Plot: What’s it about?
Written by John Hughes, Pretty In Pink has always been lumped together with the other Hughes classics such as Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles. They all touch upon aspects of teenage life that only John Hughes can bring to the screen. Although this film isn’t directed by Mr. Hughes, Howard Deutch takes the lead as director on this one, although Hughes wrote and produced the film, you can tell Deutch obviously got some advice.
The story follows Andie (Molly Ringwald), a young girl in high school who doesn’t really fit in with most of the school, she is considered a “Zoid”. Zoids are not supposed to mingle with the “Richies” while in school and in public, the two social classes don’t mix. Blane (Andrew McCarthy) is a “Richie” is is sincerely in love with Andie and genuinely cares for her, but so does Duckie. Duckie (Jon Cryer) has been obsessed with Andie since as far back as he can remember and would do anything for her. At one point he has a sit down with Andie’s Father (Harry Dean Stanton) about how he wants to marry Andie, although she doesn’t know it yet. Despite Duckie’s obvious infatuation with her, Andie doesn’t feel the same way and starts seeing Blane. Blane takes Andie to a party that one of his friends Steff (James Spader) is throwing while his parents are out of town. Of course this doesn’t go over well because the “Richies” at the party absolutely despise Andie and don’t even give her a chance. So instead they decide to head over to the local bar/club Andie frequents. Duckie is inside, depressed over Andie going out with another guy, and things go just as smoothly as they did at the party beforehand. It seems that nobody wants these two people to be together and it starts to take its toll on Blane. His friends start talking and eventually Blane “dumps” Andie over fear from his friends, but Andie is determined not to let them get the best of her. And in the end she shows them all up.
John Hughes actually grew up in my hometown (Northbrook, IL) and graduated from the same high school (Glenbrook North) as me. There is a lot of love for John Hughes around this area, you can still visit the steps of the high school where Ferris Bueller picked up Sloan in the Ferrari, the “Save Ferris” water tower is still standing in the middle of town (although it doesn’t say the famous quote anymore), Netflix even brought their Rolling Roadshow through a few months ago to show the movie under that very water tower. Even The Breakfast Club was shot all around this area, John Hughes has definitely left his legacy on the northshore of Chicago. After all of this, it’s hard to believe that I had never seen Pretty In Pink before this viewing. I guess I always had a “chick flick” sort of mentality about it. But I can honestly say that I enjoyed it quite a bit. I’m definitely glad that Duckie got his own “special edition” of the movie, he clearly steals the show in certain scenes. So overall I was pleasantly surprised by this DVD and with the amount of special features packed into the disc, the fun lasted long after the film ended.
Video: How does it look?
This version of the movie is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen just as the previous release was. Personally I haven’t seen the previous release, so I’m unable to compare the two, but I can tell you about this version. For a movie that is 20 years old (wow), the transfer looks pretty good. There is noticeable grain in a few of the scenes, but majority of the movie looks very clear.
Audio: How does it sound?
Again, I can’t compare to the previous release, but the 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack sounds excellent. Voices are all crystal clear and the soundtrack never overpowers the voices to the point where I needed to adjust the volume. There was only one part of the movie that the sound was off, right near the beginning when Iona is putting records on the ceiling of “Traxx” the audio echoed quite a bit. Probably nothing to do with the transfer, but it was the only part of the audio that sounded bad.
Supplements: What are the extras?
I always hate when studios put out a DVD and then in the next couple of years releases the same movie in a fancy new “special edition”. Most of the time the new disc doesn’t have much more than the original did, maybe a new audio track, or 5 minute featurette. But this disc is worth double dipping. There are 8 featurettes on the disc which more than make up for the lack of special features on the previous release. “The First Time: The Making of Pretty in Pink” runs about 13 minutes long and the majority of it is director Howard Deutch talking about the different actors and crew that helped make the movie with him. It features clips of interviews from 1985 with the cast and a decent amount of behind the scenes footage from 1985 as well. The second featurette “Zoids and Richies” comes in at about 19 minutes and is basically about the casting process and the fact that Ringwald wasn’t the studios first choice for the lead. The studio wanted to go with another “flavor of the month” actress even though the part of Andie was written for Ringwald. It also touches upon the other actors and their casting experience with the movie. “Prom Queen: All About Molly” is 13 minutes long and discusses Molly Ringwald. That’s basically all there is to it. “Volcanic Ensembles” is a 9 minute featurette about the costume designer Marilyn Vance and the whole costume process. “Prom Stories” is only about 3 minutes long and consists of short interviews with the cast and crew about their high school prom experiences. “Favorite Scenes” isn’t as much of a featurette as it is a list of the 8 most memorable scenes within the movie that you can play on their own. “The Lost Dance: The Original Ending” is a 12 minute long featurette regarding the original ending of the movie in which Duckie and Andie end up going to the prom together and share a final dance before it fades to pink. The featurette contains short interviews from the cast and crew regarding the original ending and why it would and wouldn’t have worked. “Wrap Up: The Epilogue” is 7 minutes long and it’s a basic wrap up on what “Pretty In Pink” brought to the world and the impact that John Hughes films have had on teenagers even today. There is also a commentary track from the director. And last but not least there is a photo gallery of stills from the movie. Overall a pretty packed DVD in terms of special features, definitely worth picking up this copy even if you already have the first release.
