A Christmas Story Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		2.5
Audio		2.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

A Christmas Story Blu-ray Movie Review

Be sure to drink your Ovaltine while watching this Blu-ray disc!

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 13, 2007

Christmas was on its way! Lovely, beautiful, glorious Christmas around which the entire kid year revolves.

I'm not sure if there is a way to really know, but I would bet Red Rider BB Guns to Ovaltine containers that more Americans have seen A Christmas Story than any other movie, including The Wizard of Oz and Star Wars. It's on for 24 straight hours on one of the Turner networks every Christmas season. It's one of the most beloved films of all time, and not just among its Christmas movie brethren. I've seen this movie so many times that as I sat down to watch this, I wondered if I would still feel the same about this movie now as I did growing up. The answer is a resounding "yes." It's easily a perfect 5/5, and it deserves more. I feared becoming numb to the charm of the movie having seen it so often, but ultimately felt quite the opposite. It still brings every bit the smile to my face now as it did years and years ago. Its classic status remains. A Christmas Story is a perfect harmony of Christmas joy, the realization of dreams, wit and humor, and conveying the joy of sharing Christmas with the ones you love. I'm sure I'll love this movie as much (if not more) through my next 29 years as I have during my first 29. No other Christmas movie reaches quite the level as this one, and it's legendary status is well deserved.

Blast away kid!

All Ralphie (Peter Billingsley, The Break-Up) wants for Christmas is an official Red Ryder carbine action 200 shot range model air rifle (not to mention the included and all-important compass in the stock and a thing that tells time). He tries to drop subtle hints everywhere he goes. Anything that could possibly persuade an adult into buying it for him is fair game. He slips an advertisement for the gun into a copy of his mother’s Look Magazine and perks up when the rest of the class groans in despair over having to write a theme on “What I Want For Christmas.” He even has a fantasy sequence of him saving his family from “Black Bart” and his band of thieves. Finally, his teacher and mother reject the idea, telling him that he'll "shoot his eye out." In a desperate move, he turns to his last option: Santa Claus. In a panic and a daze after waiting in a long line to see Jolly Old Saint Nick, watching as horrified kids are thrown down a scary slide by angry teenage elves, Ralphie draws a blank once he is on Santa's lap. He can't remember what it is he so desperately wants for Christmas! Santa suggests a football, and Ralphie, in a near comatose state, agrees that a football would make a nice gift. He comes to his senses on the slide, crawls back up, and asks for the gun, providing every detail of it. Santa, sadly, responds as everyone else: "you'll shoot your eye out kid." Will Ralphie's Christmas wish come true, forever making him happy, or will his Christmas be a letdown, receiving only the ever popular gifts such as socks and pink bunny rabbit costumes? I bet you know the answer, but the fun is in getting there and experiencing the joys of Christmas with Ralphie along the way.

A Christmas Story, as Bob Clark explains, is really a series of vignettes with the common thread of Ralphie in pursuit of doing anything in his power to ensure that the Red Ryder BB gun will somehow, some way, finds its way under his Christmas tree on December 25. Ralphie must deal with bullies on the way to and from school; he'll be implicated in a tongue-to-frozen pole incident at school; he'll find himself in the middle of a war between his parents over the now world-famous "leg lamp" (it must be Italian!); he'll find himself with a bar of soap in his mouth after letting the wrong word slip out of his mouth whilst changing a blown tire with his father. The movie is full of charm. It's very gracefully made and is perhaps the most convincing period film ever made. Director Bob Clark says that many people assume the movie was filmed in the 1940s in stead of the early 1980s. In the end, it's the one person Ralphie never turned to for help that will help him to realize his dream, and to me, that's the best aspect of this movie. Sometimes it's the one we fear, the one we don't see eye to eye with, the one that seems the most distant and out of touch with reality that understands us the most. The movie is touching from beginning to end, and you can't help but smile throughout, especially in the final few minutes of the film when it seem that everything that can go wrong with Christmas has gone wrong, but the power of family and the magic of Christmas turns the day from a total loss into perhaps the most memorable Christmas the family will ever share together. It's no wonder that this film has been hailed as a classic and will continue to be recognized as the definitive Christmas movie. It does everything right. Every shot is beautifully crafted, every line of dialogue expertly written and flawlessly delivered, and the movie exudes pure Christmas magic from the first frame to the last.

A Christmas Story Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Warner Brothers' 1080p, 1.85:1 Blu-ray version of A Christmas Story is nowhere near the quality I was expecting. Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad looking disc. A lot of it looks fairly nice, but it simply doesn't greatly exceed the 2003 2-disc DVD version. It's an improvement, but a minor one at best. The print exhibits nicks and scratches and pops here and there. Many indoor scenes suffer from a spotty appearance where most of the print's flaws are found. Outdoor scenes fare far better. There is slightly more clarity and definition. Flesh tones are accurate and black levels are rendered adequately but not immaculately. Parts of this transfer look pretty good and others look as good as the DVD but no better. For the most part, I would call this a minor upgrade from the DVD, but not so much that an upgrade from said DVD is essential.

A Christmas Story Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

All that is available here is a 1.0 Dolby Digital mono soundtrack. There isn't much going on here, obviously. It suffices and frankly I don't know that this movie would work with an aggressive pseudo multi channel track. A few scenes, such as the fantasy sequences, may have offered up the opportunity for a little ambience but really, this mono track is just fine. Dialogue is clear and always discernible. Music and various effects also come across as well as one would expect for a movie such as this. An underwhelming track to be sure, but one that doesn't detract from the overall movie experience. You'll be so enthralled by the movie's magical appeal that you'll forget sound quality as you are immersed in the quest to obtain that oh-so-beautiful rifle.

A Christmas Story Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Looking at the recent 2-disc DVD special edition of A Christmas Story it appears that some of the extras from that disc have been ported over to this Blu-ray version, and there are a few new features to be found here. Omissions from the 2003 2-disc DVD set include 'Original Readings' by Jean Shepherd, voice narrator of 'A Christmas Story' featurette, 'Triple Dog Dare' Interactive Trivia, and a Decoder Match Challenge.

The main attraction is a commentary track with Peter Billingsley and Bob Clark. It's a solid, interesting track that discusses casting (Billingsley was the first choice for Ralphie, Jack Nicholson was considered for the Darren McGavin role as Ralphie's father, and Melinda Dillon was cast based on her work in Close Encounters of the Third Kind). There are some instances of dead air but Clark especially makes up for the lags with some very good insights and stories from both before, during, and after production. He is also very forthright with his affection for the work of writer Jean Shepherd.

Daisy Red Ryder: A History (480p, 5:18) is a nifty little feature about the history of the famous BB gun. Another Christmas Story (480p, 18:18) is a series of chats with some of the cast and crew discussing the impact the movie has had on their lives. Script Pages is a text-based deleted scene. Read all about it! Get a Leg Up (480p, 4:35) is a comedic and patriotic look at the making of the famous "Leg Lamp." Finally, the film's theatrical trailer (480p, 2:10) and a Leg Lamp Spot (480p, 0:49) finish off the supplements.

A Christmas Story Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A Christmas Story is not only one of the best films of the last quarter-century, it's also one of the best films of all time, period. It captures the spirit of Christmas from a child's eyes as no other film has. Many have tried, but only this one has completely and unequivocally succeeded. Its simple, honest story is framed around a boy and his quest to obtain his ultimate gift. The film ends with the family sharing dinner together, representative of part of the true meaning of Christmas. Despite all the ups and downs of the day and the days leading up to it, it all comes down to the family sharing Christmas together being the best gift of all. This Blu-ray edition, sadly, is not much to brag about. The video is a slight upgrade from the most recent DVD and the audio track remains the same. Some supplements from the DVD version are absent here as well. The movie itself receives my highest recommendation, but the Blu-ray disc is only recommended if you do not have the most recent 2-disc DVD edition. If you only have a pan and scan DVD or VHS of this film, or regardless of how often the movie is on television, the upgrade to the Blu-ray for your library is a given.