Ferris Bueller\'s Day Off
By: Brian Coyne
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The Film
Ferris Bueller's Day Off is one of the best films of the 80's. It jump started the careers of then young and mostly unknown talents such as Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jennifer Gray, and Charlie Sheen. For the two people who have not seen the movie it revolves around Ferris Bueller and his quest for the greatest day off ever. Bueller will stop at nothing to make his day perfect, tricking his parents, friends, and principal into believing what he tells them. Not to get into many details, since it is truly a film you must see to appreciate, Ferris weaves himself in and out of jams he faces while performing everything he could want to on his day off. Everyone has a friend like Ferris, one that can get away with and do anything he wants to do. I always found the difference with real life and the movie to be that Ferris is an enjoyable character while your friend who is like Ferris, you often want to punch in the face. It is really one of the most enjoyable films ever, and you will find yourself quoted it for days after watching it. Ben Stein's, "Bueller...Bueller..." has become a part of the American culture.
The movie has a running time of one hour and 42 minutes. They seem to have really cleaned up the picture for this release, as the picture is pretty much crystal clear (which is a lot than can be said about the initial release). The widescreen version is enhanced for 16:9 (widescreen) television and is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sounds (which also cannot be said about the other release). French is avaliable in 2.0 surround sound and there are subtitles for English and Spanish.
Extras
The first release actually is the one with a commentary track. For some reason, this new release did not come with the commentary track of John Hughes, which was avaliable on the first release. Other than that this release trumps the first release in every relm when talking about extras. First we get the Getting the Class Together: The Cast of Ferris Bueller's Day Off which includes Broderick, Ruck, Sara, Jeffrey Jones, Grey, Cindy Pickett, Lyman Ward, Edie McClruge, Ben Stein, and Kristy Swanson talking about their time making the movie and how they came to be in the movie. Some interesting stuff on this especially how Broderick and Ruck were actually working together in a play when they both were asked to do the film. Then there is the typical Making Of featurette. Some interesting new facts come from the other three new pieces put together for the release of the DVD. 'Who Is Ferris Bueller?' is each cast members' (excluding Borderick) opinion on what makes Ferris Bueller such a great character. 'The World According to Ben Stein' is a piece on how and why Stein came to work on the film. Then 'Vintage Ferris Bueller: The Lost Tapes' are various interviews with the cast members on the set that over the years were rarely shown, and probably for good reason.
The Verdict
Paramount seemed to put a decent amount of effort into making this special edition for the movie's 20th anniversary. They brought back all the major and minor stars that worked on the film and decided to clean up the actual film from the last release. There could be some extra footage and the inclusion of the John Hughes commentary from the first release, but for now this release should hold over any Bueller fan.
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