4/5 Gee, thanks Paramount...
  by John Rotan (Morganton, NC USA)
Film buffs, DVD collectors, and John Hughes fans beware! The "Bueller...Bueller..." edition DVD does not include the commentary track by writer/producer/director John Hughes which was included on the original 1999/2000 DVD release. It is a great commentary and is sorely missed from this edition.

3/5 Cough Cough Cough Cough Cough...Bleah, Bleah! Bleah, Bleah!!!
  by BRADLEY R HUTSON (Sesser, IL United States)
I first saw "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" in 1991, and I've LOVED it ever since. I was so thrilled to see that Paramount was giving this classic film an upgraded DVD Special Edition. Upon seeing it however, I must say that I'm pretty disappointed. The extras, although enjoyable, are sorely lacking what they could and SHOULD be. Most of the film's major stars (and sometimes even minor ones like Kristy Swanson and Richard Edson) provide some updated interviews that are fun to watch. But, the bonus material and interviews featuring Mia Sara are all from 1986! She obviously CAN'T be that busy these days, so doesn't it make sense that an updated interview with her could have been included?

Also, the shooting script for this movie contains MANY deleted scenes and dialogue, some of which were a GREAT read and are bound to have been filmed. Ferris going through the house looking for money in some STRANGE places (all while the Pink Floyd tune "Money" was playing), as well as Cameron's dad seeing his 1961 Ferarri being driven through Chicago's streets by the two parking garage employees would have been GREAT to see. However, the ONLY deleted scene we get here is a behind-the-scenes version of the waiter at Chez Qui telling the trio that the food they were eating was pancreas (which of course was referred to later by Ferris in the taxi). No true special edition DVD should be without a deleted scenes section. VERY disappointing.

Next, this edition (like the original) does NOT include a theatrical trailer. It's rare for even a bare bones DVD not to include at least one trailer, but nearly UNHEARD of for a special edition! It's bound to still exist, and I can't beleive that it's THAT hard to find that they could not have dug it up for this "special" edition.

Finally, the original DVD, while lacking a trailer, DID include a GREAT feature-length commentary track by writer/director John Hughes. However, that commentary track is NOT included here! That was either a severe oversight or a downright mean move by Paramount. How hard would it have been to reproduce it here? In effect, its omission forces anyone who bought the original DVD and wants to upgrade to the special edition to keep the original instead of selling or trading it, all because they want to retain the commentary. Paramount should have at least made it possible that owning this new DVD would provide the most complete "Ferris" experience presently possible by itself, but without the original's commentary it doesn't.

In summary, if you bought the original DVD, then I advise you to keep it and just rent this new version to give the special features a look. Save the rest of what you would otherwise spend on this to put towards something more worthwhile. If you have NOT bought the original DVD however, then this would be a worthwhile purchase to own the extras that were not present on the original. But, do rent the original to give a listen to that AWESOME commentary track by John Hughes.



5/5 Don't trust the review; still relevant and hilarious!
  by (Eastern US)
I am a teenager. I still enjoy(?) the joys(?) of high school. And let me say that Ferris Bueller's Day Off is still pertinent, as well as enjoyable.

I've seen the ending numerous times on TV, but this very night I decided to watch the whole thing. I rented it with a friend and loved it. Tomorrow I will go out and buy the DVD.

John Hughes was one of the precursors of such great writer-directors as Kevin Smith, and this film is evidence. It may have different focuses and some might find this difficult to interpret, as some reviews have said.

I say "Bull." This film captures high school. Even if all the teachers aren't as boring, the administration is still spreading the same lies that the principal character does in the film. He tries for authority and only pulls off incompetence.

With humor, light youthful cynicism, and carefree but intelligent views on life, I can attest to Ferris's own accuracy. I may not be as successful, but I see myself as a Buellerist(even if it wasn't intended).

So what if the movie ends seriously? That's what high school is! There're good times, hilarious times. And then there's learning who you are. Coming to terms. I was moved by Ferris Bueller's Day Off. In a world where accuracy often means disgusting, hack films like American Pie, this movie captured school days masterfully. Films that take the act of growing up and make it a sick joke are insulting, in my opinion. American Pie featured the darker side of growing up. People who are self-centered and petty. What a life, to start in such a way. Ferris Bueller is shown to be human and moral as he speaks about his friends, however. His analyses are wonderful, and caring while not being sugar-coated. The film was true but tasteful, succinctly and accurately showing the trials of growing up.

It's over-the-top, but anyone who was interesting in high school(and childhood in general), I'm sure, can attest to memories that seem larger-than-life. While it may be difficult to watch Ferris Bueller run up slides and jump on trampolines all to get home with a serious eye, one must admit that when one looks back at school, some things are like that, even if only in your mind.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off works on levels that only one who is or has been young can appreciate.

5/5 My Favorite Movie (Part 3, The DVD)
  by Duane Thomas (Tacoma, WA United States)
There's only one "extra" on the DVD. John Hughes' (writer and director of Ferris Bueller's Day Off) commentary track can be run with the movie. Much more so than many director tracks, there's some really good stuff here. For instance:

* Matthew Broderick and Alan Ruck worked extensively with each other on Broadway before doing Ferris Bueller's Day Off, which helps explain their easy chemistry. It's no stretch to watch these two guys react to each other, and believe they've been friends for years.

* The best bit of commentary, for my money, is when Hughes discusses the sequence set in the Art Institute of Chicago, which was a kind of sanctuary for him when he was in high school. The paintings in this scene are those that were his favorites. Hughes' tone of voice, the emotions he expresses during this scene, are really touching. Prior to Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the interior of this building had never been filmed for a movie, and it was a big deal for Hughes to go back to this place that had been so important to him, and show people how beautiful it is.

* Charlie Sheen was only brought in for one day to play Garth Volbeck during the police station scene. With little or no time to rehearse, he burned up the celluloid anyway. If I can believe the Internet, Charlie stayed awake for 48 hours before shooting to give himself the proper strung-out look. In this scene he looks so much like his Dad at the same age it's eerie.

* The parade sequence was filmed during an real parade in downtown Chicago. This wasn't a situation where the street was cordoned off and filled with extras. The Ferris crew had a float in the actual parade. No one knew who they were. The crowd didn't know, probably the city fathers didn't know. When the music for Twist and Shout started blasting, totally of their own accord, people from the surrounding areas were drawn in, started dancing and singing along. All the shots of individual faces from the crowd weren't actors, they were "real people," there because they wanted to be, looking like they were having fun because they were. The construction worker dancing on a scaffold, way up on that half-finished building? A real construction worker. John Hughes saw him dancing, grabbed a cameraman and said, "You've got to get this guy." Then he looked at the street, saw it absolutely packed with thousands of people, all dancing and singing along with "Ferris," totally into it, and said to the guy on the camera crane, "TELL me we got that shot." Because there's no way they could have afforded to stage it, or even imagined something that wild. It just happened. TOO cool.

* There were several sequences actually filmed but cut from the final version of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. In one, Ferris goes on a radio program and talks about wanting to be the first teenager to ride the space shuttle. This was actually included in what would have been the final cut, and a trailer went out with some of that material in it. Unfortunately, the day after the trailer was released the Challenger exploded; the studio pulled the trailer and Hughes had to recut the movie to trim the shuttle stuff. I actually remember that trailer. I saw it during the day or two it was in release. If I remember correctly, a voice asks various people, "What do you think of Ferris Bueller?" and one of the respondents, a high school kid, says, "Ferris Bueller? He's going to be the first teenager to ride the space shuttle."

* Also cut was Ferris' relationship with the Volbecks, the Charlie Sheen character's family. Garth Volbeck's father owns the tow company that hauls away Ed Rooney's car.

* Another excised bit: In the restaurant, when Ferris, Sloane and Cameron are brought menus, none of them want to admit they can't read French so they order something, then start eating, having no idea what it is. Then we get to see their reactions when they find out it's pancreas. This is referred to later in the cab scene when Ferris, listing to Cameron the things they've done that day, says, "We ate pancreas."

It would have been nice to have the original trailer, revised trailer, and deleted scenes included on the DVD. While chances of seeing that level of work put into the DVD for an 18 year old movie, no matter how good, are slim (even assuming the chopped footage still exists) I can dream that maybe one day, on a future version of this DVD, it might happen. I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

While we're on the subject of wishes, why oh why was the music from Ferris Bueller's Day Off never released as a soundtrack? A crime, since it's got one of best combination of songs I've ever heard in a movie. Another "I'd buy it in a heartbeat" situation that'll probably never happen at this late date.

5/5 ARGH!!!! Again...a missed opportunity!
  by DepecheMan (New York)
The 5 stars is only in direct relation to what's ON this 'Bueller...Bueller..." edition and the film ITSELF. Would it have been soooooo difficult to transfer the old commentary from the bare bones edition of the film from 1999? It's a good thing i noticed before i sold it back to my local FYE for credit on the future purchase of what....maybe the THIRD release of FERRIS? Now i have to find a way to put the old dvd in the case with the new edition taking care not to scratch either. Too much time and energy on my part. THAT'S YOUR JOB, PARAMOUNT!!!!!! Where's the notoriously cut scene with the bong hit??? No out-takes?? I find that hard to believe. A great feel good film with some good bonus features leaves me hoping i don't get hit by a bus before they release the 25th anniversary edition in 2011. When PARAMOUNT will 'ONE UP' their usual DOUBLE DIPPING into fans' pockets with the DOUBLE DISC version this film originally deserved....
Okay...if you're a fan...just buy the damn thing because it's a must have for your film library and what IS included is pretty darn good...but there should've been more...and i KNOW there IS more...
C'mon...someone with brains at Paramount...SAVE FARRIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!