Footloose (1984) (40th Anniversary) [4K Ultra HD]

Director: Herbert Ross

Cast: Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer, Dianne Wiest

Release Date: February 13, 2024

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Disc Rating: 8/10

Synopsis:

City-boy Ren McCormick (Kevin Bacon) is new to an uptight small town where dancing has been banned. Ren quickly makes a new best friend in Willard (Chris Penn) and falls fast for the minister’s daughter (Lori Singer), but his love for music and dancing gets him into hot water equally as fast.

Please Note: Paramount Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.

THE MOVIE / REVIEW:

The beloved 1980’s classic ‘Footloose’ tells the story of a city boy named Ren McCormick who moves to a small, uptight town with his mother where he quickly learns that dancing has been banned and nearly all music aside from gospel or classical is considered immoral. As Ren tries to become accustomed to this new way of life, he soon befriends a young man named Willard and begins to fall for a daring and troubled minister’s daughter which causes the strict local man of the church to take an additional interest in Ren, blaming his influence for questionable situations around town. But Ren isn’t about to give up and soon he makes it his own personal mission to try and convince the townspeople that their strict rules and regulations are a mistake and only harming the youth.

‘Footloose’ was first released into theaters in February of 1984 and quickly took off at the box office becoming a smash hit thanks to its capable and well-selected cast that included Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer, Chris Penn and many more notable stars, along with a rewarding tale that’s not only engaging and fun, but has some real heart to back it up. The film still holds up quite well in most respects today, a shocking forty years after its original release. It still manages to effortlessly serve up plenty of laughs, toe-tapping musical selections and dance sequences (although some of which are admittedly a bit cheesy today but still nothing that will ruin the film’s legacy or a newcomer’s appreciation of it by any means) and if you’ve never had the pleasure of this beloved ‘80s classic, I would strongly encourage you to give ‘Footloose’ a chance whenever possible because this one is still an awful lot of fun regardless of a few dated elements within that at worst might elicit a few unintended laughs.

The fan-favorite ‘80s film was directed by Herbert Ross from a screenplay written by Dean Pitchford and Ross guides the toe-tapping and heartfelt tale along with heart and style throughout. The film’s cast included numerous up and coming stars, many of which have become household names and features Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer, Dianne Wiest, John Lithgow, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Chris Penn, along with more and the performances from each still hold up nicely today, forty years after the film made its initial debut.

OVERALL:

In celebration of the film’s 40^th Anniversary, Paramount Home Entertainment brings ‘Footloose’ home on 4K Ultra HD for the first time. The new release arrives home sporting a gorgeous and newly remastered Ultra High Definition video presentation with Dolby Vision and HDR10 that is almost surely the best the film has ever looked, not to mention a massive upgrade from Paramount’s aging Blu-ray release which is also included within. The impressive new 4K UHD video presentation is nicely complemented by a 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack and a handful of previously released extras which can all be found on the included Blu-ray disc (which does appear to be identical to Paramount’s previous Blu-ray edition). While some fans may be disappointed by the lack of any new supplements or a Dolby Atmos audio offering, the largely stellar 4K presentation alone will probably make this one worth picking up for most dedicated fans that are fully 4K capable. If you’re already considering a purchase and have been awaiting a nice upgrade to the previous BD edition of the film, then this new 40^th Anniversary 4K UHD release of ‘Footloose’ is recommended.

VIDEO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Footloose’ features a full 2160p Ultra High Definition video presentation with Dolby Vision and HDR10 presented in its original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio. The newly remastered video presentation looks quite good and serves up a clean, sharp and filmic presentation that may not be utterly flawless but is without doubt a massive improvement over the Blu-ray release from years prior. The video presentation shows solid detail and clarity throughout that sees noticeable improvement on character faces and clothing, along with vehicles, outdoor landscapes and more, while featuring a nice grain palette that results in staying far more true to the filmic roots of the movie. The Dolby Vision HDR also makes a nice complement to everything appearing onscreen by contributing cleaner and more vivid colors on clothing and nature elements that may not be groundbreaking, but are quite capable and fitting. Overall, this is a great new Ultra High Definition video presentation that looks outstanding in comparison to its Blu-ray counterpart and should leave fans of this beloved film quite excited.

AUDIO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release features a 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This multichannel soundtrack curiously offers a one channel downgrade to the Blu-ray release which included a 6.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack, although the difference shouldn’t be too noticeable and it still provides a clean, sharp and often immersive audio presentation throughout. It consistently takes advantage of all five available channels in order to send the catchy musical selections throughout the various speakers, along with nature and vehicle effects, bits of crowd chatter and more, while always making certain that any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously remain clean, sharp and fully audible. Overall, this is a fully capable 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack that may not be anything remarkable enough to make you want to break out dancing in celebration, but it holds up smoothly at all times and shouldn’t disappoint.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Footloose’ features a nice collection of previously released bonus content which can all be found on the release’s included Blu-ray disc. Included are an ‘Audio Commentary with Craig Zadan and Dean Pitchford’ and a second ‘Audio Commentary with Kevin Bacon’. Also included on the release are various Behind the Scenes Featurettes, reflections on the film and its cast, plus more including ‘Let’s Dance! Kevin Bacon on Footloose’ (running approximately 12 minutes in length), ‘From Bomont to the Big Apple: An Interview with Sarah Jessica Parker’ (running approximately 7 minutes), ‘Remembering Willard’ (approximately 6 minutes), along with ‘Kevin Bacon’s Screen Test’ (approximately 4 minutes) and a ‘Kevin Bacon Costume Montage’ (3 minutes). Also included are ‘Footloose: A Modern Musical Part 1’ (approximately 18 minutes) and ‘Part 2’ (12 minutes), plus ‘Footloose: Songs That Tell a Story’ (14 minutes) and the film’s ‘Theatrical Trailer’ (90 seconds).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray disc included in the 4K UHD Combo Pack and resized. They do not represent the quality of the 4K Ultra HD disc itself and will additionally 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 the 4K UHD & Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Disc Rating: 8/10

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‘Footloose: 40^th Anniversary Edition’ Arrives on 4K Ultra HD & Limited Edition 4K UHD Steelbook February 13, 2024 from Paramount Home Entertainment

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You can purchase your copy of the ‘Footloose’ 4K UHD release on Amazon HERE!

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