Blu-ray Release: Sixteen Candles

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: April 14, 2020
Price: Blu-ray $27.99
Studio: Arrow/MVD

In his 1984 debut film as writer-director, John Hughes immediately cemented himself as the king of teen cinema with Sixteen Candles.

For high schooler Samantha Baker (Molly Ringwald, The Breakfast Club), her 16th birthday might be the worst day of her life. Her entire family has forgotten about it due to her older sister’s impending wedding; her biggest crush, high school hunk Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling) has discovered an embarrassing “sex quiz” filled out by Sam in which she details how she is saving herself for him; and to make matters worse, she is hounded by a relentless nerd (Anthony Michael Hall, Foxcatcher) who won’t take no for an answer. But Sam’s sweet sixteen isn’t over yet, and before the end of the night, all her birthday wishes could still come true…

Taking the rude and crude humor of the teen sex comedies that came before it and placing it within the intimately portrayed perspective of a girl’s mid-teenage-life crisis, Sixteen Candles is a bombshell of 80s pop culture that continues to be debated and beloved over three decades after its release.

Arrow’s Blu-ray edition of the beloved Hughes film contains the following:

• New restoration by Arrow Films from a 4K scan of the original negative
• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray™ presentation of the Theatrical Version of the film (92 mins), plus Blu-ray™ premiere Extended Version (94 mins), featuring the additional “cafeteria” scene newly remastered in high definition
• Original lossless mono audio, plus 5.1 DTS-HD MA surround option
• Original English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Alternate “home video” soundtrack prepared for VHS and laserdisc releases
• Option to watch additional scene from the Extended Version separately
• Casting ‘Sixteen Candles’, an all-new audio interview with casting director Jackie Burch
• When Gedde Met Deborah, a newly filmed conversation between actors Gedde Watanabe and Deborah Pollack
• Rudy the Bohunk, a newly filmed interview with supporting actor John Kapelos
• The In-Between, a newly filmed interview with camera operator Gary Kibbe
• The New Wave Nerd, a newly filmed interview with filmmaker Adam Rifkin, who shadowed John Hughes while working as an extra on set
• Music for Geeks, a newly filmed interview with composer Ira Newborn
• A Very Eighties Fairytale, an all-new video essay written and narrated by writer Soraya Roberts, looking at the film from a contemporary feminist perspective
• Celebrating Sixteen Candles, an archive documentary featuring interviews with cast, crew and admirers, including stars Anthony Michael Hall, Paul Dooley, Justin Henry, Haviland Morris and Gedde Watanabe
• Theatrical trailers, TV spots and radio spots
• Image galleries
• BD-ROM: PDF of the original shooting script
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by Nikki Baughan and Bryan Reesman