Risky Business: 25th Anniversary Edition – DVD Review

Boy’s parents leave town for a couple days. Boy meets call girl. Boy can’t afford to pay girl for services rendered. One thing leads to another and Guido the killer pimp gets involved. It’s a tale as old as time. Or twenty-five years, according to this brand new anniversary edition DVD.

You have to admire a movie that wants to tell a simple story, and tell it well. That’s exactly what writer/director Paul Brickman does with this exercise in adolescent wish fulfillment that has gone down in infamy, placing Joel Goodsen alongside the likes of Ferris Bueller and Marty McFly. He manages to make Joel, as played by Tom Cruise, that relatable everyman, only with just enough charisma and style that makes everyone who sees the movie want to be exactly like him — including those stylish Wayfarers.

Risky Business is a movie that requires no introduction. Everyone has seen the movie at one point or another by the time they’re done with high school. It’s become one of those seminal movies that are almost a rite of passage. Which, incidentally, when compared to today’s movies is surprisingly tame. Yet I dare anyone to watch this movie and not instantly fall in love with Rebecca De Mornay. That’s timeless.

When it comes to performances in the picture, you need to start off with the star-making performance by Tom Cruise. If you were to ask anyone when he elevated to that next level of stardom, most will point to this, his very first starring vehicle, as the moment in time. Take away the past few years of his public persona, and Cruise remains one of the best actors working today. And then there’s the lovely Ms. De Mornay. Despite a very slow first act, once De Mornay’s Lana character is introduced, the film feel like it goes by in a matter of minutes. Showing the kind of trance that she had over an audience, and how integral her performance was to the overall film. Surrounding those two top notch performances are equally stellar supporting roles by Joe Pantoliano, Bronson Pinchot, and Curtis Armstrong.

The funny thing about Risky Business is that while you can easily sum up the plot in fifty words or less, and can easily look back on it and recall all of the scenes that have now become iconic, it’s a movie very much steeped into the mind set of the ’80s. Power and money were king. It shows that fear in Joel. The fear of not becoming a somebody. Brickman isn’t afraid to show that fragility in his main character. That’s the core theme that has managed to keep a simple story in the public eye for all these years.

While a marked improvement over the 1997 DVD release, this new special edition isn’t without its flaws. Maybe it’s the restoration work, or poor film stock from the era, there’s something about this new transfer that feels just a tiny bit off. The the otherwise wonderfully restored print is occasionally marred by digital noise, which may be misconstrued as film grain by some. On the plus side, blacks are no longer crushed like they were in the previous release, and colors aren’t as muted. When weighing the pros and cons, this is a much welcomed upgrade.

The newly remastered 5.1 track allows for songs like Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock n’ Roll” and Phil Collins’s “In the Air Tonight” to come through the speakers in absolute clarity. Not to mention the equally impressive handling of Tangerine Dream’s hypnotic film score.

First up on the DVD is the Audio Commentary with producer Jon Avnet, writer/director Paul Brickman and a rare appearance by Tom Cruise. The track isn’t quite as lively as one would have hoped for given how long fans have been waiting for this special edition. While not exemplary, the three commentators find more than enough to talk about during the films brisk 99 minute length. Sadly, quite a bit of that time is them reminiscing about things that happened on the day during the filming of certain scenes, and relatively little on the juicier details.

The Dream Is Always the Same: The Story of Risky Business (29:27) – If there’s one complaint that can be lodged against this featurette, it’s that its too short. Running just shy of a half an hour, the retrospective piece includes pretty much everyone involved with the film, both in front of and behind the camera. Along with notable filmmakers such as Cameron Crowe and Amy Heckerling, they manage to delve into every aspect of the movie. From Brickman’s eye and vision for the movie, to the soundtrack and original score by Tangerine Dream, to the chemistry of the cast. More importantly, they delve deeper into minutia of the films dream-like appearance. Talking about the challenges of making a film revolving around teenagers, rather than a film built around the demographic, and how it helped break down many rules within the genre. I could have watched and listened to them discuss the film for another hour and never lost interest.

Original Screen Tests with Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay (14:33) – Producers Steve Tisch, Jon Avnet, Cruise, De Mornay, and Brickman make brief appearances at the start of the piece. Their inclusion makes it feel like more than just the thrown together clips of poor VHS quality video we normally get on DVDs. They make it an event. More importantly, they give you a reason to care about what you’re going to see. Spending roughly four minutes to build up the material, showing a few seconds of footage in between the talking head interviews and give a new perspective of what this type of bonus feature can be. When we get to the actual screen tests, you can see the chemistry between the two leads even in this unfinished and loose state. Showing a slight nervousness while still taking control of their roles.

Director’s Cut of the Final Scene from Risky Business (7:24) – In terms of new material, this ending only has some minor changes. Although it has a very different feel tonally, leaving the film on a slightly more ambiguous note. For whatever reason, they tacked on the closing credits in their entirety. It also hasn’t been cleaned up all that much with quite a few imperfections marring the image. Overall, while it’s hard to forget or even ignore an ending we’ve lived with for so long, this new one is certainly valid and not without its merit.

Rounding out the disc is the films Theatrical Trailer.

As a sophisticated look at growing up, society and capitalism, Risky Business has always been at the top of my list of movies I’ve anxiously awaited to be re-released as a special edition. In theory, it shouldn’t be too much to ask. The film is not only one of the best teen films ever made, features the career making role for mega star Tom Cruise, it’s widely regarded as one of the most popular movies of the past 25 years. Eleven years later, and we finally have the DVD fans have been waiting for.

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