Starring: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey
Studio: Lionsgate
Video: 1.85:1 enhanced for 16:9 widescreen, 1080p HD
Audio: Uncompressed 6.1 PCM, DD 5.1 Surround EX
Subtitles: English, Spanish
Extras: Commentary track by Eleanor Bergstein, writer & co-producer; Commentaries by Kenny Ortega, Miranda Garrison, Jeff Jur, Hilary Rosenfeld & David Chapman; 20th Anniversary Pop-up Triva track; Dirty Dancing featurette with Patrick Swayze; Tribute to Jerry Orbach; Deleted Scenes; Alternate Scenes; Extended Scenes; Outtakes; Original screen tests; Multi-angle dance sequences; The classic story on stage; Photo gallery; Jennifer Grey & Kenny Ortega interviews; Emile Ardolino tribute; 3 Music Videos; more
Length: 105 minutes
Rating: ****
This fun low-budget film is more watchable than your Hollywood typical teenage stuff, and deservedly is on the list of best films at the American Film Institute. The setting is the summer of 1963 and a respectable summer camp in the Catskills – though the Jewish setting is played down. “Baby” is a sweet daddy’s girl of 17 who expects to go to college and then join the peace corps before marrying a doctor just like her father.
Things take a different turn when she becomes involved with the camp’s dance instructor, Johnny. He trains her in the steps to be his partner in replacement for his usual partner, who is seeking an abortion after becoming pregnant from an uncaring Harvard student working at the camp. Baby borrows money from her father to pay for the illegal abortion, which is botched and she has to call in her father to minister to the girl. Baby surreptitiously carries on her rehearsals with Johnny, which finally leads to their falling in love and her spending the night with him. He is accused of the theft of some wallets by a woman at the camp who had paid him to not only give her dance lessons but a bit more. She saw them together and thought they would never reveal their relationship. But Baby has the courage to confess in order to save Johnny, and deals with the consequences. Johnny is fired but returns for their final dance together. Although their steps are pretty sexy, the real dirty dancing sequences occur at the party held by the camp’s staff, and at the conclusion, when everybody gets up and joins the young couple in an uninhibited dance extravaganza for the big finish.
The picture transfer is fine and the uncompressed soundtrack brings home the 60s hits for the dances, but there’s little use of the surrounds. Does anyone still bother with the 6.1 and 7.1 additional channels? It’s difficult enough to get users to mount five channels plus subwoofer; not many are going to include one or two more between their present surround speakers – which often end up blocking people from entering the room anyway! (Side or height channels are so much more important.) The amount of bonus features is immense on this disc, and this time they are all in HD, unlike most such Blu-rays so far.
