|
|
|
| Back |
|
|
Dirty Dancing
Lionsgate
Certificate: 12
Starring: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey
Director: Emile Ardolino
Aspect ratio:
Running time: 100 mins
Audio options:
Film synopsis: A well-to-do if cynical young lady goes to a respectable summer camp in the 1960s, only to fall for one of the camp’s hunky dance instructors. As you do. Untold dramas follow. As they do.
|
|
Picture quality |
For a minute here we thought we’d accidentally put the DVD version in instead of the Blu-ray. But sadly, we hadn’t. Rather it transpires that despite being mastered in 1080p/24fps, the picture quality on the disc is one of the sorriest excuses for an HD transfer we’ve seen.
Seriously, we know the film is hardly the newest. But we’re only talking 1987 here, not 1887. So we can see no good reason for the extreme softness of the picture, the horrendous amounts of grain and – shudder – MPEG artefacting, or the slightly strange colour toning that frequently slips in.
We also have to take issue with the full 16:9 aspect ratio of the transfer. For while this fills your widescreen TV nicely, it means a bit of the image has had to be trimmed off the sides to convert the film from its original 1.85:1 ratio. Boo and, indeed, hiss.
It might well be that nobody puts Baby in the corner, but on the evidence of this picture quality, the Dirty Dancing Blu-ray should certainly be put back on the shelf. |
|
Sound quality |
Impressively for a relatively vintage film, the Dirty Dancing Blu-ray carries both a 6.1 uncompressed soundtrack and a 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX. Less impressively, neither of these mixes are much cop.
The Dolby Digital Surround mode is your best bet, but even with this there’s only a half-hearted and sporadic effort to direct any of the mix to the rear channel, and although the film’s music spreads across the front soundstage nicely with decent clarity and tone, dialogue sounds rather unnatural and thin, so that it appears somehow separate from the rest of the mix.
|
|
Extra features |
This is the 20th anniversary release of Dirty Dancing, so it’s nice to find they’ve really gone to town with the extra features. In fact, short of throwing in free dancing lessons and a new right foot to replace my second left one, it's hard to see what else could have been included.The full list of features provided looks like this:
1. Commentary track by writer/co-producer Eleanor Bergstein.
2. Commentary track featuring choreographers Kenny Ortega and Miranda Garrison, cinematographer Jeff Jur, costume designer Hilary Rosenfeld, and production designer David Chapman.
3. Dirty Dancing 20th Anniversary Pop-Up trivia track.
4. Interview with Patrick Swayze.
5. A tribute to Jerry Orbach biography
6. 11 deleted scenes.
7. Three alternate scenes.
8. Six extended scenes.
9. Outtakes.
10. Screen test footage of the stars.
11. Multi-angle dance scene.
12. The Classic Story on Stage featurette.
13. Photo gallery.
14. Interviews with Jennifer Grey, Bergstein and Ortega.
15. Three music videos (Hungry Eyes, She's Like The Wind, (I've had) The Time Of My Life)
16. Tribute to director Ardolino.
For a review of every feature on the disc, click here.
|
|
Presentation |
The main menu for this disc is superbly done, with extensive use of moving video, beautifully presented quotes from the film, a repeating segment from (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life, and overall a design feel that fits the film perfectly. So yes, there’s lots of pink.
You can also access everything using pop up menus during the film.
The Last Word Although the Blu-ray picture quality is hugely disappointing, we suspect that the outstanding array of extra features on offer will be enough in themselves to keep Dirty Dancing devotees happy. |
|
 |
To get a real feel for just how poor the picture quality is, watch the scene where Baby first dances with Johnny Castle and check out the horrendous noise levels in the reds and skin tones. Then, as the movie cuts to an external shot on a beach, marvel at how a supposedly high definition picture can look so soft. |
 |
Lynn Lipton was the original choice to play Baby’s mum, but was ultimately ditched in favour of Kelly Bishop – even though this meant some reshoots - because on the first day of shooting she is reported to have said, ‘You know, I have to have seven small meals a day, I have to eat every half hour’. This caused director Emile Ardolino to decide that she needed to be replaced to keep the film on schedule and budget!
|
|
|