quite a fantastic high definition video presentation that should have no trouble pleasing most fans of the 80’s classic.
AUDIO:
The Blu-ray release features a lossless 7.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack; presumably identical to the 7.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack included on the previous BD release of the film. This lossless multichannel soundtrack provides a sharp, crisp and clean audio presentation throughout. Even while not always overly active, it occasionally takes advantage of all seven available channels in order to immerse the viewer within the memorable music, in addition to sending some crowd chatter, nature elements and more throughout the various speakers when fitting. Overall, this is a solid 7.1 channel DTS-HD MA soundtrack that consistently holds up in every way required of it and shouldn’t disappoint.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The 30th Anniversary Blu-ray release of ‘Dirty Dancing’ includes a notable collection of supplemental material, featuring a number of brand new extras exclusive to this 30th Anniversary Edition. Included on the release are ‘2 Audio Commentary’ tracks; the first is an ‘Audio Commentary with Writer/Co-Producer Eleanor Bergstein’, and the second is an ‘Audio Commentary with Kenny Ortega, Miranda Garrison, Jeff Jur, Hilary Rosenfeld, and David Chapman’. We are also treated to a celebration of the film’s anniversary in ‘Happy Birthday Dirty Dancing’ (running approximately 29 minutes in length), in addition to a number of Interviews including some brand new to this release, they include: ‘Patrick Swayze: In His Own Words’ (running approximately 13 minutes), ‘Eleanor Bergstein – Thoughts on a Lifetime of Dirty Dancing’ (approximately 7 minutes), and ‘Patrick Swayze Uncut’ (14 minutes). The release also includes a number of additional extras, the majority carried over from previous editions; included are a couple of ‘Featurettes’: ‘Dirty Dancing: The Phenomenon’ (approximately 14 minutes), and ‘Patrick Swayze: The Rhythm of the Dancing’ (4 minutes), along with a few ‘Music Videos’: ‘Hungry Eyes’ (4 minutes), ‘She’s Like The Wind’ (4 minutes), and ‘(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life’ (5 minutes), plus archival ‘Cast and Crew Interviews’: ‘Jennifer Grey’ (11 minutes), ‘Eleanor Bergstein’ (19 minutes), ‘Miranda Garrison’ (13 minutes), and ‘Kenny Ortega’ (15 minutes). Also included are a collection of ‘Deleted, Alternate and Extended Scenes’ from the film (running approximately 22 minutes altogether), and some ‘Screen Tests & Outtakes’ featuring ‘Jennifer Grey Screen Test Comparisons’ (4 minutes combined), a ‘Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey Screen Test Montage’ (1 minute), and some ‘Outtakes’ (1 minute) from the movie.
*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They additionally will suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.
Disc Rating: 9/10
The 30th Anniversary Edition of ‘Dirty Dancing’ is Now Available to Own on Limited Edition Collector’s Gift Set, Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD & Digital HD from Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Purchase your copy today by clicking on the Amazon Cart Icon immediately below!
