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Road House DVD + Blu-ray Combo

$13.99

User Reviews about Road House DVD + Blu-ray Combo

"Road House" is a typical exploitation flick but, in the decades that followed, has become a cult fave. It takes the usual clichés of a run-down bar with the type of elements that David Allan Coe sang about in "Longhaired Redneck". But what elevates this above any other typical exploitation flick is that it's a tight production filled with great roles.

Patrick Swayze (Dalton)is perfect for the zen-like cooler who is hired to help manage the bouncers at the Double Deuce road house. Kelly Lynch plays his love interest and Ben Gazzara as the sadistic thug who runs the town. Rounding off the cast is Sam Elliott as Dalton's mentor and the sadly missed Jeff Healey and his band playing as the house band at the road house.

This is a very enjoyable movie which I found myself rediscovering. I saw this on the shelf numerous times yet held out on purchasing it. But, after viewing it again, it is a movie that doesn't take itself seriously and is just enjoyable for the cheese that it is. It's the kind of movie which acts as a time capsule for the end of the '80s with its excesses (car cassette players, such as the one in Dalton's prized possession, date the movie). The only thing I didn't like was how the Double Deuce became "mainstreamed" from a dive to one sporting the '80s touches of polo-shirted bouncers, neon and mall-like architectural trim.

The acting and the production hold it together. I'm fully aware of how a lot of the plot could have been excised. But then this movie is all about grit and butt-kicking...that is, until the Deuce gets polished up. The action and fights are good and suitably over-the-top for this material.

The standout in this movie is Jeff Healey, a gifted musician with amazing musical talents for the blues. He and his band is the other reason why I kept watching. Healey died in 2008 due to the cancer that took his eyesight at the age of one. It's great watching him play and act. He, as well as the rest of the cast, obviously had a lot of fun making this movie. Even the closing credits sequence focuses on filming Healey and his band playing.

Tis DVD is a vast improvement over the previous MGM/UA "flipper" release. The film ifs presented in its original anamorphic 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The digital transfer is much better and sharp and the sound highlights Michael Kamen's score and Jeff Healey beautifully (there's good 5.1 "play" within the roadhouse fight scenes inside the club that capture the ambiance nicely).

But the real reason I bought this was for Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier's audio commentary track. Smith and Mosier were not involved in the production of "Road House". However, this dynamic duo talked about "Road House" during the intro to the "Clerks - The First Cut" featured in the Clerks (Three-Disc 10th Anniversary Collector's Edition) DVD. Someone listened and gave the pair the chance to record audio commentary for "Road House". Their commentary not only hits upon their admiration of the film and of Ben Gazzara (their admiration is like P.T.Anderson's admiration for Phillip Baker Hall) for but poke fun as the legend of Dalton which had me cracking up numerous times. They also talk about the copious male nudity in the film while also drawing parallels to this film and westerns. This audio commentary track is worth listening to and helps add some nice depth to a very entertaining film.

Other features include a commentary track by Rowdy Herrington, a featurette for its meant-to-be-avoided sequel ("Road House 2 : Widescreen Edition) and interviews with actual bouncers ("What Would Dalton Do") and a text trivia subtitle track.

It's a good film: A nice cheap pleasure that I bought out of a bargain bin. It's a DVD worth owning, watching and listening to. It was a nice impulse buy and worth snagging just for the sake of watching Patrick Swayze kick butt, Jeff Healey and his band play and listening to Smith and Mosier talk about the film. This film gave me a reason to revisit and rediscover Healey's music. I highly recommended this DVD.
-- Good late '80s exploitation flick. Great DVD!

I was so glad that I could eventually purchase this item because I could not find this DVD
in Singapore. I was also surprised that the delivery took only about a week. Would most certainly browse through Amazon for amazing DVDs.

By the way, do you have the DVD for The Singing Nun? It stars Debbie Reynold. Saw this picture many many years ago.

Joseph -- Road House

I like this movie for its atmosphere and attitude. It's mostly night, there is a bar fight or some other kind of fight every 15 minutes or more often. Other illegalities abound (with houses and cars burnt down etc), sex, alcohol and the smell of violence are ever-present. It's a world of its own, with never a cop in sight and the house band always carrying on performing no matter how big a bar fight is taking place around them, and the surprisingly intense atmosphere - you can smell the hot summer Saturday night - draws you in. There's something of a mythical America here (in a modern Western style), at least for a European viewer like me. True, it's a child of its time, but you are meant to take this in a certain way to appreciate it. -- Movie with attitude

Road House is another of my favorite Patrick Swayze movies. It is not suitable for children to watch and I wish they had made it without the undesirable content, but it is a good movie. -- Road House

The DVD is excellent. I received this dvd within 3 days. Wonderful Service.
Thank You Marie -- Road House