As Mitch Robbins (Billy Crystal) turns 39, he starts to experience a mid-life crisis. His work life is in a rut—he used to enjoy his job, but now finds himself being micromanaged. His son (Jake Gyllenhaal) is embarrassed to bring him to career day—Mitch’s stories of selling radio advertisement air time pale in comparison to the graphic and colorful tales told by a classmate’s construction worker father. Mitch’s wife (Patricia Wettig) is loving and supportive, but lately he tends to always see everything as glass-half-empty. Every year for his birthday Mitch’s childhood friends Ed (Bruno Kirby) and Phil (Daniel Stern) take him on some big excursion, as some sort of desperate attempt to hold onto their youth. However, after last year’s running with the bulls in Pamplona left him with a bandaged bottom, Mitch had sworn off these trips.

Things have changed a lot in the past year for Mitch’s pals. Playboy Ed, who owns a sporting goods store, has finally settled down and married his latest in a long line of young girlfriends. However she now wants to start a family, and Ed’s not sure he’s ready for that. Meanwhile, things have gone in the opposite direction for Phil. Phil is miserable in his marriage, regularly pretending to be asleep in order to avoid having to speak to his nagging wife. He feels trapped, working as the manager of his father-in-law’s supermarket. That is, until a 20-year-old checkout girl crashes Mitch’s birthday party to reveal to Phil (and everyone else at the party) that she might be pregnant with Phil’s baby. Now jobless and in the midst of a divorce, Phil needs this annual trip more than ever.

The guys head off to participate in a two-week cattle drive from New Mexico to Colorado. They are all fish-out-of-water in this new world of riding horses and wrangling cattle, but are excited for the challenge. They are joined by fellow city slickers, father and son dentists Ben (Bill Henderson) and Steve Jessup (Phill Lewis), sibling ice cream moguls Barry (Josh Mostel) and Ira Shalowitz (David Paymer), and the beautiful, single Bonnie Rayburn (Helen Slater), whose partner dropped out at the last moment. Teaching the group the (rope) tricks of the trade are cowboys Jeff (Kyle Secor) and T.R. (Dean Hallo), and leading the group on the drive is the weathered, gruff, take-no-nonsense trail boss Curly (Jack Palance)—the textbook definition of a manly man.

I first saw City Clickers in the theater and really enjoyed it. It was a slightly different experience watching it now when I am closer to the age of the main characters having their mid-life crisis, but I still found it just as fun and entertaining as ever. Even nearly three decades later, the film still feels as fresh and timely as ever—except for some of the dated clothing, a few lines of dialogue that would never make it into a movie these days due to today’s more sensitive climate, and a humorous discussion between Mitch and Phil about how to record one thing while watching another on the VCR, a concept that will likely be foreign to younger viewers.

There is no other actor who could play the somewhat-neurotic Mitch—the humor and delivery is 100% Billy Crystal’s signature style, mixing dry, sarcastic (and sometimes self-deprecating) wit with puns and physical humor. There are so many great one-liners that came flooding back as I re-watched this film for the first time in at least a decade or two. I had forgotten just how much of this film I had memorized over the years. Daniel Stern & Bruno Kirby do a wonderful job of rounding out the comedy trio, with each guy bringing his own signature stamp into the mix. Phil’s lack of self-confidence is balanced nicely by Ed’s over-confidence and bravado. Jack Palance, who won an Oscar for his role, is also a hilarious part of this film. He plays everything so straight-faced as the sage, tough, weathered cowboy, but delivers some of the film’s most laugh-garnering lines.

While the movie is very funny, it is also surprisingly quite heartfelt at times as these guys confront their issues and try to find happiness and joy in life again. I really enjoyed the (possibly one-sided) father/son like bond that develops between Mitch and Curly. And the guys, who feel like they’ve actually been friends for a long time, have this great relationship that is encouraging towards and supporting of one another. However, even with all this mid-life crisis drama, City Slickers is first and foremost a comedy. There are lots of laughs as the guys struggle to learn the ropes (literally) to being cowboys, deal with runaway cattle, and have humorous banter and discussions with one another. The writers have done a great job of tempering the drama with humor—they will throw in a joke to lighten the mood just as things start to get a bit too deep, to get you laughing and remind you that you are watching a comedy.

City Slickers had previously been released on Blu-ray, but this Shout Select re-release utilizes a brand new 4K HD scan. The picture quality ranges from absolutely stunning, to a bit dull and excessively grainy. Fortunately, it is much more of the former—this does not look like a film that’s pushing 30 years old. For the most part the exterior shots look fantastic. A lot of the scenes with the guys driving the cattle look quite clean and beautiful. While there is some grain throughout the film, this is to be expected for a movie that was shot on film. Colors are vivid and natural looking, while nighttime scenes look quite good, maintaining a lot of the detail without crushing the darkness. The scenes where the picture quality suffers are generally the second unit insert shots, such as the opening sequence with the running of the bulls. This scene also has a moment where a large blur moves down the bottom center of the screen. Another scene that looks overly grainy is the montage when the guys first get to the ranch and try on various clothes to come up with their outfits.

The audio track is quite satisfying. Dialogue remains clear, mostly coming from the center channel, while Marc Shaiman’s delightfully-catchy score fills the rest of the soundscape. The film was released before the advent of modern surround sound, but the re-created 5.1 audio track does an excellent job of adding ambiance, and making the on-screen action come to life. You would never know this wasn’t a native 5.1 release. You feel like you are right there in the middle of the action during the running of the bulls, and during the fun Pink Panther-style animated opening credits sequence, things feel like they are coming off the screen into your living room. This wonderfully immersive surround ambiance and optimization is present throughout the film.

Shout! Factory usually does an excellent job creating interesting new supplemental material for its Shout Select line of Blu-rays. Unfortunately, this release doesn’t include any new bonus material. That said, it does port over all of the entertaining features that were originally produced for the 2008 MGM Collector’s Edition DVD release. These consist of a pair of deleted scenes with commentary about why the edits were made, a 29-minute cast/filmmaker retrospective, a 21-minute discussion about the script, a 6-minute piece on Norman the cow, a 9-minute featurette about a real-life dude ranch, and a really fun and informative audio commentary with the director and stars.

The disc comes packed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a slipcover, and like many other Shout Select releases, the cover insert is reversible, giving the viewer a choice in how to display this title in his or her collection. The alternate view for this title can be seen below:

What’s Included:

Film: (1:53:46)

• 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Surround, English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio Stereo
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:
All of the bonus material was originally produced for MGM’s 2008 Collector’s Edition DVD release.

• Audio Commentary By Director Ron Underwood And Stars Billy Crystal And Daniel Stern (1:53:46)
  This is a wildly entertaining and informative audio commentary, though sometimes the guys get a little lost in watching the film and they forget to speak. In general, the director and stars provide a fun discussion of the film, sharing a lot of interesting behind-the-scenes stories about the production, talking about the script, the characters and their co-stars, and more. This is definitely a feature worth watching…err listening to.
• Featurettes:
  • “Back In The Saddle: City Slickers Revisited” (28:59)
    In this retrospective, the director and cast reminisce about the film, the characters, the shooting locations, and the cast. They provide some entertaining stories about the production, and also talk about why the movie still remains so popular nearly 20 years later. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with screenwriters Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel, director Ron Underwood, director of photography Dean Selmer, and stars Billy Crystal (“Mitch Robbins”), Daniel Stern (“Phil Berquist”), Patricia Wettig (“Barbara Robbins”), David Paymer (“Ira Shalowitz”), and Helen Slater (“Bonnie Rayburn”).
  • “Bringing In The Script: Writing City Slickers“ (20:59)
    The filmmakers talk about the script and the writing process, the use of improvisation, balancing the drama with the humor, and more. Includes interviews with screenwriters Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel, director Ron Underwood, and stars Billy Crystal & Daniel Stern.
  • “A Star Is Born: An Ode To Norman” (6:14)
    The cast and filmmakers talk about filming the calf birthing scene, and then the cast provide their own guesses as to what happened with Norman’s career after the film. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with director Ron Underwood, screenwriters Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel, and stars Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, Patricia Wettig, David Paymer, and Helen Slater.
  • “The Real City Slickers“ (8:55)
    Head to a real cattle ranch where guests inspired by the film can participate in their own real-life cowboy adventures. Those interviewed include ranch owners Penny & Mats Persson, cowboy Tim Hastings, and several of their guests.
• Deleted Scenes (2:48)
  Director Ron Underwood provides a running commentary over the raw footage of a deleted scene where the guys release the cattle near the end of the film. Then, screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel provide an introduction to a deleted scene where the ice cream brothers offer Mitch a new job.
• Theatrical Trailer (2:54)

Final Thoughts:

Nearly three decades later, City Slickers is just as funny as I remembered it. Shout!’s Blu-ray release features a stunning new 4K scan that makes the film look better than ever. The audio track makes excellent use of the stereo and surround channels to provide an exciting, immersive viewing experience. Unfortunately the only bonus features included are all ports from the previous 2008 Blu-ray release. However, this material is quite entertaining. Due to this, I can’t necessarily recommend a double-dip for those who already own the previous Blu-ray, but die-hard fans may consider it for the new video transfer. That said, the Shout Select release comes highly recommended for potential new buyers as the definitive version to pick up.