Risky Business
October 2008 Reviewed by: Rad Bennett Format: Blu-ray	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Here is yet a third iconic movie due out in October, the other two being The Godfather and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Those who found the last shot of the recent Tropical Thunder amazing, with Tom Cruise doing an animated "in private only" dance, shouldn’t have been all that surprised since the actor made his first big impression on the world in this movie, where he mimes and dances to Bob Seger’s "Old Time Rock and Roll." That sexy, playful, nearly lewd scene is discussed in great detail on this 25th-anniversary disc. Cruise apparently got that initial slide in from the wings perfect by waxing half the floor. He just stopped where the wax did. It’s a scene that anyone who has ever been to the movies knows and enjoys seeing again.

Cruise, of course, has gone on to be a Hollywood legend as well as a wealthy man. His co-star in Risky Business was Rebecca De Mornay, who has moved forward with success too, culminating in her lead role on the hit television series The Medium. Director and screenplay writer Paul Brickman only directed one additional movie, 1990’s Men Don’t Leave, which was far more popular with critics than the public.

In case you’ve missed Risky Business (is that possible?), Cruise plays teenager Joel Goodson, who is in his last year of high school and planning to pursue a career in business. His parents leave on vacation, entrusting the house to his care. Just like all his friends, Joel has raging hormones and a recurrent dream in which he discovers a nude beauty in the shower. His friends urge him to contact a hooker and live it up, so after some fits and starts, he meets Lana (De Mornay) who really rocks his world. She turns out to be the girl of Joel’s dreams and a nightmare, and then turns into his muse and business associate. Joel steals her away from her pimp, Guido (Joe Pantoliano), which causes serious and comedic repercussions down the pike.

Risky Business is a dark comedy, much deeper than the usual teen comedy. Its characters are likable to a fault and its comic setups are often quite amusing. My favorite is with Guido in high-speed vehicular pursuit of Joel, Lana, and Joel’s friend Miles (Curtis Armstrong). At one climatic point, Miles seems to sum up teen angst: "I don’t believe this. I have a trig midterm tomorrow and I’m being chased by Guido the killer pimp."

Risky Business hasn’t received a full restoration for this Blu-ray release. It was shot as a throwaway movie and is fairly grainy and rough-looking at times. The Blu-ray does provide more detail and better colors than we’ve seen in any previous home-video release of it. The audio is fairly standard for the early ‘80s, without much atmospheric surround or full use of the 360-degree soundfield. The music (both that by soundtrack composers Tangerine Dream and the source music) sounds excellent, with some serious and substantial bass.

The extras are light but entertaining. There’s a picture-in-picture running commentary with Cruise, Brickman, and producer Jon Avent that is easygoing and relaxed and fairly informative. But most important, there’s the director’s cut for the ending of the movie, which darkens the tone a lot. In addition, there is an original trailer and a new 25th-anniversary retrospective featurette. And to show that Blu-ray might finally be coming of age, all the extras are HD, not SD like they usually are.

Risky Business jump started Tom Cruise’s career and, to my mind, gives evidence that he’s much better at comedy than most. It also gave us an iconic scene or two that have become part of our culture. The Blu-ray Disc edition is the best-looking and -sounding version of it that we are likely to see for a long time.

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