The Good

A strong Blu-ray release for a title that has shown startling longevity.

The Bad

Packaging could have been a bit more peppy.

Dirty Dancing is the simplistic and not so simplistic tale of "Baby" Houseman (Jennifer Grey) and the man she falls in love with, Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze). "Baby" is a sheltered girl who is very much the apple of her parents eye. When they take their annual summer vacation in the Catskills, "Baby" finds herself attracted to Castle and these private dancing parties that the whole staff seems to be engaged in. Circumstances present themselves so that "Baby" has to help Johnny in a dance performance, and you can bet that "Baby's" parents are not happy at all when they find out what their daughter is up to. Eventually, "Baby" realizes that she is going to have to stand up for who she is, and Johnny Castle understands that he is going to have to show her parents that "nobody puts Baby in the corner."

While the plot of this 1987 film might seem a bit tame by today's standards, Dirty Dancing is one of those films that captured the imagination of the world and went on to become an amazing smash hit.

Features

Commentary Tracks

On this release they have put a commentary track with Eleanor Bergstein and there is also a Multivoice Track featuring Choreographer Kenny Ortega, Miranda Garrison, Jeff Jur, Hilary Rosenfeld and David Chapman. As I am not the biggest fan of commentaries where there are so many people, I decided to listen to Bergstein by herself. Since she wrote and co-produced this film, I felt that she would offer the keenest insights. She talked about how this movie was based on her own life experience, why she wanted to bring this story to the big screen, and how she hopes everyone takes away something special from screening this film.

Dirty Dancing 20th Anniversary Pop-Up Trivia Track

Dirty Dancing With Patrick Swayze and Interviews

One can hear insights from Jennifer Grey, Eleanor Bergstein and Kenny Ortega as well as the aforementioned Swayze. While I can appreciate that everybody wanted to sit down and be counted among the participants, the person I really wanted to hear from was Swayze. As a young boy watching him in movies, he was the ultimate alpha male. From The Outsiders to Red Dawn, this guy was a man's man. Then out of nowhere he does this dance movie and it turns out that he has actually been groomed his whole life to play this part. As I was watching this section I kept thinking to myself, "How come his career stalled when it seemed like he was moving from hit to hit?

Deleted Scenes, Alternate Scenes and Outtakes

Tribute to Jerry Orbach and Emile Ardolino Tribute

Seeing as how I am a big Law & Order fan, and I also just watched Prince of the City, I had to give some time to my man Jerry Orbach. This guy may not have differed his performances very much, but there is something comforting about how he acted. His vocal tone, his cadences, his ability to get his point across by simply giving a look or saying a few choice words. While I don't think tributes are ever long enough, I think Orbach would be happy to see what was done on his behalf for this Blu-ray disc.

Sadly, I only had time to skim through the Emile Ardolino Tribute. As it turns out I have actually seen some of his other films like Chances Are and 3 Men And A Little Lady. Unfortunately, this talented director passed away at the age of 50 from AIDS.

Multi-Angle Dance Sequences and The Classic Story on Stage

Video

1.85:1 Widescreen - MPEG 4 Codec. 1080p HD resolution. This movie looked as good as I remember it looking. For some reason, when I was younger I thought that it had a more "period" look, but on this viewing I didn't feel like this movie screamed 1963 like it before. There was some grain in the images and I attribute that to nobody knowing that the Blu-ray format was going to exist back when this movie was being made. There is a great deal of color and detail that this release seems to have, although I can't say that I noticed anything on this screening that I didn't see before.

Audio

English: PCM 6.1. This movie sounded pretty darn good. In fact, the audio seemed about as full as I recall it being when it played in the theater. It was really nice to hear the oldies from that time, and I also noticed that there wasn't much tonal difference when the music was blasting or the characters were talking. For some reason, it seems like these Blu-ray discs can bolster the audio for these releases much easier than they can the picture. Interestingly, I recall this movie being such a hit that old standards from the 1960s were playing on the regular radio when this movie was in theaters in 1987.

Package

A computer enhanced, reverse shot of Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey doing their iconic kiss is the only image on this front cover. The back features a few more shots from Dirty Dancing, a well written description of what this movie is about, an extensive Special Features listing and technical specs.

Final Word

Believe it or not, I saw Dirty Dancing probably 10 times. I think I saw it once in the theater and then I must've seen it a gazillion times on its home video and cable TV runs. I can't say that I did this because the film is one of my favorite movies, there was just something about it that stayed with me. I liked the story, the dancing, the songs (yes, even "She's Like the Wind" which is sung by Patrick Swayze) and just about everything else. However, looking back on my many times watching it, I really cannot account for why I felt this way. I remember talking to my late Aunt and I was trying to figure out why she liked this movie so much. She told me that she went to places like "Baby" did in the movie, and that because of this she was able to relate to what was on screen. For some reason, I liked this, and I think that's why I continued to watch the movie over and over again.

All in all, they have seemingly put everything possible in this release and if you're daring in your Blu-ray purchases, then Dirty Dancing is something you need to own.

Dirty Dancing was released August 21, 1987.