Valley Girl (2020) Blu-ray Review

Warner Bros Home Entertainment brings MGM’s 2020 musical adaptation of Martha Coolidge’s cult classic Valley Girl to Blu-ray after a 5-month PVOD run.

The Production: 3.5/5

Martha Coolidge’s 1983 cult classic of a young San Fernando Valley girl falling in love with a punk rock young man from Hollywood gets a jukebox musical makeover in director Rachel Lee Goldenberg’s Valley Girl. High school senior Julie (Jessica Rothe) prefers to spend time shopping with her friends at the mall, knowing that in the Fall she’ll be attending Cal State Northridge with them. They’re a tight knit group, hanging out at school and at the beach. When her boyfriend, high school tennis star Mickey (Logan Paul), asks her to the prom in a most unconventional way, she begins to rethink her relationship, especially after she meets would-be punk rocker Randy (Josh Whitehouse) after a seagull steals her nachos at the beach. It apparently is love at first sight for these two, as Randy and his fellow bandmates Jack (Mae Whitman) and Sticky (Mario Revolori) crash a costume party at Mickey’s house so he can ask Ju.ie out on a date. The two skip out of the party, taking a tour of downtown Hollywood and ending up at a punk rock club where Randy and his band, Safety Recall, routinely play to a small crowd. Julie’s parents (Ron Huebel and Judy Greer), her friends, and even Randy’s bandmates question if these two are really right for each other, causing both to be outcast from their social peers. Further placing a rift is Julie’s friend Karen (Chloe Bennet), who quickly takes Julie’s place at Mickey’s side. Will Julie and Randy make it to the prom together, or will Julie patch things up with Mickey? The story is framed around a present-day Julie (an uncredited Alicia Silverstone) recounting the tale to her distraught teenage daughter, Ruby (Camilla Morone), after breaking up with her boyfriend at a rave over her acceptance to a program in Japan.

This is a much brighter and lighter tale, interspersed with characters breaking out in song to such 1980s classics as the Go-Go’s We Got the Beat (the opening dance number in a very 1980s bright and colorful indoor mall), Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and many others. Most of those songs stay pretty faithful to the original arrangements, and most of the cast has the vocal chops to belt out the tunes. One of my favorites was the aerobic medley combining Madonna’s Material Girl, Hall & Oates’ I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do), Depeche Mode’s I Just Can’t Get Enough, and Soft Cell’s Tainted Love.  The exception, though, is Josh Whitehouse, who sounds more like he’s reciting the lyrics rather than actually singing them. His punk-rock rendition of The Cars’ You Might Think is almost excruciating, although he does fare much better with the original film’s signature song, Modern English’s I Melt With You. Also, Whitehouse’s Randy feels less like a punkster and more like a slacker, almost an amalgamation of both Bill and Ted. The major change, character-wise, is the transformation of Julie’s parents from former hippies in the original to flat out yuppies, who commonly spout cringe-worthy 80s references like investing in Commodore over Macintosh. Otherwise, the performances are fairly solid across the board, with Rothe’s Julie the real standout. Be on the lookout for cameos from some of the actors from the original film, including Deborah Foreman and Elizabeth Daily. The movie was a pleasant surprise, considering it had been sitting on a shelf for over two years before being dumped by MGM onto VOD platforms and now Blu-ray.

Video: 4.5/5

3D Rating: NA

MGM has supplied distributor Warner with an outstanding AVC-encoded 1080p transfer that retains the movie’s intended 1.85:1 aspect ratio and captures the bright and flashy colors and styles of the 1980s without appearing overly saturated. Contrast is excellent, with bright whites that don’t clip and deep blacks during the nighttime scenes that never appear to crush. Detail is also exceptional, revealing textures in clothing but also allowing the viewer to see just how much attention to detail the production designer had in preparing the 1980s era sets. There were no noticeable compression issues with the disc. I cannot say the same about the Vudu HDX digital copy that was included in this set, which had a noticeable level of noise and overall softness compared to the Blu-ray – noticeable even on a 55” display, something I haven’t seen in a long time on a recent release.

Audio: 4.5/5

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 track is front-heavy until the music numbers kick in, filling the room with music and atmospherics all around. Fidelity is excellent with a wide dynamic range and impressive LFE when needed. Dialogue and lyrics are clear and understandable throughout.

Special Features: 0.5/5

Digital Copy: An insert contains a code to redeem a digital copy on Vudu in HDX. That’s it, though, not even a trailer in included on the disc.

Overall: 4/5

I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun Valley Girl was with its catchy 1980s pop favorites and delightful performances.

Todd Erwin

Todd Erwin has been a reviewer at Home Theater Forum since 2008. His love of movies began as a young child, first showing Super 8 movies in his backyard during the summer to friends and neighbors at age 10. He also received his first movie camera that year, a hand-crank Wollensak 8mm with three fixed lenses. In 1980, he graduated to "talkies" with his award-winning short The Ape-Man, followed by the cult favorite The Adventures of Terrific Man two years later. Other films include Myth or Fact: The Talbert Terror and Warren's Revenge (which is currently being restored). In addition to movie reviews, Todd has written many articles for Home Theater Forum centering mostly on streaming as well as an occasional hardware review, is the host of his own video podcast Streaming News & Views on YouTube and is a frequent guest on the Home Theater United podcast.