The Rocky Horror Picture Show is one of the longest-theatrically-running films ever, still in limited release four decades after its premiere! They staying power of the film is due in large part to its fun, campy nature and catchy original music numbers which has many fans flocking to midnight showings each year.
The film opens with newly-engaged couple Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon) and Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick) driving in the rain when their car breaks down. They find their way to a mysterious castle where they are welcomed in by an odd hunchbacked man name Riff-Raff (Richard O’Brien). They have arrived in the middle of a party—some sort of annual celebration by the Transylvanians.
They soon meet the master of the house—the sexually ambiguous mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry), who unveils his latest creation, Rocky Horror (Peter Hinwood)—a young Adonis built for his pleasure. However, the creature fears his master’s sexual advances. As Brad and Janet try to make sense of what’s going on, they decide to stay the night. While sleeping, their host makes sexual advances at each of them—which are unexpectedly well-received. Over the course of film there’s sex, murder, aliens, and lots of singing and dancing.
I’ve seen only this film twice. I first watched it a number of years ago, when it was announced that Glee would be doing a tribute episode, and the second time for this review. In both viewings, I couldn’t make heads or tails of the ending. However, the point of this film seems to be to just enjoy the ride and campy fun, and not think too much about the plot. The performances are great—Tim Curray pretty much steals the show—and the music is so infectious. “Time Warp” is an instant classic, and I also really enjoyed “Science Fiction/Double Feature” and “Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me”, among others. Even those who have never seen this film have definitely seen its effect on popular culture, whether they realize it or not.
This time around, I watched the film with the full “The Midnight Experience” mode enabled, and it added a whole new dimension to the viewing experience. This Blu-ray special feature allows viewers to get an idea of what these crazy midnight fan viewings are all about. It was a delightful new way to experience the film!
This 40th anniversary Blu-ray is more of a re-release than a new release. All of the specs and the massive, comprehensive collection of on-disc bonus features are exactly the same as FOX’s previous 35th Anniversary Edition DigiBook release. However, instead of the DigiBook packaging with the photo book, the disc comes packed in a standard Blu-ray case with a slipcover, but also includes a Digital HD copy of the US cut of the film. So those who already own the 35th anniversary edition don’t really need to upgrade—and could just take advantage of Vudu’s Disc-to-Digital conversion program to get the Digital Copy for $2. However, for those who don’t already own a Blu-ray version of the film, this is an excellent release!
The Blu-ray picture quality is quite good, especially for a film that’s 40 years old! There are a few points where the picture looks quite grainy or faded, but I’m pretty sure this is the best the film has ever looked. The audio quality is also wonderful. While the film was originally released in mono, this new 7.1 DTS MA track makes the musical numbers sound phenomenal while still providing clear dialogue.
As mentioned earlier, there is no new bonus material for this release, but all of the special features carried over from the previous VHS, DVD and Blu-ray releases of the film provide many hours of enjoyment.
Fox also offers an “Ultimate Collector’s Edition” which comes in a limited-edition corset-style box that contains the Blu-ray, a pair of pink surgical gloves, a pair of fishnet stockings and a CD soundtrack.
What’s Included:
Film: (1:38:40 US / 1:40:08 UK)
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Blu-ray:
- 1080p / Widescreen 1.66:1
- Audio: English 7.1 DTS HD-MA, English 2.0 Mono, Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1, Polish Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles: English SDH, Portuguese (Brazil), Danish, Finnish, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Korean, Polish, Portuguese
- Digital HD Copy of the US cut of the film, redeemable via Flixter (UltraViolet), Google Play, or Vudu (UltraViolet)
Digital Copy (Redemption Deadline 9/22/2018):
Extras:
- Includes both the U.S. and U.K. cuts of the film!
The UK version runs 2 minutes longer and includes the song “Superheroes” at the end, which was thought to be too depressing of a note to end the film on. - Alternate B&W Opening
When enabled, the first 20 minutes of the film appear in B&W, and then switch into color mid “Time Warp”. - The Midnight Experience
To give yourself the midnight viewing fan experience, you can enable any number of these four features to be displayed while watching the film:- Trivia Track
Displays interesting facts about the stage and screen productions and the cast members in the upper left corner of the screen - Vintage Callback Track (Unrated)
Folks have a tradition of yelling out fun (and mostly explicit) things at the screen during the midnight showings. These amusing comments (as documented in the 1983 “Rocky Horror Picture Show Audience Par-tic-i-pation Album” appear in the upper right corner of the screen. - Prop Box
Fans at the midnight showings also have a tradition of throwing things at the screen, and this gives you a virtual way to join in the fun. At certain moments during the film, the prop box in the bottom left corner of the screen will highlight the correct prop, and you can click enter on your remote to throw it at the screen. Or you just throw any of the props at any time. - The Late Night, Double Feature, Picture-in-Picture Show
Another Rocky Horror tradition is to have a Shadowcast performance of the show where fans dressed in costume mouth the words and act out what’s going on on screen. This appears in the bottom right corner of the screen, and can also be swapped with the film for the full screen view using the remote.
- Trivia Track
- Rocky-oke: Sing It!
Sing along with your favorite songs/scenes from the film. The lyrics are displayed on the screen and highlighted along with the performance. You can sing along with or without the vocals enabled. Play All or select from “Science Fiction/Double Feature”, “Dammit Janet”, “Over At The Frankenstein Place”, “The Time Warp”, “Sweet Transvestite”, “Sword of Damocles”, “I Can Make You A Man”, “Hot Patootie – Bless My Soul”, “I Can Make You A Man: Reprise”, “Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me”, “Eddie”, “Planet, Schmanet, Janet”, “Rose Tint My World/Floor Show”, “Fanfare/Don’t Dream It”, “Wild and Untamed Thing”, “I’m Going Home”, “Superheroes” and “Science Fiction/Double Feature: Reprise”. - Commentary By Richard O’Brien and Patricia Quinn (1:40:08)
Originally recorded for the 25th anniversary DVD release, author of the play/actor Richard O’Brien (“Riff-Raff”) and actress Patricia Quinn (“Magenta”) provide an interesting and entertaining commentary, giving lots of fun stories surrounding the play and film productions. Subtitles are provided in English, French and German. - The Search for the 35th Anniversary Shadowcast (58:14)
Play Both Parts, or select between “Don’t Dream It, Be It: Part I” and “An-tic-i-pation: Part II”. In the Fall of 2009, there was a worldwide open audition for fans to be in the official Blu-ray Picture-in-Picture Shadowcast production of the film. This 2-part documentary follows the hopefuls through the audition process. In Part I we meet the fans and see their auditions, and in Part II cast member Patricia Quinn (“Magenta”) meets some of the hopefuls, Barry Bostwick (“Brad”) judges the tapes, and we get a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of the Shadowcast. - Mick Rock (A Photographer) (3:36)
Mick Rock talks about his experience being the on-set photographer for the film. - Mick Rock’s Picture Show (A Gallery) (3:50)
This gallery of 45 of Mick Rock’s on-set photos auto-advances every 5 seconds. - A Few From The Vault
- Deleted Musical Scenes (5:00)
Play All or select from “Once In A While” and “Superheroes” - Outtakes (10:02)
Play All or select from “Time Warp Alternate, Take 1”, “Time Warp Alternate, Take 2”, “Brad and Janet Undressed Alternate, Take 1”, “Brad and Janet Undressed Alternate, Take 2”, “Brad and Janet Undressed Alternate, Take 3”, “Brad and Janet Undressed Alternate, Take 4”, “Brad and Janet Undressed Alternate, Take 5”, “Janet’s Seduction Alternate, Take 1”, “Janet’s Seduction Alternate, Take 2”, “Floor Show Preparations Alternate, Take 1” and “Floor Show Preparations Alternate, Take 2” - Alternate Credit Ending (3:45)
Slightly different version of the US ending with “Time Warp” playing over the credits. - Misprint Ending (1:44)
The UK ending of the film with the “Superheroes” song, but missing the vocals. - “Rocky Horror Double Feature Video Show” (1995) (36:25)
In this retrospective documentary from 1995, the cast and creators talk about the stage and film productions of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the amazing fan phenomena they have resulted in. Includes behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with playwright Richard O’Brien (“Riff-Raff”), director Jim Sharman, set designer Brian Thomson, producer Lou Adler, and actors Jonathan Adams (“Dr. Everett Scott”), Patricia Quinn (“Magenta”), Little Nell (“Columbia”), Meatloaf (“Eddie”), Tim Curry (“Dr. Frank-N-Furter”), Susan Sarandon (“Janet Weiss”) and Barry Bostwick (“Brad Majors”). Subtitles are provided in English, Portuguese, French, German, Spanish and Dutch. - Beacon Theater, New York City (10th Anniversary) (5:26)
Footage from a tenth anniversary showing of the film, including the interactions and interviews with obsessed fans who have seen the film hundreds of times. - Time Warp Music Video (15th Anniversary VHS Release) (4:41)
Footage of a Shadowcast production of the “Time Warp” scene. - Theatrical Trailer 1 (:30)
- Theatrical Trailer 2 (2:59)
- Pressbook Gallery
Read the original press materials for the film. Use the remote to navigate sections to enlarge them and make it easier to read. - Poster Gallery….And More! (:25)
Gallery of four posters for the film advances every 5 seconds.
- Deleted Musical Scenes (5:00)
- Live Extras
Uses BD-Live to access additional features.- What’s New – Trailers for new FOX releases. (This only showed really old trailers/new releases for me)
- Live Lookup
Film plays in Picture-in-Picture window while the actors in the current scene are displayed below. You can select an actor’s picture to get “instant access to up-to-date filmographies” from IMDB. However, it looks like the data is only recent as of 2010—probably when this feature was originally created for the 35th anniversary Blu-ray. - Exclusive: Can I Be Frank? (3:51)
A collection of interviews with Frank-N-Furter hopefuls from the 35th Anniversary Shadowcast auditions.
Final Thoughts:
The Rocky Horror Picture Show may not always make complete sense, but it is a fun, campy ride. If you have never seen this film, what are you waiting for?! This Blu-ray provides excellent audio/video presentation and a wonderful set of bonus features. I really enjoyed the The Midnight Experience mode as it provided an all-new fun way to experience the film. This is a film that everyone should see at least once, and so this release comes Highly Recommended. However, those who already own the 35th Anniversary DigiBook release will find nothing new here except the Digital HD copy of the film.
