DVD Reviews

An Officer And A Gentleman: Special Edition

I’ll be honest. It’s been so long since I’ve seen this film that I thought it was from the 60s!  Now I’m not old enough to have lived in the 60s but for some reason, whenever I heard Officer and a Gentleman, I immediately thought of some black and white or Technicolor  film from way back when.  I hadn’t seen the first DVD release of this film so I can’t compare the two. 

Once in a great while, a movie comes along that truly grips and uplifts its audiences.  Such a movie is An Officer and a Gentleman, a timeless tale of romance, friendship and growth. Relive all the emotion of this classic romance in this Special Collector’s Edition featuring unique and never-before-seen special features. Loner Zack Mayo enters Officer Candidate School to become a Navy pilot, and in thirteen torturous weeks, he learns the importance of discipline, love and friendship. Louis Gossett, Jr. won an Academy Award for his brilliant portrayal of Foley, the tough drill instructor who teaches Zack that no man can make it alone. And while Foley tries to warn the young officer about the local girls who will do anything to catch themselves pilot husbands, Zack eventually learns to love one while his fellow candidate, a memorable character portrayed by David Keith, struggles with a very different fate. An Officer and a Gentleman is a rich and satisfying story with loving performances that will stay with you long after the film has ended.

The video comes to us at 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Colours are quite nice with flesh tones being consistent throughout. The black levels aren't quite perfect but detail is good enough for me. The detail in brighter scenes is much better though still on the soft side and the contrast is decent.  There is some grain throughout but it's never distracting. 

The audio comes to us in a Dolby Digital 5.1 track. The track brings about an engulfing atmosphere with surrounds used very nicely. Considering this film was originally in mono, I was expecting a somewhat obtrusive mix with panning coming off forced but this was smooth and enjoyable. The beautiful music on the film comes through very well. It's never overbearing or distorted. Dialogue is clean and clear.  This is a really good audio presentation.  There's also a mono track for the purists and a French 2.0 mono track.  English Closed Captions are included for those that need them.

This DVD warrants the Special Edition title.  It is full of as many extras as you can possibly fit on one DVD.  First up is the commentary from Director Taylor Hackford.  Hackford doesn't seem to stop talking about the film.  You can tell he really enjoyed making the film and is proud of it. This is followed by quite a few featurettes.  "An Officer and a Gentleman: 25 Years Later" runs almost 30 minutes and has interviews with almost everyone involved in the film, except Debra Winger. "Return to Port Townsend" is a much shorter piece where Louis Gossett Jr. strolls around the town of Port Townsend, Washington pointing out different locations used during filming. "True Stories of Military Romance" is an interesting piece that deals with the idea that women love a man in uniform and where the story of the film comes from. "The Music of An Officer and a Gentleman" runs almost 10 minutes and deals with... yes, you guessed it, the music of the film.  There's some really interesting! information covered in this featurette.  "Gere and Gossett: Hand to Hand Combat" interviews the two stars about the specific scene where they spar. Last, there's an image gallery containing 84 pics.  Many of the shots are behind-the-scenes stuff which is nice.

This film really boils down to 2 scenes.  The ending scene where Gere dressed in full white uniform, goes to the paper plant and searches until he finds his one and only.  He then proceeds to carry her out with everyone clapping.  The other scene is the love making scene between Gere and Winger.  If you ask me, that was a pretty lame sex scene but I guess it was hot considering who was involved and the type of movie it was.  An Officer and a Gentleman is probably more well known then it should be.  Sure it's a decent film, but it really isn't anything special.  Or maybe it's just that my heart isn't open to this type of film.  *shrug*  If you're a fan of the film, this is a great DVD to get.  I don't think you could get a better release then this... except if it had interviews with Debra Winger ;)

Review By Robert Harding