Mannequin Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

Mannequin Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 7, 2026

Michael Gottlieb's "Mannequin" (1987) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Sandpiper Pictures. The only bonus feature on the release is a vignette trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The perfect mannequin and the imperfect employee.

No one would ever argue that Michael Gottlieb’s Mannequin is a masterpiece, or even a great 1980s genre film. There are dozens of other, bigger and better films that have preserved much of what made the 1980s a special decade, and they will always be highlighted long before anyone brings up Mannequin. This is the naked truth. However, Mannequin will never fade into obscurity. It has a big heart and an irresistible charm. Plus, its fate is forever linked to Jefferson Starship’s hit “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” whose official music video features footage from it. For Mannequin to disappear into obscurity, someone would have to erase “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” from the annals of music and destroy every source that has preserved a copy of the video mentioned above. In other words, Mannequin will always be around.

In Ancient Egypt, a frustrated young princess (Kim Cattrall) begs the mighty gods to save her from an awful arranged marriage to an old camel dung salesman. Moments later, lightning strikes, the earth shakes, and the princess disappears. It is a miracle that her equally frustrated but dramatically more pragmatic mother fails to rationalize.

In a busy Philadelphia warehouse, Jonathan Switcher (Andrew McCarthy) has spent weeks building the perfect mannequin, not three or four a day, which is why his angry manager fires him. After trying several other part-time jobs and promptly losing them, Jonathan discovers that his perfect mannequin is prominently displayed at one of the city’s biggest department stores. While marveling at his work, he then accidentally saves the life of an old lady (Estelle Getty), who turns out to be the owner of the department store, and earns himself a full-time job of his choosing. Soon after, while stocking boxes of expensive lingerie, Jonathan nearly loses his mind when his mannequin awakens as Emmy (Cattrall again), acknowledges the great work he has done on her, and vows to help him become the city’s greatest window stylist. In the days ahead, Jonathan’s work becomes a hit, rapidly improving sluggish sales, but this is not what a corrupt manager (James Spader) wants to see because he has been assisting a powerful competitor planning to acquire the department store. As Jonathan and Emmy become aware of the manager’s back-door dealings and attempt to prevent the prearranged acquisition, the department store’s dim-witted cop (G.W. Bailey) decides to become a hero by sabotaging their efforts.

In Mannequin, there is silliness galore, but all of it is of that most charming, now considered special, kind that has transformed so many films from the 1980s into great, most enjoyable time capsules. Also, the silliness oozes an unmistakable positive energy, effectively invalidating the many things that could have been done better.

McCarthy and Cattrall are a wonderful couple. After the mannequin awakens and the former overcomes his immediate anxiety, the two are featured in several sequences that capture virtually everything that made 1980s pop kitsch hilariously attractive. The best is the one where they are seen exchanging different attire and dancing, no longer hiding their feelings for each other.

There are several good secondary characters. Meshach Taylor is Hollywood, a hilarious gay employee who shows unrestricted support for McCarthy’s obsession with a “piece of wood”. Carole Davis is McCarthy’s needy, on-again, off-again girlfriend, who isn’t convinced that he has the future she deserves.

In 1991, Stewart Raffill directed a second Mannequin film, Mannequin: On the Move, but only Taylor reprised his role. Kristy Swanson and William Ragsdale were cast to play the new mannequin and the department store clerk who falls in love with it, respectively.

Mannequin Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Mannequin arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Sandpiper Pictures.

Mannequin made its high-definition debut with this release, produced by Olive Films, which I have in my library. This new release is sourced from the same master that was used to prepare the previous release. However, the new release utilizes a dual-layer disc.

While the master is not new, it produces very attractive, solid organic visuals, and I like it a lot. On my system, the entire film looks gorgeous, and excluding a few wider shots, where I think delineation and sharpness could be marginally better, everything else already looks as good as it should. Grain exposure can be slightly more convincing, but it is already excellent. Color reproduction and balance are very convincing. A couple of primaries can be made to appear fresher, but the current color temperature of all primaries and supporting nuances is fine. I would not want to see the film boast a substantially cooler look. Image stability is excellent. There are no distracting surface imperfections, such as large marks, cuts, debris, etc. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Mannequin Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless track is not plagued with obvious age-related anomalies, such as hiss, crackle, and pops. If it is remastered in the future, I suspect that there will be only cosmetic improvements, enhancing fullness, and only in a couple of areas. For a wider range of nuanced dynamics, someone will have to create a more elaborate 5.1 track, which I will be happy to use.

Mannequin Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for Mannequin. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

Mannequin Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall are a terrific couple, and the silliness their characters engage in will quickly put you in a wonderful mood, which is the greatest strength of Mannequin. Olive Films' original release of Mannequin was sourced from an older but very solid master, supplied by MGM, which has been used to produce this recent release. However, now Mannequin is placed on a dual-layer disc and can be viewed with optional subtitles. I am quite happy with this release, and if in the future Mannequin is redone in 4K, I would consider an upgrade only if it is presented with a remastered video of Jefferson Starship's hit "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now," as well as exclusive new programs featuring McCarthy and Cattrall. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.