Endless Love Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

Endless Love Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf August 24, 2019

Author Scott Spencer isn’t a lucky guy. Here’s a writer who’s had two film adaptations made from his 1979 novel, “Endless Love,” and both endeavors deliberately fly over his dramatic intentions, preferring to turn a tale of dangerous obsession into cinematic bubble gum for a pre-teen audience. The 1981 version arrived first, with director Franco Zeffirelli looking for material that might return him to the box office power he found with 1968’s “Romeo and Juliet,” sniffing around for another tale of forbidden love and scorching passions. There’s something along those lines in Spencer’s book, but writer Judith Rascoe doesn’t pay close attention to obvious behavioral issues present in the original text, transforming a story about the disintegration of the young man into a gauzy saga of relationship denial, with Zeffirelli electing to turn such enticing distortion into melodrama. It’s hard to stay with “Endless Love,” which is determined to ignore the reality of the central pairing, striving more for tragedy instead of analysis.

Friends with his fellow high school senior, Keith (James Spader), David (Martin Hewitt) is 17 years old and in love with his pal’s 15-year-old sister, Jade (Brooke Shields). The pair is inseparable, with David working his way into the family dynamic, adored by mother Ann (Shirley Knight) and tolerated by father Hugh (Don Murray), making it easy to forget his own parents, who are lost in their own lives. When Jade and David’s relationship turns sexual, Ann allows the pair to experience each other under her roof, showing interest in the young man’s appeal, but Hugh refuses to tolerate it, recognizing how the union is disrupting his daughter’s education and parental relationships. With Jade hidden away so she can clear her head, David loses touch with reality, unable to process the separation, turning to dangerous ideas to reunite with his true love, making him a threat to Jade’s family.

Zeffirelli makes a lot of mistakes in “Endless Love,” but what he does capture is the feeling of maturation, with Jade moving from Hugh’s attention to David’s all-consuming love, finding herself in a powerful situation of focus with a handsome, older boy that severs most ties to the child she once was. While the screenplay doesn’t pursue it, the helmer is attentive to the changeover, adding uneasy imagery that finds Jade drowning in David’s obsession, even turning to sleep meds to keep herself going when her boyfriend cuts into schoolwork. This cold slap of reality is the most interesting aspect of “Endless Love,” with Hewitt communicating furious powerlessness well, while Knight has the more complex part, witnessing household divide, but she’s also attracted to David, enjoying the youthful lust he inspires and the intellectual equality he offers.

Unfortunately, “Endless Love” doesn’t develop the complexity of the living situation, preferring to stick with the central crisis of David and his inability to consume Jade, to become her one and only for life. The character is mentally ill, with profound domestic and personal issues, but Rascoe doesn’t want to deal with all that heavy lifting, fearful of losing the target demographic by treating the teenager as the problem he truly is. Instead, David is viewed as a romantic hero, with his unstoppable need to be with Jade making up most of the endeavor. This blurred headspace deserves an accurate understanding, but Zeffirelli simply wants to melt hearts with the picture, approaching David’s interests in confrontations, manipulations, physical violence, and even arson as parts of a lovesick puppy who’s just looking for a cuddle. The predatory aspects of the personality are removed to preserve maximum swoon, which is a ridiculous way to approach the material, which clearly concerns the frightening volatility of obsession. The 2014 remake, a lesser film in every way, also made the same mistake.

Endless Love Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Billed as a "New 2K scan of the original film elements," the AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation retains the cinematographic texture of "Endless Love," which carries an inherently film-like look. It's not a movie built for fine texture, but detail remains, handling the dewiness of youth and the roughness of age and mental instability, with facial surfaces intact. Costuming is compelling, offering fibrous period fashion and silkier sleepwear, and housing and hospital interiors are open for study, surveying decoration. Colors are acceptable, with the feature's seasonal appearance secured, dealing with woodsy browns and colder grays, while firelight warmth and additional stylistics for love scenes register as intended. Delineation is acceptable, retaining frame information. Source is in decent shape, but a few pronounced scratches remains, and speckling is common. Some jumpy frames are found as well.

Endless Love Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix is a tad rough at times, with excitable exchanges hitting a few fuzzy highs through the listening event. Calmer dialogue exchanges are presentable, with reasonable emotionality to preserve performances. Scoring needs are met, with a louder piano and string presence to push the warmth of the feature, and soundtrack selections are defined, giving a pop/rock beat to a few scenes. Atmospherics are basic. Mild hiss carries throughout.

Endless Love Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features film historian Lee Gambin.

• Interview (40:05, HD) with Martin Hewitt recounts his early interest in acting, attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, eventually taking a chance on an open call for "Endless Love," which had him competing with 10,000 aspiring thespians. Hewitt is kind to Brooke Shields, explaining their real age difference (seven years, while marketing efforts promoted four) and the intricacy of their love scenes, which required a body double. Character is examined, delving into the differences between the screenplay and the original novel, and locations are discussed. Hewitt is also generous when detailing time with his co-stars, palling around with James Spader, and learning much from the older talent. Reshoots are pointed out, introducing a more traumatizing sex scene, and Hewitt attempts to recall cut scenes from the screenplay. Opening day reviews are tastefully assessed, as well as Hewitt's post-"Endless Love" work, which found him taking roles in "Yellowbeard" and "Two Moon Junction," eventually leaving Hollywood for a home inspection career.

• Audio Interview (18:20) with Penelope Milford covers the differences between the actress's work on "Endless Love" and her lauded turn in "Coming Home," identifying creative approaches from Hal Ashby and Franco Zeffirelli. Character is examined and co-stars are assessed. Milford also explores a changing industry, along with the themes of "Endless Love."

• Audio Interview (14:48) with Jeff Marcus delves into the run of male angst movies in the early 1980s, and he's very open about Teri Shields, Brooke's mother and manager, who made her presence known on-set (forcing the studio to beef up Jade's role in the story). Marcus offers memories of the shoot and his own part, explores his time with Zeffirelli, examines deleted scenes, and delivers a reflection on his career. Call quality isn't the best here, making some stretches of the conversation difficult to hear.

• Audio Interview (14:23) with Shirley Knight (recorded in 2016) is a bit scattered, covering her feelings on the book adaptation and her disappointment with elements of "Endless Love." Career achievements are provided, and some character details are presented. Talk of Zeffirelli's directorial presence and style are shared as well.

• Image Gallery (6:17) includes film stills, publicity shots, and BTS snaps.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (3:18, SD) is included.

Endless Love Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Endless Love" doesn't generate enough kindness to take the pairing of Jade and David seriously, and the helmer's approach to conflict is to infantilize adult and teen behavior, striving to secure passion at all costs. There are amusing aspects to the production, which marks the screen debut of Tom Cruise, and a camp factor is there for the taking, with the story marveling over WASPy concerns and teen angst. There's also the presence of the title track, with Lionel Richie and Diana Ross doing their best to deliver emotional energy to the feature with their hit song. Ornamentation is fine, but "Endless Love" needs something more than pained faces and easily solved problems to transform into heartbreaking cinema.