All the Right Moves (1983)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	1983
Running Time	86:39
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (42:38)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Michael Chapman
Studio Distributor	Twentieth Century Fox	Starring	Tom Cruise Lea Thompson Christopher Penn Craig T. Nelson
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	David Campbell

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired French German for the Hearing Impaired Italian French Titling German Titling Italian Titling	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    The classic US High School football drama, All The Right Moves, staring a very young Tom Cruise, has been released on DVD.

    In the 1980s there were a number of industrial cinderella movies, ranging from An Officer A Gentleman to Flashdance. The themes of these were almost all the same, and in many ways, timeless. Young no-hopers with a dream of leaving their bleak and gritty hometown in search of a better life, through using their special gift or talent. For Stef (Tom Cruise), in All The Right Moves, that's American Football. While the last few generations of his family has toiled in the local Pittsburgh steel-mill, American Pipe and Steel, Stef dreams of using his skill on the football field to win a scholarship to college, where he can become an engineer, and "decide what to do with the steel once it's made". Stef's girlfriend (Lea Thompson), and Stef's best friend, Brian (Christopher Penn), also have dreams, yet none of them are naive or idealistic. Rather, all of them are almost cynical, and well aware of the harsh realities of life. As they survey their older generations, they can clearly see the scrapheap of discarded hopes. Under the tutelage of their passionate football coach (Craig T Nelson), Stef's team pin all their hopes on one big win against another Pittsburgh high school, which should bring them all to prominence before the College Football Selectors.

    The movie features great, and early, film acting performances from Tom Cruise, Christopher Penn, and Lea Thompson. Craig T Nelson is dependable, as always, in the role of the football coach. Of note, there is great cinematography provided by Jan De Bont, who was also DOP on films such as Die Hard, Black Rain, The Hunt For The Red October, Basic Instinct, and Lethal Weapon 3. Of course De Bont also went on to have a directing career, which started very successfully with Speed and Twister, but then floundered with Speed 2 and The Haunting, However it might be saved with Tomb Raider 2 which is due out soon. In All The Right Moves, De Bont's work manages to capture the look and feel of a decaying industrial town. The bleakness is not only in the art direction, as many of De Bont's shots capture the loneliness and lost hope of some of the town's characters.

Video

    The transfer is extremely grainy, and limited by the very dated source material.

    The transfer is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. It is 16x9 enhanced.

    The sharpness is generally okay, but some scenes are soft, such as at 32:29. Of most note, the shadow detail is poor throughout. For example, consider the dark scenes in the car interior at 4:22, or the shadowy scene at 45:50.

    The colour is very drab, and while some of this appears to be intentional, overall, the image does appear slightly under-saturated.

    There are no real problems with MPEG artefacts.

    Film-to-video artefacts are present in the form of some slight aliasing, such as the shimmer on the tractor grill at 79:54, and some telecine wobble, which is most notable during the opening credits.

    Film artefacts appear frequently throughout.

    Seven sets of subtitles are present on the DVD, and the English subtitles are simplified but accurate.

    This is a RSDL disc, with the layer change placed at 42:38. As it is between scenes it is not too disruptive.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Originally released theatrically in Optical Mono, and remixed into Dolby Digital 5.1 for this DVD, the audio retains much of its original feel.

    Apart from the default English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448kb/s) audio track, there are also the following audio options: French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192kb/s), German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192kb/s), and Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192kb/s).

    The dialogue quality and audio sync are acceptable on the default English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track.

    The musical score is credited to David Campbell. It is usually quite minimalist and synthesizer-based, but it is still effective. There are also a smattering of 1980s-style sounds throughout.

    The surround presence and LFE activity is extremely limited. I didn't hear anything of any great value from the rears, or from the subwoofer.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    The extras are limited to one trailer.

Menu

    A very simple menu.

Theatrical Trailer (2:34)

    Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced, with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio.

    All The Right Moves has been released on DVD in Region 1.

    The Region 4 DVD misses out on:

• Theatrical trailer in Spanish
• Four other trailers for Fox movies

    The Region 1 DVD misses out on:

• German and Italian audio options

    As there appears to be no compelling reason to favour one version, I would call them even.

   Although All The Right Moves is showing its age, its theme remains timeless, and is still very enjoyable.

    The video quality is disappointing but still watchable.

    The audio quality is good, considering its limited source material.

    The extra is really not worth mentioning.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall