6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 2.6 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 2.8 |
The only way football star Stefan Djordjevic will avoid a life in the blast furnaces of his bleak Pennsylvania hometown is by winning a college scholarship. Even his coach dreams of parlaying a winning team into a college job far away from this graveyard of the American Dream. But it's not long before the two virtually ruin each other's chances for escape and their door to the future starts to close.
Starring: Tom Cruise, Craig T. Nelson, Lea Thompson, Charles Cioffi, Gary GrahamRomance | 100% |
Sport | 86% |
Coming of age | 46% |
Drama | 20% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: Dolby Digital Mono
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono
English: Dolby Digital Mono
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
In the same year that Tom Cruise became famous for dancing in his underwear in Risky Business
(1983), he starred in two other films that have been largely forgotten. One of them was All the
Right Moves, which was marketed as a coming-of-age movie about a cocky football player. But
for all its scenes of players in the locker room and on the field, All the Right Moves isn't really a
sports movie, and you can tell by the fact that it doesn't build to the typical climax of a Big
Game. There's a big game all right, but it occurs in the middle of the film. Enough plot
developments flow from its outcome to sustain a whole additional act (at least). If you look past
the familiar genre wrapping and pay attention to the actual events on screen, an entirely different
story emerges, and it isn't about football or growing up, though those events remain integral to
the story. The film is really a snapshot of seismic shifts in the landscape of portions of American
society, something that's much easier to see from the vantage point of today but that
contemporary viewers missed almost entirely. (One review called the film "mushy".)
Today we have other distractions. A viewer in 1983 could watch a Tom Cruise movie without the
baggage that a viewer in 2011 brings to the experience, after Top Gun, Mission Impossible, Baby
Suri and Oprah's couch. In 1983, Cruise was considered someone to watch; the same review that
called All the Right Moves "mushy" referred to its star as "that superb young actor". Now that
he's been everything from a superstar to a South Park punchline, Cruise can't appear in a film
without evoking innumerable associations. This bit of reserve evokes Maverick; that smile
suggests Jerry Maguire; a speech to a crowd recalls Brian Flanagan in Cocktail; stoic intensity
reminds us of Ethan Hunt - and it never stops. One of the interesting effects of a film like All the
Right Moves is observing just how early on the elements of a movie star's persona have already
gelled, and further observing just how much work is required to shed them for a role that is truly
different (like Vincent in Collateral or Frank T.J. Mackey in Magnolia).
A distinguished director of photography, director Chapman chose Dutch DP Jan de Bont to shoot
his directorial debut. De Bont would go on to become one of the late 20th Century's most visible
cinematographers, giving distinctive looks to Die Hard, Black
Rain, The Hunt for
Red October and Basic Instinct, among
others, before becoming a director in his own right with Speed. For All
the Right Moves, de Bont provided a low-key naturalistic look similar to Chapman's own
signature style in such urban films as Hardcore, The Wanderers, the 1978 remake of Invasion of
the Body Snatchers, much of Taxi Driver and later The Fugitive and Quick Change. The film was
shot on location in Johnstown, PA, which is located in the heart of Pennsylvania manufacturing
territory.
The 1080p AVC-encoded Blu-ray effectively reproduces de Bont's down-and-dirty images.
These are real schools, homes and factories, and they haven't been spruced up or lit to look like
anything other than what they are. Though colors are generally muted (with an occasional
exception, such as the team's bright yellow uniforms), fleshtones look natural. While there is
some degree of black crush in darker areas of night scenes, detail remains sufficiently well
delineated that fine detail in clothing patterns or on faces in crowds is always visible. Film grain
is evident but mild, except during the opening and closing title sequences, where the optical
printing process that was standard for the era has accentuated it and, in some title frames, the
grain appears to freeze (or "hang") for a moment. This usually indicates a less-than-successful
effort at grain reduction, but it's transient and minor. However, the detail in both the opening and
closing title sequence is significantly reduced and the image is much softer; these sequences
should not be taken as representative of the transfer as a whole. (I have included a screenshot as
an example.)
The original mono soundtrack has been remixed for 5.1 and is offered in DTS lossless, but there
is virtually no surround presence. The film's dialogue and sound effects remain in the front
soundstage, primarily in the center, with the musical selections spreading to the left and right.
Original scoring is credited to David Richard Campbell, but the primary musical accompaniment
are pop songs assembled (and often written or co-written) by music supervisor Bruce Arthur. The
artists include such Eighties stand-bys as Jennifer Warnes, Tony Orlando, Junior and Stephanie
Mills.
The 5.1 remix lends extra punch to the music, but the dialogue doesn't always fare as well. It's
occasionally rendered hollow and artificial-sounding, its origins in an ADR studio laid bare by
the more revealing fidelity of a discrete mix and lossless delivery.
All the Right Moves is a fascinating time capsule of elements both expected and unexpected. The
expected includes a look at early work by Tom Cruise and Lea Thompson at the outset of their
careers. The unexpected is an early and prescient look at social and economic forces that would
ultimately define much of America in the last quarter of the 20th Century, captured with a raw
immediacy while they were still in motion. The Blu-ray's technical quality is acceptable, though
not perfect. A major disappointment is the lack of any input from director Chapman, who retired
after serving as cinematographer for Bridge to Terabithia and from whom it would be worth
obtaining as much insight as he is willing to share while he is still with us. Recommended for
those interested in any of the subjects discussed above. If you're looking for a rousing sports
film, you'll be disappointed.
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