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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

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Released 10-Apr-2002

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy Audio Commentary-John Hughes (Director)
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 1986
Running Time 98:45
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (63:24) Cast & Crew
Start Up Language Select Then Programme
Region Coding 4 Directed By John Hughes
Studio
Distributor

Paramount Home Entertainment
Starring Matthew Broderick
Mia Sara
Alan Ruck
Case Amaray-Transparent
RPI $39.95 Music Ira Newborn


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
English for the Hearing Impaired
Bulgarian
Danish
German
French
Croatian
Icelandic
Dutch
Norwegian
Portuguese
Finnish
Swedish
Turkish
English Audio Commentary
German Audio Commentary
Spanish Audio Commentary
French Audio Commentary
Italian Audio Commentary
Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits Yes, during and after

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    Ferris Bueller's Day Off is a classic film about a high school student and his friends who decide to ditch school for the day.

    Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) is a Chicago high school senior who is "adored by all sportoes, motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wasteoids, dweebies and d*ckheads". He decides to skip school, and as this is his ninth day off for the year, he must make it count. Ferris convinces his best friend, Cameron (Alan Ruck), to help him and with Ferris' girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara) they head off to the city for a day of fun. To make their way into the city, they borrow Cameron's father's one love, a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California. Unfortunately, they have a problem with the car and this threatens to expose them all.

    This classic movie was written and directed by John Hughes who was also responsible for such films as Uncle Buck and The Breakfast Club. If by some chance you have not seen this film before, you should definitely take a look at it, and if you are a fan do not hesitate to grab a copy.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer is surprisingly sharp throughout and displays high levels of detail. No low level noise was detected. The images are always well lit and there are never any problems with shadow detail.

    As typically seen in films of this age, the colour palette is slightly muted.

    No MPEG artefacts were detected at any stage during the transfer. Unfortunately, a large amount of aliasing may be seen throughout. Some examples of this may be seen at 0:49, 1:41, 3:24, 6:53, 9:14, 9:54 and 11:42. These artefacts continue throughout the transfer and are moderately distracting. A number of moiré artefacts may also be seen at 21:59, 22:38, 23:24 and 23:40 which are moderately distracting.

    A number of very minor film artefacts are on offer. Examples of these artefacts may be seen at 19:27, 21:06, 23:13, 25:05, 25:18 and 26:08. All of these artefacts are very small.

    Fourteen different sets of subtitles are provided for the film. I extensively sampled the English and English for the Hearing Impaired streams and found them to consistently abbreviate the spoken dialogue. These abbreviations were all quite minor but they were slightly annoying. The subtitle stream on the R1 disc contains slightly fewer modifications.

    The layer change occurs at 63:24, part way through Chapter 10 at a scene change. It is not distracting to the viewer.

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

Audio

    An English Dolby Digital 448 kbps 5.1 audio mix and German, Spanish, French and Italian Dolby Digital 192 kbps 2.0 surround tracks are provided on this disc. I listened to the English track in full and briefly sampled the other tracks.

    The dialogue was always clear and easy to understand at all times. No problems with dropouts or audio sync were detected.

    The musical score by Ira Newborn suits the on-screen action well and is supplemented by a number of distinctive musical tracks such as Yello's Oh Yeah.

    The surround and subwoofer channels were used minimally throughout with the majority of the transfer focused across the front three channels. This is very similar to the original audio mix and is suitable for the material presented.

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

Extras

    Only a single extra is included on this disc.

Menu

    The non-animated menu is presented at an aspect ratio of either 1.78:1 or 1.33:1 depending upon your player setup.

Commentary: John Hughes (Writer/Director)

    During this scene-specific feature length commentary, writer/director John Hughes discusses locations, the cast, influences for the script and the actors' performances. This track does contain some interesting details but unfortunately he spends much of the time simply describing the on-screen action. A set of English, German, French, Spanish and Italian subtitles are provided for the commentary.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;

    The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;

    As both versions offer a very similar video transfer and the included 5.1 audio mix is tightly focused across the front three channels I would have no real preference for either version.

Summary

    Ferris Bueller's Day Off is a classic comedy that will appeal to a wide audience.

    The video transfer is marred by a relatively large amount of aliasing.

    The 5.1 audio mix is focused across the front three channels but this is suitable for a film of this age.

    The commentary track provides some interesting information but this could have been supplemented with at least a theatrical trailer and cast and crew biographies.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Anthony Kable (read my bio)
Friday, March 08, 2002
Review Equipment
DVDToshiba 1200, using S-Video output
DisplaySony KP-E41SN11. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationFront left/right: ME75b; Center: DA50ES; rear left/right: DA50ES; subwoofer: NAD 2600 (Bridged)
SpeakersFront left/right: VAF DC-X; Center: VAF DC-6; rear left/right: VAF DC-7; subwoofer: Custom NHT-1259

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