Private School [Blu-ray]

**UPDATE NOV 2019** Shout Factory's Bluray release contains Bonus Features that could have been better. Michael Zorek's commentary and Matthew Modine's interview are okay, but are a little dry. Modine in particular seems very sedate and tentative. At one point he says he was uncomfortable with the Sexploitation angle of the film and felt bad for Betsy Russell. Ironic, since it was Betsy who was nude and in her interview she states she had no problem with it, mostly because Phoebe Cates (whom she idolized) told her it was no big deal. Modine says he was intimidated by Cates' confidence and sings the praises of the veteran character actors like Ray Walston and Fran Ryan. Both he and Russell detail the casting process (Vincent D'Onofrio was up for the role of Bubba). I wish Kathleen Wilhoite had participated because she is so animated and lively it would have made the features more interesting. This is miles above other ‘80s teen sex comedies like SCREWBALLS or SPRING BREAK. It’s so well-written, the direction is perfect, the pacing never drags, and the acting is superior to what is usually found in these types of films. Even the minor characters are memorable and well-written. The adult roles are cast with veterans like Ray Walston and Fran Ryan and talented actors like Julie Payne and Richard Stahl--it even has Frances Bay (the “rye bread” lady from SEINFELD) but none of them embarrass themselves because everything they do or say is genuinely funny. I was too young to see this in theatres in 1983 but I did catch in on TV two years later and it was BIG deal because they left all the swearing in. Watching it today, it seems pretty tame and quaint in terms of vulgarity but there is still lots of nudity and the theme song is the crass Harry Nilsson 1972 song YOU’RE BREAKIN’ MY HEART which sets the tone right away. Actually, the soundtrack is fantastic and a perfect time capsule of the early ‘80s that features Stray Cats, Bow-Wow-Wow, Rick Springfield, Vanity 6 and Men’s Room. Phoebe Cates even gets in on it and belts out a great rocker called HOW DO I LET YOU KNOW. Aside from the music, there’s a totally ‘80s Aerobics sequence that features Phoebe Cates and Betsy Russell in leotards and legwarmers (a young, then unknown Paula Abdul is in too but hard to pick out). Kathleen Wilhoite is hilarious in this. I became a big fan of hers based on this movie. I would love to see outtakes and commentary. I really wish some company like Kino Lorber or Olive Films would release a deluxe Bluray version of this complete with extras. I would love to hear from Betsy Russell, Phoebe Cates but especially Michael Zorek and Kathleen Wilhoite since their characters were my favorite. Kathleen did a commentary on the MURPHY’S LAW Bluray and it was so lively and spirited, I bet she could fill the running time just by herself! Until then, the DVD is bare-bones, but video/audio quality is terrific, and this movie is still great fun.

I really can't beleive all the negative remarks about how cheesy or corny this movie was. It's SUPPOSED to be. That's what makes this movie great. Most people will buy this movie for it's eye candy scenes and cool soundtrack anyway. I saw this movie back when it was released and if you love movies like Porky's and Fast Times and Valey Girl..(another good one)..then you will love this movie. It's not supposed to be superior or even taken seriously. FULL FRONTAL?? Forget about it. That's what makes this movie so great. Studios wouldnt' dare do a movie like that today. This movie was the mother of all movies and also got away with alot of things. Ahhhh I MISS THE MOVIES OF YESTERDAY. Ok a little tidbit here...The television version adds footage that was deleted from the theatrical release and this dvd release as well. Since it had to be severely edited for tv they had to put in extra scenes for the televised versions to complete the two hour running time. The television scenes were 1)- A scene of christine and jim having dinner at the hotel they've come to lose their virginity at. 2)- Shots of Jim and Christine taking turns jogging from their car into a drugstore to buy condoms. 3)-The scene at the end where the girls moon Mrs. Dutchbok is replaced by a shot where the girls moon her wearing their underwear instead. 4)-The opening scene in the dvd is replaced by another song that's different from the televised version. The television version has the song "private school" in the opening credits. Also if you have the original VHS version they actually show the girls actually mooning Mrs. Dutchbok in the nude...for some reason they added the television clip to the DVD release instead of the original one. I found that a bit odd. Phobe Cates sings two songs in the movie. "how do i let you know" and the duet.."just one touch".

Scoring a surprise hit with 1981's "Private Lessons," producer R. Ben Efraim quickly set out to capitalize on the success. While he couldn't put together a sequel (that would eventually come in 1993), Efraim managed to assemble "Private School" for a 1983 release, hoping to give young audiences a suitable R-rated distraction for the summer moviegoing season. The pictures have almost nothing in common (except the appearance of "Private Lessons" star Sylvia Kristel), but they share a common interest in titillation. With the teen horndog subgenre in full swing at this time in marketplace history, Efraim aims to play into the trend, with "Private School" more of a sketch comedy film, offering a string of pranks, mistakes, and tomfoolery to fill the time between topless activity. There's nothing to the endeavor, and that contributes a great deal to its appeal. Chris (Phoebe Cates) is a high school student at Cherryvale Academy, joined by her roommate, Betsy (Kathleen Wilhoite). The pair live next to Jordan (Betsy Russell), a bad girl who wants to claim Chris's boyfriend, Jim (Matthew Modine), for herself, dreaming up ways to break the pair up. Jim goes to school at Freemount Academy, palling around with Roy (Jonathan Prince) and Bubba (Michael Zorek), who's dating Betsy. All the guys want to do is spy on naked women, turning up the high jinks as they try to infiltrate Cherryvale to get a closer look at the showering students. For Chris and Jim, the time has come for their first sexual experience, but the pair fumble with the details, unsure if this is the right step forward for them, allowing Jordan a chance to destroy their happiness. "Private School" doesn't have a plot. The only thing that resembles a dramatic arc in the picture is the uneasiness between Jim and Chris as they prepare for a romantic weekend at a hotel, working up the nerve for their deflowering plans. Beyond that, there's little more to the viewing experience than a series of pranks and jokes, with the sexed-up men of Freemount spending all their free time trying to ogle the women of Cherryvale. Even director Noel Black (1968's Pretty Poison) gets in on the action, hired to provide as many shots of bare breasts and bent-over characters as possible (there's an entire scene devoted to the observance of the Cherryvale students working through a calisthenics routine), often stopping the movie to do so. It's this impressive dedication to sexploitation that keeps "Private School" on the move, with Jordan often weaponizing her sexuality, including a topless horse ride to catch Jim's attention. Bubba is an insatiable moron, irritated with Betsy's demand for foreplay, openly trying to cheat on his girlfriend (he's a wholly unlikable character, but Zorek goes for it with his wet-lipped performance). When nudity is offered a smoke break, shenanigans take over, finding Chris and Betsy orchestrating a flaming bag of fecal matter joke on Jordan, while the guys are so hard-up for attention, they dress as women to infiltrate Chris's dorm, which gives Jim a full blast of Jordan's powers of seduction. While Shout Factory can only get their hands on an older scan of the feature, "Private School" offers a decent upgrade to Blu-ray. The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation offers a softer, slightly more processed look at the movie, but most detail is preserved, handling costumes with mild textures, and school decoration is open for inspection, including the cluttered walls of the dorm rooms. Colors are acceptable, offering plenty of skintones, which remain natural, and clothing has highlights as bright purples and reds dominate wardrobes. Greenery is acceptable. Delineation is comfortable, preserving frame information during evening antics. Source is in fine shape. The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix secures the party vibe of "Private School," offering clear dialogue exchanges that track all comedic and dramatic efforts, never slipping into distortion as excitable energy increases. Soundtrack selections carrying an agreeable presence on the track, boosted in volume when the need arrives. Instrumentation is appreciable. Atmospherics are acceptable, capturing dorm disorder and party activity. Private School Blu-ray, Special Features and Extras: Commentary #1 features actor Michael Zorek. Commentary #2 features authorMike McPadden (Teen Movie Hell)and Aaron Lee (Family Guy) Interview (28:17, HD) sits down with Matthew Modine, who seems a little uneasy to be talking about "Private School," choosing his answers carefully. Initially stumped when asked to provide a premise for the feature, Modine recounts his audition process, where he worked to soften an angry script, making his Jim likeable (sharing the afternoon with Vincent D'Onofrio, who was up for Bubba). To win the part, his audition was tested with women, with their approval helping to secure his employment. There's a discussion of the character actors in the film, with their experience providing a beacon of professionalism for the younger talent. Modine offers appreciation for his co-stars and crew, including Phoebe Cates (awed by her confidence), Betsy Russell (won over by her intelligence and bravery, though he's openly dismissive of the sexploitation aspects of the production), Michael Zorek (enjoying his broadness, while the producers were pushing him as the next John Belushi), Jonathan Prince (their friendship endures to this day), director Noel Black (distant but nice, struggling with a tense shoot), and dialogue coach Jerry Zaks (who helped the young star deal with his drama school education when basic slapstick was required). Modine offers an appreciation for the "Private School" fanbase, and details his experience with a changing industry, happy to have such a professional opportunity at a young age. Interview (17:07, HD) with Betsy Russell initially offers her interpretation of Jordan, a character she doesn't view as a villain. Russell shares her audition story, electing to wear a skin-colored bodysuit under her clothes to make an impression, claiming the part right after. Resembling Phoebe Cates, the actress was asked to change her hair color for the part, and Russell explores her relationship with her co-star, as Cates provided help with comfort and support, becoming sisterly. Nude scenes are examined, with the naïve 19-year-old woman unsure of Hollywood rules, ready to give the production whatever it needed, including the horse riding sequence, where she quickly got rid of her helmet to look as fabulous as possible. Her co-star in the scene wasn't helpful, with horse issues making things difficult. Russell shares her first impressions of the movie, which she saw with her father(!), and offers positive memories of the shoot and the learning experience it created with her first major role. VHS Version (88:34, SD) provides a low-res presentation of "Private School," with Shout Factory hoping to tap into nostalgia by providing the feature the way most first-time viewers saw it. Image Gallery (8:08) collects film stills, publicity shots, poster art, lobby cards, a magazine article, and scans of personal items from Matthew Modine's private archive. Radio Spots (8:04) offer 11 advertisements for "Private School." And a Teaser Trailer (1:20, SD) and Trailer (:52, SD) are included, the latter hilariously pushing Zorek's Bubba as the lead character of the movie.

Private School is your typical 80”s cheese. However, this movie has a heart. It’s great to see this movie get the BluRay treatment it deserves. Also, the soundtrack features some great early 80”s artists.

Great 80s teen flick. Love the movie but buyer beware, it only comes in 2.0 channel mono. No 5.1 stereo surround sound as with other 80s Blu-ray remasters. Very disappointed in the audio but the feel good flashback of the movie itself makes up for it.

It's a fine funny movie. I enjoyed it.

This review is only for the Shout Factory Blu-ray release. This movie has plot and dialog and professional actors who could get work without needing to do nude scenes and stuff. It is a comedy and I have no sense of humor so I cannot comment on that stuff. The Blu-ray image quality is crystal clear, and the image is designed to fit most normal widescreen TVs, with a ratio of 1.85:1, without cutting off the bottom third of the image the way anamorphic widescreen videos do. This Disc has 2 different commentary tracks, both of which have interesting stuff at times. One of the commentaries is actor Michael Zorek, who was the dude in a dress in the shower scene, and he has some interesting comments about acting with a bunch of naked women. The disc has interviews with Matthew Bodine and Betsy Russell. This movie has several nude scenes, including Betsy Russell wearing only a towel and having it ripped of with very brief full nudity, a scene with Betsy Russell showing her breasts to Matthew Bodine, a few seconds later a scene where Betsy Russell's blouse is ripped off while she is riding a horse, and an iconic shower scene featuring Playboy Playmate Lynda Weismeier, and an uncredited Brinke Stevens, and several other foxy naked women. Near the end of the movie Phoebe Cates is seen wearing a wet, almost transparent dress showing partial nudity, and then apparent body-doubles portraying Phoebe Cates and Matthew Bodine embracing while not showing their faces. A person could argue the shower scene is better than the shower scene in Porky's. It has a strange DVD Extra which is the entire movie as it was shown on VHS, where Betsy Russell's brief nude scene was off the right side of the screen because VHS movies were usually truncated to fit the old fashioned almost square TVs in the 1900s. The "VHS" version also has the low image quality of VHS tapes. Interestingly, the VHS image shows a bit of the bottom of the image that is cut off the Blu-ray version, but nothing significant is missing on the Blu-ray image. The "VHS" version is also darker.

Hilarious fun

Super Film, muss Mann gesehen haben

Mijn blu ray speler kan de film niet afspelen, want het is een regio A disc.

another oldie but goodie

A good film I watched it the evening of its arrival ONE HAS a cruch on Phoebe now

Great quality