Ferris Bueller`s Day Off (UK)

If your a fan of "The Breakfast Club" or other teen movies and you haven`t seen this one your missing out ! This has to be one of the best films of this particular genre and it is one of my personal favourites. What amazed me was that my younger brother (17) had never even even heard of it, so I guess that there are alot of people out there who will not have seen this and would appreciate it. Ferris Bueller is an excellent character who has an imense amounts of charisma and luck. The film follows a day in the life of Ferris skipping school and the antics he and his friends get up too.

I didn`t have high expectations for the video as the film is from 1986 (year after Back to the future 1 for comparison) yet it does look very good. There are odd artifacts and dirt yet nothing overly intrusive. Colours are warm and the 80`s fashion really show them off ! The city of Chicago is filmed very beautifully and features quite heavily.

The Audio is ok, perhaps a little flat but still good. Its provided in Dolby Digital 5.1 which, in my opinion, is almost unecessary as the film is not a big sound effects afair. The soundtrack on the other hand is superb featuring many good songs including Oh Yeah by Yello.

The Features on the film only include a commentry by John Hughes and that is it. Hughes` commentry I feel is only for the die hard fan and alot of the time he just talks about what the characters are thinking, and their persona. The film is slightly lacking in this area, it is old, yet a cult classic so perhaps Paramount could have done a little more. All in all a fantastic film and a good conversion to DVD. I love it and my brother loved it too !!

"Save Ferris"

A great teen movie of the 80s. This movie is one of my favourite films of all time. Ferris Bueller is a laid back guy who knows that you wont be young forever and has made it his mission to enjoy his youth as much as possible. His best friend cameron is the complete opposite of this. He is nervous and edgy and worries alot. On one typical school day, Ferris decides to have a day off and fakes sickness. His friend cameron is actually sick but Ferris persuades him to come out on this wonderful day and they meet up with ferris`s girlfriend go to the city in Camerons dads prized ferrari much to camerons disapproval. Together they make the most of this day off and have a lot of fun. This movie is so hilarious. The school principle, Rooney is always trying to catch Ferris with hilarious results. A must see movie.

The picture quality aint that great but for its time it is pretty good. Also goes the same for the sound. The film boasts nothing spectacular for sound apart from Ferris`s "Twist and Shout" routine. Extras is dissapointing, There is only a commentary which is good but this film deserves more.

A must own!

"I did have a test today. That wasn`t bullshit. It`s on European socialism. I mean, really, what`s the point? I`m not European, I don`t plan on being European, so who gives a crap if they`re socialists?" -- Ferris Bueller

`Ferris Bueller`s Day Off` may be one of the best comedies ever written, and certainly the greatest John Hughes film ever made. `Ferris Bueller`s Day Off` combines all the proper elements of a good old-fashioned road movie, with those of a successful Broadway show. Broderick shows more with a gesture or a look in this movie than some actors do in their entire career. And it is one of the few successful movies ever to break the fifth wall, and have its main character address the audience directly.

"They could be fascist anarchists. That still wouldn`t change the fact that I don`t own a car. Not that I condone fascism, or any ism for that matter. Isms in my opinion are not good." -- Ferris Bueller.

The film`s real appeal comes in it`s ability to allow us to insert ourselves into the situations it contains. We all knew an anal retentive guy like Ferris` best friend, and we all knew the subtle, smaller role characters as well. Everyone has those days when they want to stay home, but few take the steps Ferris does in making the most of those days. While the movie is fun and entertaining, it is very contrived, and has some unbelievable plot holes. This withstanding, the movie is a classic, and deserves at least a chance. So next you get the desire to skip work/school, take the day off with Ferris, and you`ll laugh all afternoon.

Just remember.."Life moves pretty fast. If you don`t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it." -- Ferris Bueller.