Review: Pretty in Pink special edition
May I admire "Pretty in Pink" again today? John Hughes fans ... the official Stuck in the 80s verdict is in: The new "Everything's Duckie Edition" DVD is definitely worth your time.
This new edition DVD-only version of Pretty in Pink was released on the film's 20th anniversary and it contains several gems, including an audio commentary by director Howard Deutch (remember, Hughes only wrote and produced it) and a half dozen featurettes about the making of the film. Most of the stars are shown in interviews from 1986 and today. (They've all aged remarkably gracefully.)
The real treasure though is a feature on the original ending of the flick. And here's the controversy too. The movie was supposed to end with Andie (Molly Ringwald) and Duckie (Jon Cryer) together at the dance, dancing alone in a spotlight dance -- with no reconciliation with Blane (Andrew McCarthy). Test audiences though objected, so the ending was rewritten and re-shot to show Andie and Blane together.
No, the entire original ending isn't included on the DVD -- mainly because it's still sorta there ... in pieces. The new ending is more "addition" than subtraction. Are you confused? Then go rent or buy the movie. What's amusing is that only Andrew McCarthy thought the original ending was stupid. Most hardcore Hughes fans I know would prefer the original ending.
Other factoids you'll learn in this edition:
- John Hughes invents his own "teen language" for his movies, so that they don't appear dated when people watch them 20 years later.
- Deutch disagreed with Hughes on much of the music for Pretty in Pink (though he later admits Hughes was right all along).
Everyone thought James Spader ("Steff") was an obnoxious jerk during his audition. No one wanted him to get the part until they realized -- hey, that's exactly the kind of person who should play Steff.- Andrew and Molly had a date arranged during the making of the movie, but Andrew stood her up.
He stood her up? I nearly fell off the couch when I heard that. But I ran over and rubbed my Molly Ringwald action figure instead for good mojo.
If you already own the movie on DVD, is it worth buying the new one? I'm going to go out on a limb and say yes. (Just give the old version to a younger sibling.) The Duckman would approve.
Relive the music, movies and culture of the greatest decade ever with Times online editor Steve Spears. A teen during the decade, Steve is obsessed with everything from Duran Duran to Journey, John Hughes to John Cusack, and parachute pants to Reaganomics.
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... and like the 80's suckers we all are, we KNOW we will re-buy all those new versions. Damn that John Hughes!
Posted by: Bells4her | October 22, 2006 at 11:49 AM
First of all, thanks to Cathy for letting us know before we all went out and bought it, expectin' to see the original ending.
Second, it really makes no fargin' sense at all to me that they'd come out with a new DVD of Pretty in Pink, subtitled "The Everything's Duckie" edition and not include the original ending with Duckie and Andie winding up together on it.
They had to know that people would be disappointed and/or the fact that they'd tell other people that what they most want isn't on there. This must be a ploy to get us all excited about it, so they can make us buy it again when they come out with another version in a few years.
Posted by: Six | October 19, 2006 at 01:32 PM
I think the original ending is SORTA there. You see the footage from behind the camera of the ending. You see Andie and Duckie dancing. But obviously, you don't see the ending as it was originally screened for the test audiences.
Oh, another factoid: The Psychedelic Furs redid the song Pretty in Pink for the movie. Most fans know that, but I found it interesting anyway. I'm a sucker for movie music trivia.
Posted by: Spears | October 13, 2006 at 10:18 PM
I complete agree. I was bummed that they mislead you about the original ending, but all the features were wonderful. I'd say it's a must have for any Pretty in Pink fan...Much, much better than it's original DVD release.
Posted by: Elle | October 13, 2006 at 04:51 PM
I got this the week it came out, and I was totally pissed that the entire original ending was not included. Other than that, the features are pretty cool. and as far as aging gracefully goes, Andrew McCarthy looks like he has had a little to much botox. It is funny to think that the only cast members of this movie that still have decent careers today are Jon Cryer and James Spader.
Posted by: Bassnote | October 13, 2006 at 04:27 PM