Class Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Class Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Randy Miller III September 4, 2024

MGM recently reissued a few Blu-ray catalog titles formerly exclusive to the now-defunct boutique label Olive Films (Class, The Boost, and Betrayed, with presumably more on the way), offering a straight port of their existing 1080p transfers and lossless audio with a few minor tweaks, including the long-overdue addition of English subtitles if none were included the first time around. So while there's not much to see here, these quiet reissues at least give fans a chance to pick up largely identical Blu-ray copies much easier and without paying out-of-print prices.

For a synopsis and appreciation of Class, please see Svet Atanasov's review of Olive's 2016 Blu-ray. I'm in agreement that this is a well-made film from Lewis John Carlino, who wrote dozens of screenplays and teleplays (mostly during the 1960s and 70s) but only directed two big-screen productions: 1976's The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea and 1979's The Great Santini, which is possibly due up for rescue on Blu-ray by Warner Archive. Despite living until 2020 and writing into his last decade, Class would be Carlino's last time in the director's chair; while I wouldn't necessarily call it his best work (hence my slightly lower rating), it's well worth watching and quite the shocker at times.

Class Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

For all intents and purposes, this 1080p transfer of Class seems to be identical to the one MGM supplied for Olive's 2016 Blu-ray. That's not necessarily a bad thing in this case, as it's a largely clean and organic presentation that at least meets expectations for an older master dumped on a single-layer (25GB) disc. That said, I noticed a bit of macro blocking here and there, not to mention light amounts of noise possibly related to the source material. I'll still maintain the 4/5 video rating that Svet gave it for posterity, although it's probably a hair below by today's standards.

Class Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Similarly, the DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix sounds identical to the one featured on Olive's 2016 Blu-ray, so again please see Svet's review for more details. Please also note that MGM's Blu-ray finally adds in optional English (SDH) subtitles for the main feature, which is certainly appreciated and basically a requirement in my book.

Class Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with noticeably downgraded cover artwork from Olive's 2016 Blu-ray, giving the film an ironically classless straight-to-video appearance. Sadly, even the minimal bonus features from that older disc -- in this case, the film's theatrical trailer -- have not been carried over here, which is a bummer.

Class Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Lewis John Carlino's Class is a well-made and lightly underrated coming-of-age drama that has held up fairly well during the last four decades. It also sports a great cast and also features the big-screen debuts of Andrew McCarthy, John Cusack, Virginia Madsen, Casey Siemaszko, and Lolita Davidovich, giving it a good amount of historical value too. Olive Films' long out-of-print 2016 Blu-ray was fine for its time with solid A/V and that's about it, so this near-exact reissue -- which adds in optional English subtitles and drops the only extra, a trailer -- can be seen as either an easy way for newcomers to grab it... or a disappointment to die-hard fans for not improving on that older release.