Plot: What’s it about?
Every so often a movie comes around with a somewhat unknown cast and then something happens. A star is born! And then two! And before you know it, this movie is known as “the one” which was a veritable launching pad for a new slew of Hollywood stars and starlets. “American Graffiti” was that movie for the 70’s, featuring the likes of Harrison Ford, Ron Howard and Richard Dreyfuss. “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” was that movie for the 80’s with Forrest Whittacker, Sean Penn, Eric Stoltz and Phoebe Cates. And wouldn’t you know it, “Dazed and Confused” was that movie for the 90’s. “Dazed and Confused” featured a cast of then fairly unknowns and the two biggest stars: Matthew McConaughey and Ben Affleck had some fairly big parts. Jason London, Adam Goldberg, Parker Posey and Milla Jovovich also have supporting roles and have all found a degree of success since this movie came out. Director Richard Linklater wrote the screenplay and it plays a lot like his earlier “Slacker”, albeit with a more liner plot. So what’s so great about this movie which made it land on critics’ Top Ten lists (back in 1993)? Read on and find out.
It’s the last day of school in 1976 and we follow the lives of several students as they get ready for their Summer before their Senior year. Parties are planned and the ritualistic hazing of the Freshman is about to begin. Randall “Pink” Floyd (Jason London) is the school’s All-Star quarterback who has found a new group of friends. He’s torn between being a jock and being a stoner. As we meet the group of people that compose the movie we see that they range between the nerdy (Mike and Tony) to the utterly useless (Slater). Now earlier I mentioned that this had a more linear plot than “Slacker”, but it’s not a liner story per se. We essentially follow about twenty different people during one night of the year. Like “Slacker”, the movie will often go off on a tangent and concentrate on a new group of people. The “Emporium” is the central focus of the story; it’s the main place for everyone to hang out and for the freshman to recuperate after being beaten by the seniors. It’s also the place where we see perhaps the greatest character in modern film: David Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey), words simply can’t do this man justice and I’ll leave it at that.
“Dazed and Confused” is one of those movies that’s really hard to put into words (as you’ve no doubt noticed), it’s an ensemble piece that has held up very well through the last dozen years. The cast is stellar and it’s a real testament to Richard Linklater, who is still producing some of the more interesting and creative movies out there (we’ll discount “The Newton Boys”). Linklater is a native Texan and was right at home here and I’d have to say that this features one of the best assortments of 70’s songs out there. If you’re one of the few that haven’t seen this movie, make it a point to do so.
Video: How does it look?
Universal has released this film so many times it’s hard to keep count. This, I believe, is the inaugural Blu-ray version and the print looks good. The 1.85:1 AVC HD transfer is cleaned up from the standard DVD and even looks a bit better than the HD DVD released a few years back. Colors seems on the strong side, though the overall image is a bit softer than I’d like to see. Contrast and black levels are on the mark as well. It’s unlikely that this movie will ever look as pristine as we’d like, but this is, so far, the best the film has looked on a home video format.
Audio: How does it sound?
A new DTS HD Master Audio track has been included for this Blu-ray offering and while it sounds good, I had a bit of trouble differentiating between this and the 5.1 mix found on the DVD. Dialogue sounds full and robust and the majority of the movie has a sampling of some of the 70’s greatest hits (it produced two soundtracks). There are a few surrounds effects that come and go, but by and large this mix is a little better than expected.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Now the decision…this Blu-ray comes with a few extras in that it contains some deleted scenes, a vintage promotional featurette about the “dangers” of marijuana and two vintage Public Service Announcements. None of this is new and was present on the “Flashback” Edition of the DVD. However, Criterion also has a license for this film and the Blu-ray is forthcoming and will most likely mirror the features from their DVD a few years back. That’s the version to get if you’re into supplements, but if you just want the movie on Blu-ray then this is the version for you as it’s much cheaper.
