50 First Dates 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

50 First Dates 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Random access memory.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III July 1, 2026

One of the first of many films on Adam Sandler's résumé to double as a paid vacation, Peter Segal's 50 First Dates attempts to recapture his chemistry with co-star Drew Barrymore after the success of The Wedding Singer. It tries awful hard to create sparks and even manages to succeed a few times, but once again is weighed down by ridiculous supporting characters, pointless detours, and sappy attempts at drama that would be better received if it didn't also include walrus vomit and tons of dick jokes. I mean, I like it better than Click, but that's not saying much.

Set in beautifully-shot Hawaii, 50 First Dates follows the looping life of one Lucy Whitmore (Barrymore), a young woman whose short-term memory was damaged in an automobile accident years ago. Every morning, she wakes up with no memory of what happened the day before, living each day roughly the same: reading the morning newspaper, ordering waffles at a local café, painting a mural in the garage, and listening to The Beach Boys. Her stoic but loving dad Martin (Blake Clarke) and lisping, muscle-bound brother Doug (Sean Astin) carefully control all of these events, dedicating their lives to protecting her from the truth by keeping each day exactly the same.

Along comes Henry Roth (Sandler), a long-time supporter of the one-night stand. He's a part-time womanizer but works locally as an exotic vet and, by chance, falls for Lucy during breakfast after a mishap. After learning her secret from the locals, including her overprotective father, Henry begins to think differently about relationships. Lovable Lucy seems to be the woman of his dreams, as he soon begins devoting more and more time to her company. Here's the problem: each morning brings a totally new "first date", and winning Lucy's favor gets more and more frustrating each time. Nonetheless, Henry seems committed to earning her trust and respect; he works hard to make things easier for Lucy, but also seems determined to one day rip the bandage off of her family's carefully-maintained illusion.

As a romantic comedy, 50 First Dates doesn't bring much excitement to the table, borrowing several elements from earlier memory-based movies like Groundhog Day while infusing the formula with those familiar Sandler clichés listed above. Henry Roth is virtually the same manchild-turned sap that "the Sandman" played in several of his previous films, and that parade of unnecessarily odd characters severely undercuts the film's dramatic momentum -- Doug's a main culprit for sure, as well as others including Henry's asexual vet assistant Alexa (Lusia Strus, whose character is constantly abused) and his one-eyed best friend Ula (Rob Schneider, doing yet another bone-headed stereotypical caricature). This lukewarm mixture of recycled elements, one-note supporting characters, and plenty of throwaway jokes make for an unfocused film that switches gears more often than it needs to. Only Sandler and Barrymore's undeniable chemistry -- and the lush Hawaiian scenery -- keep 50 First Dates afloat, but just barely.

For an alternate synopsis and warmer take on 50 First Dates, please see Martin Liebman's 2009 hindsight review of Sony's 2006 Blu-ray, which was actually released as a launch title for the format. That unavoidably dated disc, which was incidentally encoded in MPEG-2 to give you an idea of its age, has been given a massive upgrade via Sony's welcome new UHD edition, an MOD (pressed) title that includes solid gains in every department.

50 First Dates 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: These screenshots are sourced from the UHD disc but downscaled to 1080p/SDR and should not be considered an accurate representation of true 4K picture quality in terms of detail, color, and brightness levels.

Sony's well-appointed new 2160p/HDR10/Dolby Vision transfer of 50 First Dates absolutely outclasses their format-launching Blu-ray from 2006 in every category, which certainly is no real surprise. Encoded on a triple-layered disc with a very high and supportive bit rate, the on-location scenery looks outstanding here with immaculate fine detail, a color palette that hasn't been manipulated, and an organic appearance to match its film-shot roots. From wide landscapes displaying Hawaii's natural splendor to a tight close-up of Sean Astin's jiggling butt cheeks, from peaceful reflection by the ocean to spewing walrus vomit, everything looks to be rendered with precision and should represent a sizable jump in quality for anyone used to watching 50 First Dates on the 2006 Blu-ray. (I myself never went past DVD, so it was more like a quantum leap.) Plain and simple, this is how major studios should treat all catalog re-releases.

50 First Dates 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Not to be outdone are a pair of new audio options: a full-blown Dolby Atmos remix, and a more theatrically accurate DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track whose sonic footprint is close if not identical to the older Blu-ray's PCM 5.1 option. I could go either way here but I have to appreciate the added height and stronger precision of the Atmos track, which reinforces a lot of the indoor and especially outdoor ambiance (which includes a handful of weather events) as well as the original score and soundtrack, led by several lightly "exotic" covers of pop songs featured during The Wedding Singer (which is kind of cute, but a little to on-the-nose and perfectly representative of this film's contentment with recycling). In any case, either option is a good time, and the fact that we have both is even better.

Lossless French and Spanish 5.1 dubs on board here; optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are also present during the film as well as most of the bonus features listed below.

50 First Dates 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with familiar cover art, a matching slipcover, and a Digital Copy redemption code. The bonus features collected here are surprisingly much more robust than the 2006 Blu-ray, but those marked with an asterisk aren't new -- they're just rescued from the 2004 DVD edition and should be familiar to fans.

• Audio Commentary - A legacy track with Drew Barrymore and director Peter Segal.

• The Dating Scene: The Making of 50 First Dates* (20:14) - A general look behind-the-scenes of 50 First Dates, which was of course shot on location during the film's production. It's you typical DVD-era mix of candid set moments and short talking-head interviews, but should please fans of the film nonetheless.

• Talkin' Pidgin (4:54)

• Comedy Central "Reel Comedy" Special* (19:39) - Hosted by by "Ula" (Rob Schneider's one-eyed character), this promotional piece is predictably pretty candid and laid-back.

• NEW! HBO First Look* (12:07) - I couldn't find any evidence that this was hidden on the old Blu-ray or DVD editions, but this second promotional TV special features several members of the cast and crew; not surprisingly, it feels more like your typical all-purpose BTS piece but is worth a look.

• Blooper Reel (7:03)

• Deleted Scenes* (5:10) - This collection of clips also includes optional audio commentary.

• "Hold Me Now" by Wayne Wonder* (3:55) - A promotional music video for the cover song.

• Live Performance of "Amber" by 311* (3:46) - Exactly as the title suggests.

• "Love Song" by 311* (3:23) - Another music video from the band.

• NEW! Theatrical Trailer (2:26)

50 First Dates 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Despite its lush Hawaiian scenery and the undeniable chemistry between its two reunited leads, 50 First Dates is a mostly lukewarm Adam Sandler movie that piles rom-com clichés onto the typical "Sandman" formula from that era. Some may find it to be a fun spiritual sequel to The Wedding Singer, but this one didn't impress me much back in 2004 (when it was released in February, for whatever reason) and it hasn't aged gracefully during the last couple of decades. However... those who enjoy 50 First Dates will be absolutely thrilled with Sony's new 4K edition, which replaces a 20 year-old Blu-ray (!) and offers very solid improvements across the board. Highly Recommended to fans.