Plot: What’s it about?
Wow. Has it really been twenty years since “Summer School†came out in theaters? Pardon the cliché, but how time flies. I can remember seeing this movie when it first came out on home video (that’s VHS for those of you that remember the format); something my mother picked up at the video store just because it looked funny. We all watched it, loved it and I’ve seen the movie about a dozen times since. Granted, there’s not a lot beneath the surface of this film, it’s your typical late 80’s teen-surfer-slacker movie that happened to have Mark Harmon and Kirstie Alley in the leads and featured a then very unknown Courtney Thorne-Smith (who I immediately had a crush on after seeing this movie). I never went to Summer School until college, and as it turns out it’s really not all that bad. But from a teacher’s point of view it must be hell. And that’s the premise behind the movie: class when no one wants to be there – teacher or students.
Mark Harmon plays Coach Shoop, a teacher about to head off to Hawaii with his girlfriend only to be dragged into teaching Summer School English at the last minute. He’s vying for tenure, so he really has no choice to but do it and his girlfriend takes off to Hawaii anyway. Naturally he’s got a wide variety of students in the class and after some initial bumps along the road, he makes deals with them. While some might frown on a teacher bribing students to do their homework, it actually works for Coach Shoop and he starts to fall for a co-worker, Ms. Bishop (Kirstie Alley) – also a teacher. As the students start to show promise over the summer, they start to bond but the end of the term test looms large over their heads. Will they pass the test and thus grant Coach Shoop his tenure or will they fail?
Ok, let’s face facts here, “Summer School†isn’t the best movie ever made and until this new DVD arrived I haven’t even seen the movie in about ten years. But I will say that it’s fairly enjoyable. Carl Reiner directed the film and he certainly knows a thing or two about directing comedies. I have no idea why this film got the double dip treatment of all the catalog titles in Paramount’s library but hey, it’s nice to have this film looking its best and with a commentary track to boot. “Summer School†is filled with memorable characters, though somewhat stereotypical. Then again, this movie was made in 1987 so I suppose that makes it a little more acceptable than if the movie were made today. If you don’t own the DVD, this is the version to get and if you’ve never seen it then a rental may suffice. As for me, I’m glad I never have to deal with summer school ever again.
Video: How does it look?
“Summer School†comes to DVD the second time around looking fairly decent. I don’t own the original DVD so I didn’t have it on had to d a comparison but the 1.85:1 anamorphic image is overall pleasing. I found colors to be very bright and natural and though some scenes feature a little more than desirable edge enhancement, they were few and far between. Flesh tones seem warm and natural and I’ll go out on a limb and say that this is the best the movie has ever looked on any format.
Audio: How does it sound?
The movie has a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack that doesn’t really do a lot to justify your home theater setup as the original mono track is included here as well. The opening credits sound fairly nice but for the most part, this is a very straight-forward track. Surrounds don’t really offer much assistance but then again they don’t really need to. Reiner’s films have all the comedy on screen and don’t rely on 5.1 sound to make their statements. That said, this is about as average as you get.
Supplements: What are the extras?
The real treat here is the commentary by actor Mark Harmon and director Carl Reiner. The two deliver a pretty good commentary track and seem to have fun reminiscing about the shoot, the cast and everything else. True fans will want to pick up the disc for this track alone. Also incuded is a short featurette, a photo gallery and the original theatrical trailer.
