MovieFreak.com - Valley Girl - Special Edition DVD Review

Julie (Deborah Foreman) is a sweet-natured, if shallow, Valley Girl. After breaking up with her jerk boyfriend Tommy, she is at her friend Suzi's party when two boys from Hollywood crash the scene. One of them, the sensitive and adventurous Randy (Nicolas Cage), is immediately smitten with Julie, and she with him. Julie's friends, however, do not approve of him purely because he is from "Holly-weird" and want Julie to dump Randy and get back together with Tommy, her former boyfriend. Julie must decide which is more important: her heart and the boy she loves, or the approval of her friends. With thanks to the IMDB.

It’s kind of funny watching this film twenty years after the fact. I guess it’s fair to admit at this stage of the review that Valley Girl is cheesy. I mean, just look at these characters. The way they talk! Dress! And party! But these things can’t be criticized, right, for the 80s really were like that. Girls hanging out in shopping malls! Talking about guys or anything else that comes to mind. The script, by Andrew Lane and Wayne Crawford, is a little lacking, but the major characters of Julie and Randy share some good chemistry, mainly due to the genuine performances by Deborah Foreman and Nicolas Cage, respectively. Director Martha Coolidge makes more of the film than what the script offers, and that’s why Valley Girl is enjoyable, no matter how cheesy things get.

Let’s back track a little, and focus on the story. Valley Girl is every bit a teen film as Can’t Hardly Wait, sans excessive comedy. It’s a drama, too, in a way. “Be yourself” is a life lesson the film explores through the relationship of Julie and Randy. She’s from the Valley and he’s from Hollywood. It’s like two completely different people are in love, despite they only live a few zip codes apart. The film’s story follows the structure of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet” in the simplest form; girl meets boy, girl falls in love, girl breaks up, and falls in love all over again. It’s an unpretentious look at an unusual romance. The issues explored in the film still resonate today. Therefore, Valley Girl remains a good retro teen film. I’m sure!

The dialogue in Valley Girl is very generic, but reflects the talk of the time. One could quote the entire film and from what I understand a lot of people did this when the film came out, although the IMDB doesn’t list any memorable quotes. How dull! Probably the biggest thing about Valley Girl is the gnarly soundtrack! Two of the most prominent songs are “I Melt With You” by Modern English and “Million Miles Away” by The Pilmsouls. The acting in the film is really quite genuine and it gives the characters a certain edge. Cage and Foreman are good together, but the supporting cast also stands out, such as Elizabeth Daily (Loryn, Julie’s friend), Cameron Dye (Fred, Randy’s friend), Michael Bowen (Tommy), Michelle Meyrink (Suzi), and Heidy Holicker (Stacey, also Julie’s friend). Also impressive are Lee Purcell, Frederick Forrest, and Colleen Camp.

To sum it all up, Valley Girl is a cheesy film, but remains enjoyable. And watching Nicolas Cage at the young age of 17 is simply hilarious; in a good way. Despite some lacking elements of the script, Martha Coolidge’s film is worth checking out.

MGM presents Valley Girl in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The film’s color palette is rich in colors, although color detail is not very good. Colors tend to blemish at some points, and radiate a little bit. Daylight scenes are bright and clear, and look pretty good. However, dark scenes contain a lot of grain and the image quality suffers because of it. Therefore dark tones and black levels are very much inconsistent. The print image also sees some specks and signs of old age, though the transfer does improve much over any VHS version of the film. Despite these flaws, MGM’s video presentation holds up well considering the age of the film and allows for a decent viewing experience.

MGM presents Valley Girl in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound. There is not much evidence to support that this is actually a 5.1 mix, however, the soundtrack is as loud as can be. Blasting from the speakers in a decent, atmospheric way are the popular songs “I Meld With You” and “Million Miles Away.” It should also be noted that the original music by Marc Levinthal and Scott Wilk comes across nicely. Dialogue is usually clear and easy to understand, although at times subtitles come in handy. There is no evidence of surround sound, although this mix is loud enough to provide a steady, decent audio experience.

3 All-New Featurettes – The first all-new featurette can be considered a small documentary about the film. Running approximately 22 minutes, “Valley Girl: 20 Tubular Years Later” recounts the film’s characters, story, production, reactions, etc. All of the major cast and crew members are present in interviews, except for Deborah Foreman who passed on this opportunity for some reason. This documentary is a great look back at the film, and seeing the actors come back after twenty years to talk about the film is pretty neat. Next up is “In Conversation: Martha Coolidge and Nicolas Cage,” an 18-minute one-on-one interview conversation set inside the film’s prominent nightclub; I believe it is an actual location, though I’m not sure. Coolidge and Cage have a good time sitting opposite each other as they remind themselves of the good old times. Last, but not least, is a 15-minute featurette called “The Music of Valley Girl,” about the film’s inspiring and retro soundtrack.

Commentary by Director Martha Coolidge – Coolidge engages in some interesting and fun conversations in her solo screen-specific audio commentary. She talks about the production, actors, and reactions to the film. There are some genuine things revealed in this track, and her energy translates into an informative, relaxed commentary.

Video Commentary Track – This feature superimposes a square video screen on the corners while you watch the film. These videos pop up once every while and allow some of the cast members to speak about their experiences shooting the film.

80s Trivia Track – This track provides all kinds of information pertaining to 1983, the film’s release date. Examples of the subtitled information, ala VH-1 pop-up video, reveal the price of regular gas at the time and mention Nicolas Cage was said to have lived in his car during the production.

Rounding out the extras are Storyboard-to-Film Comparisons, which are fine, but not compelling, and two Original Music Videos from the bands Modern English and The Pimsouls. Also included is the film’s original Theatrical Trailer.

You can select to view the film with optional English, French and Spanish subtitles. The DVD’s menus are not animated. The 99-minute feature is organized into thirty-two chapters.

I know I’m repeating myself here, but following the style of the film’s dialogue, which is also quite repetitive, I’m sure!, I’ll say it again—it’s cheesy but enjoyable. The video/audio quality is not perfect, but perfectly decent considering the film’s age. The extras are totally bitchin’, especially the “20 Years Later” featurette. Valley Girl is a must for fans, while others might want to rent it before making a purchase.

THE MOVIE	7
THE VIDEO	6
THE AUDIO	6
THE EXTRAS	7
OVERALL (not an average)	7