Jeri Jacquin
Coming to 4K Ultra HD, Bluray and Digital from director George Lucas and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment celebrating its Golden 50th Anniversary is the iconic AMERICAN GRAFFITI.
Curt (Richard Dreyfuss), Steve (Ron Howard), John (Paul Le Mat), and Terry (Charles Martin Smith) are spending what is left of their freedom after graduating high school basking in the summer of 1962. Meeting up at Mel’s Drive-In they are getting together because Curt and Steve are leaving for college. Steve’s girlfriend Laurie (Cindy Williams) joins them as they have a conversation about where their relationship is going.
On their way to the dance, Curt sees a white Thunderbird and the lady driving says “I love you” and it sends Curt on a journey to find her. The leader of the gang “The Pharaohs” tells him she is a hooker but he doesn’t believe it. Steve decides to let Terry have his car while he’s at college and all sorts of mayhem happens from that bad decision which involves Debbie (Candy Clark) and a beat down. All the while John is stuck with a precocious Carol (Mackenzie Phillips).
A race changes everything for a group of friends and Curt turns to Wolfman Jack to help him find the woman in the sports car as he races back to Mel’s Drive-In and the pay phone. You never know what you will see from an airplane window!
Dreyfuss as Curt is everything I loved about this character. He gives us angst, uncertainty, a longing for something he isn’t even sure really exists, friendship and the journey away from the small town of Modesto, California. The last summer is the one we carry with us forever because it is when a part of life ends and another begins and that summer is the limbo in between.
Howard as Steve is not Opie for sure (google it children) but he has an idea for his future. Then again, that’s what happens when you are in that limbo, leaving where you have been is so hard but the future is such a pull. Smith as Terry has always been underappreciated as an actor but in this film, he set the groundwork and standard for me following his work and, his character is so charming.
Williams as Laurie is every high school girl’s worry when the ‘love of your life’ goes away with promises of returning to that high school love. I can’t count how many times Laurie had me putting my hand over my heart with an ‘awwww’ moment. Phillips as Carol is a smart mouthed (even if she might get it wrong) girl who doesn’t let anyone get the better of her, until they get close and she needs a bit of rescuing. She is so good in this role.
Shout out to Harrison Ford for his role as Bob because he took on Carol and it was hilarious to watch.
Other cast include Bo Hopkins as Joe, Manuel Padilla Jr. as Carlos and Harrison Ford as Bob Falfa.
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us to all experience and re-experience in our own home theaters. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.
MOVIES ANYWHERE gives viewers the ability to download the Movies Anywhere App. With that you can view films by downloading or streaming to your favorite device using a Digital Code. For more information on Movies Anywhere please visit www.MoviesAnywhere.com.
Bonus Features include The Making of AMERICAN GRAFFITI – Genesis of the Project, A Personal Story, Casting, Production Begins, Production Stories, Post Production, Final Words, Screen Tests, Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss and Paul Le Mat, Ron Howard and Cindy Williams, Mackenzie Phillips and Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Theatrical Trailer and Feature Commentary with Director George Lucas.
AMERICAN GRAFFITI is all the words you can find that describe something as a classic and iconic. What a beautiful look at a time that will never come again and that the sadness of it actually. In 1972, my class would have almost the same feelings because that’s what the final summer is about. Challenging the norms, trying to find out where, as a young person, we all fit in the grand scheme of things.
Some of us knew and some of us didn’t, some of us went head first into the future nervous but unafraid of what we might find and some held back and tried to stay in the world that was slowly dissolving making way for the next batch. I actually know quite a few people who still, in their 60’s (ironic, no?) never left their last summer.
AMERICAN GRAFFITI is stunning to watch in 4K Ultra HD, all the colors, imagination, beauty, and youth of the actors is bold and reminiscent. The connections are there and the story hasn’t lost an ounce of fascination and fun. This is the film that deserves to be watched repeatedly not only for what Lucas created and put on film but for the cinematography as well.
Happy Golden 50th AMERICAN GRAFFITI!
In the end – where were you in ’62?
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