Thanks for checking out our Rocky Horror Picture Show 35th Anniversary Bluray Review
Genre: Comedy Musical
Directed by: Jim Sharman
Staring: Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Richard O’Brien, Patricia Quinn, Nell Campbell, Meat Loaf
Released: September 26, 1975
BluRay 35th Anniversary Bluray Released: October 19th, 2010
THE GENERAL IDEA
The story, narrated by a criminologist, tells the tale of newly engaged couple, Brad Majors and Janet Weiss, who find themselves lost and with a flat tire on a cold and rainy, late November evening.[1] Seeking a phone with which to call for help at a nearby castle, Brad and Janet discover a group of strange and outlandish people who are holding an Annual Transylvanian Convention. They watch, still wet from the rain, as the Transylvanians, servants, and a tap dancing groupie, dance the “Time Warp”, the film’s signature song.
They are soon swept into the world of Dr. Frank N. Furter, a bizarre and self-proclaimed “sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania”. The ensemble of convention attendees also include servants Riff Raff, his sister Magenta, and a groupie named Columbia.
THE GOOD
The video quality was not changed at all, however the soundtrack for the film was replaced by the studio recordings featured on the official soundtrack release. It makes the film work better, and the memorable songs have more impact than the rough presentation originally released in previous formats.
The real benefit is the heaping pile of special features and bonus material offered here.
– Audio Commentary with Richard O’Brien and Patricia Quinn.
– A Few From The Vault: Deleted scenes and outtakes.
– Alternate opening (in black & white)
– Two theatrical trailers
– Alternate misprint ending
– Mick Rock (A Photographer).
– Mick Rock’s Picture Show (A Gallery).
– Poster gallery and Pressbook gallery.
– Rocky Horror Double Feature Video Show (from the 1995 Beacon Theatre, New
– York 10th Anniversary Celebration)
– Don’t Dream It, Be It: The Search for the 35th Anniversary Shadowcast Pt. I.
– An-tic-i-pation: The Search for the 35th Anniversary Shadowcast Pt. II.
– Rocky-Oke: Sing It!
– The Midnight Experience: The Late Night Double Feature Picture-in-Picture
– Show, Vintage Callback Track, Prop Box and Trivia Track.
For the real fan there are hours of extra footage and features to explore.
Seeing Tim Curry’s first film, as well as a young Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick is a lot of fun too.
THE BAD
The charm of this film is not lost on the Bluray release, but the visual quality is not improved. This is a direct transfer of the movie which is effective, but there was no remastering or quality upgrades as far as the visuals go. This will be better than that VHS bootleg you inherited from your parents.
The packaging is unique in that it comes as a special edition “book” with the movie tucked in its inner back cover. The pages of this small bluray case sized volume are filled with images from the movie, but don’t really offer anything you can’t already see in the film. They are just presentation fluff.
The movie itself holds up for what it is. A series of nonsense scenes of spectacle and amusement, but introducing this cult classic to new audiences is a tough sell. There is no real plot, nor outcome.
OVERALL
The movie is great, and still is what it is. The longest running movie in theaters (never ended its “limited release” still showing to this day in theaters) and is a lot of fun to re-live.
I give The Rocky Horror Picture Show 35th Annivserary Bluray a 8 out of 10 for the film itself and the healthy donation of special features and bonus material.
I don’t see any difference either. I’ll stick with the DVD version. We saw the Blu-Ray release on my brother’s 100 inch HD TV set, and to be honest there’s no difference. The DVD colours are absolutely stunning and are in no need of improvement. Just another excuse for milking money from the public and I’m not going to fall for it.
I am going to buy this Blu-ray this weekend. Maybe Rodney doesn’t have the 7.1 surround system set up in his home? Either way, it is on my list for sure. Also just watched The Glee episode. It was great except for the short/fat/black chick playing Frankfurter. She ruined the whole thing.
I agree the video looks great in the beginning of the film, but I noticed it began to degrade somewhat by the end. Similarly, the 7.1 audio was brethtaking at first but somehow they used a discarded take for Janet’s vocals during Over at the Frankenstein Place. Some are calling it off key, I wouldn’t go that far but it’s definitely different from the original release.
I don’t know what you are watching on or maybe you have a 720p set but this blu-ray is fantastic. You can tell right away the work that was put into this. I mean the reds in the opening credits are the most crisp I have ever seen them and there is no bleed at all. I had my vhs version, the dvd, then the anniversary dvd andnow the blu-ray. I can tell everyone it is wrth evry single penny and you will be so amazed at how a good a film from 1975 looks.
Rodney, this is a very misleading review. First of all the film was COMPLETELY REMASTERED FROM THE ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGATIVE!!! Your review suggests that the original DVD version was just ported over or that no new restortative work as done on the film for this blu ray release: NOT SO. I don’t know what blu ray version of ROCKY HORROR you were reviewing but it sure ain’t the one I just picked at my local Best Buy today. ROCKY HORROR has NEVER looked better! This is a completely new remaster that renders all previous editions of the film OBSOLETE! Fans of this film will not be disappointed.
As for the sound, that was completely re-done as well in 7.1 DOLBY TRUE HD MASTER AUDIO which is quite different from the mix that was used on the previous 25th Anniversary release, or any other release for that matter. Although this re-mastering has it’s pluses it also has it’s minuses. Some special effects and audio nuances are eliminated in the 7.1 mix. For instance, in the original mono mix during the”Time Warp” sequence when Janet faints she lets out an audible gasp, the gasp is clearly absent in the 7.1 mix.
In addition the vocals on the new 7.1 mix were NOT taken from the original soundtrack release. Previous editions of ROCKY HORROR featured stereo/surround mixes taken from these sessions and the results were mixed at best as some vocal phrasing differed from the movie playback versions, this caused some syncing to be “off” most noticeably in the “Floor Show” sequence.
Yes, you get a wider dynamic range with the 7.1 mix and while it is impressive in my opinion it still doesn’t have the charm of the original mono mix.
If they put any effort into the restorative efforts on this film, I don’t see them. On my bluray copy I see no difference from the DVD. Rocky Horror Picture Show has never looked any different since DVD.
And as you can see in the trailer I posted with this review, the audio is a completely different track than used in the original film. The “charm of the mono mix” was also the audio feed of live performances. The studio/stereo mixes used in subsequent releases is improved here in the Bluray version.