But I’m A Cheerleader: Director’s Cut (DigiPak) [4K Ultra HD]

Director: Jamie Babbit

Cast: Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, RuPaul Charles

Release Date: August 26, 2025

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Release Rating: 7.5/10

Synopsis:

This whimsically edgy comedy, directed by Jamie Babbit, follows teenager Megan (Natasha Lyonne), whose suburban existence filled with friends, cheerleading, and all-American fun is upended when her straight-laced parents suspect she may be a lesbian. In a panic, they send her to True Directions, a “rehabilitation” camp run by the strict and prudish Mary (Cathy Moriarty), to mount an intervention led by counselor Mike (RuPaul Charles). Megan dutifully follows the program – until she develops feelings for another camper (Clea DuVall) in this timeless, satirical romantic-comedy about self-acceptance and love, also costarring Eddie Cibrian, Melanie Lynskey, and Michelle Williams.

‘But I’m A Cheerleader’ joins Megan, a popular, all-American girl who has a handsome boyfriend, plenty of friends and a generally happy suburban life she appreciates. But when her parents and friends begin to worry that she may be a lesbian, they create an intervention and ship her off to a popular “rehabilitation” camp called True Directions believing it can help her become what they consider normal. Initially willing to give it a shot and try her best to follow the program, things become slightly more uncertain when she discovers increasing feelings for one of her fellow campers leading her to the difficult decision of what’s most important.

‘But I’m A Cheerleader’ is directed by Jamie Babbit from a screenplay by Brian Wayne Peterson and a story by Babbit, and Babbit does a great job at the helm guiding along the satirical fun with a snarky edge and plenty of style. The film’s noteworthy cast includes Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, Melanie Lynskey, RuPaul Charles, Eddie Cibrian, Wesley Mann, Richard Moll, Douglas Spain, Katharine Towne, Michelle Williams and Cathy Moriarty, with nearly all offering capable and fitting performances in each of their roles that help this amusing ride to work so well.

‘But I’m A Cheerleader’ was released to the general public in 2000 after some festival appearances and it still serves up a hilarious, twisted and darkly comedic tale that wears its tone on its sleeve and never hesitates to go all in and explore the hilarious extremes from both perspectives, while always highlighting the beauty of love, hope and being yourself, even amid a plethora of people determined to prove otherwise. It’s a snarky, humorously offensive and heartfelt film that’s nearly always satirical in its approach, nicely guided along by director Jamie Babbit with a marvelous cast led by Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall and RuPaul Charles to back it up and keep things from ever becoming dull or even overly serious most of the time. It’s a tremendous film that is still surprisingly timely twenty-five years after its debut and one that is well worth going out of your way to give a chance if you’ve never had the pleasure.

The beloved cult-classic ‘But I’m A Cheerleader’ arrives home on 4K Ultra HD for the first time ever courtesy of Lionsgate. The film’s UHD debut features a full Ultra High Definition presentation of the Director’s Cut with Dolby Vision and HDR-10 that looks pretty marvelous and even retains its filmic appearance. The great UHD video presentation is nicely complemented by a Dolby TrueHD multichannel soundtrack and combined ensure the film has never looked and sounded better than this at home. The release also features a handful of entertaining extras and arrives in a unique and well-designed Digipak case with a plastic slipcover encasing it. If you’re a fan of ‘But I’m A Cheerleader’ that’s been awaiting its hopeful 4K debut then this release is recommended and well worth adding to your collection.

VIDEO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘But I’m A Cheerleader’ features a full 2160p Ultra High Definition presentation of the Director’s Cut with Dolby Vision and HDR-10, presented in its original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks very nice as a whole and it delivers a clean, sharp and filmic presentation that’s absent of any notable issues to be located along the way. Detail is great on character specifics and the various, often brightly colored settings both inside and out, with a rich grain structure on display that retains the filmic style of the presentation. The Dolby Vision HDR helps to enhance many of the rich blue and pink colors on display along with other tidbits, while black levels and shadowing and rewardingly deep and problem free. Overall, this is a very solid Ultra High Definition presentation that brings the film home looking better than ever.

AUDIO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release features a 5.1 channel Dolby TrueHD soundtrack. This multichannel soundtrack isn’t quite as stellar as the accompanying video presentation but it offers a clean, crisp and problem free audio presentation that holds up capably and doesn’t falter or disappoint. It takes advantage of all five available channels on numerous occasions in order to send music, crowd chatter and other effects throughout the various speakers when appropriate, while never conflicting with or negatively affecting any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously. Overall, this is a capable and very decent 5.1 Dolby TrueHD soundtrack that may not stand out but does deliver in every way required of it.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘But I’m A Cheerleader’ offers some fun extras including an ‘Audio Commentary with Director Jamie Babbit, Costume Designer Alix Friedberg and Production Designer Rachel Kamerman’, in addition to the new Featurette ‘Beyond the Pink and Blue: A Conversation with Jamie Babbit’ (running approximately 12 minutes in length). Also included are other various Featurettes and videos (including a few that appear to have been recorded during the height of the pandemic based on the zoom video style) including ‘But I’m A Cheerleader Class Reunion’ (running approximately 21 minutes), ‘Making But I’m A Cheerleader… In 1999’ (approximately 8 minutes) and ‘But I’m a Composer: A Chat with Pat Irwin’ (5 minutes). The release also includes the film’s ‘Theatrical Trailer’ (2 minutes) and the ‘Student Film’ “Discharge” (3 minutes).

*Please note: The above images are taken from the film’s Trailer and are not reflective of the actual 4K Ultra HD release or its quality. A standard Blu-ray copy of the film was not included in the release that could be used for screenshots therefore the above images were utilized. All content and images from the film are the property of their respective owners.

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Disc Rating: 7.5/10

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‘But I’m A Cheerleader: Director’s Cut’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD from Lionsgate

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You can Purchase ‘But I’m A Cheerleader’ on 4K UHD at Amazon HERE!

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