Stand and Deliver Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Stand and Deliver Blu-ray Movie Review

The mathematical study of change.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III April 10, 2024

A pure product of its time (for better and worse), Ramón Menéndez's Stand and Deliver is a fairly predictable slice-of-life drama that mostly endures based on the sizeable strength of its lead performance. Edward James Olmos shines as math teacher Jaime Escalante who, in both the film and real life, guided the predominantly Hispanic students of James A. Garfield High School in East Los Angeles to considerable success in Advanced Placement Calculus exams. A decisive declaration that success can be found anywhere with the right leadership, Stand and Deliver remains a reasonably moving and engaging low-budget production that nonetheless feels like part of a more complete picture.

Stand and Deliver plays it straight at first, introducing us to Jaime (soon to be nicknamed "Kemosabe" by his students) on the first day of his new job, where we immediately learn about the high school's lack of resources and organization: he's supposed to be teaching computer science, not math, but runs with it anyway. Quickly attracting the attention of students with his tough-guy humor and unconventional teaching methods, he earns the respect of some within the first few weeks. Others, such as back-row cholo Angel Guzman (Lou Diamond Phillips), are much less receptive to the new guy. He's not deterred nor does Jaime seem to play favorites; he offers a blanket of tough love to everyone, whether they get any at home or not, and increases the difficulty in hopes that they'll be motivated to keep up.

Surprisingly they do... though not without a good bit of turbulence along the way, both inside the classroom and out, as we get to know a handful of students -- and Jaime himself -- in slightly more detail. As their fearless leader moves from basic arithmetic to algebra and calculus, they make amazing strides in a shockingly short amount of time (more on that later) and are soon fully prepped for the upcoming A.P. exam, which is only even attempted by a fraction of high school students nationwide and passed by even fewer. Trouble arrives after the class is suspected of cheating and two reps from the Educational Testing Service (one played by Andy García) swoops in to investigate, further taxing the kids and their teacher who have already encountered pushback from administrators, friends, and family members.

The real-life Escalante famously described Stand and Deliver as "90 percent truth, 10 percent drama", and it certainly feels genuine in its construction and message. Olmos, who was rightly nominated as Best Actor for his performance but lost to Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, absolutely commands attention in the role and anchors almost every scene he's in with confidence, authority, frustration, and empathy. The lived-in production design absolutely makes us feel like we're in the right place and time, and I can certainly appreciate its unique cultural perspective as well. From the singular perspective of a film's "heart being in the right place", Stand and Deliver is an inarguable success.

Unfortunately, most of the supporting roles and cast -- mainly the students -- run a notably distant second to Olmos' borderline monumental character and performance, as almost every attempt to broaden their personal lives either rings hollow or just isn't focused on deeply enough to really leave much of a lasting impression. These short but frankly kind of clumsy detours affect other parts of the film as well, including the continuously rushed nature of its plot that insists these students somehow moved ahead five or six grade levels in a single school year (one facet of Menéndez and Tom Musca's script that clearly falls within that "10 percent drama" window). These things certainly aren't enough to sink the ship, but in my opinion keep Stand and Deliver from being as appealing and effective as it wants to be.

Nonetheless, the character's legend and Stand and Deliver's ultimate message is important, and thus it's unsurprising that this film has endured as at least a minor classic in the last 35+ years. Fittingly, Warner Archive was resurrected it for Blu-ray in the wake of several older DVD editions, the first of which was a lackluster single-layered disc from 1998. As usual, their white-glove approach to restoration makes its understated cinematography shine like new.

Stand and Deliver Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

As far as I know, all previous home video editions of Stand and Deliver were cropped to 1.33:1, so finally getting the film in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio is a win all by itself. But true to form, Warner Archive's new 1080p transfer -- which was sourced from a new 4K scan of the original camera negative -- is its own beast entirely, an extremely clean and film-like presentation with outstanding fine detail and excellent color reproduction. As evidenced by the included screenshots, it's uniformly solid treatment that lets viewers soak in the film's atmosphere design in greater detail, both for purely nostalgic purposes and even clearly making out background signs and other details in and around the school. This dual-layered disc is nicely encoded and runs at a supportively high bit rate, with only mild instances of light macro blocking and black crush sticking their heads out on occasion. Overwhelmingly, this is a fantastic Blu-ray presentation and clearly the best that Stand and Deliver has ever looked outside of original theatrical showings.

Stand and Deliver Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Stand and Deliver's clean DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix does what it can with the film's modest but very serviceable one-channel source material, which is overwhelmingly dialogue driven and doesn't feature the most dynamic or active sound stage. Exceptions are made in rowdy environments and crowded group settings, with subtle panning in place for vehicle drive-bys and other such events. Occasional music cues, diegetic and otherwise, are prioritized nicely and enjoy a crisp and full presence when intended. It's presumably a decently solid upgrade from older lossy DVD tracks and, while a stereo mix may have been a better fit for this material, I'm glad that no faux-remix was attempted.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only. Unfortunately much like previous editions, no Spanish subtitles are offered here; given the nature of this material, it would have been a nice touch.

Stand and Deliver Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed cover artwork and no inserts. Extras are minimal.

• Theatrical Trailer (1:24) - This vintage promotional piece can also be seen here.

Stand and Deliver Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Ramón Menéndez's Stand and Deliver is a watchable and uplifting drama, although most of its strengths can be traced back either fully or partially to Edward James Olmos' monumental lead performance, for which he at least earned an Oscar nomination. Other smaller parts of the film aren't as captivating; several supporting characters and performances noticeably lag behind, which affects certain aspects of its pacing as well. This is still a decent drama that wears its heart on its sleeve and, like 1989's similar and superior Lean on Me (which has yet to reach Blu-ray but was part of a DVD double feature back in the day), it'll play very well to the right audience. Warner Archive's Blu-ray is up to their usual standards, led by another rock-solid restoration that helps its understated cinematography shine like new.