Risky Business – Criterion

Director: Paul Brickman
Screenplay: Paul Brickman
Starring: Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay
Country: United States
Running Time: 99 mins
Year: 1983

Nowadays, most people think of Tom Cruise, the action star. Mission: Impossible, Top Gun: Maverick, Edge of Tomorrow, Jack Reacher probably come to the minds of most filmgoers. But for me, the Cruise I find most interesting are the riskier (pardon the pun) movies that he did earlier in his career. Eyes Wide Shut, Collateral and Risky Business. With the announcement that The Criterion Collection were releasing Risky Business for the first time on UHD, I immediately requested a screener as it’d been years since I’d last seen the film. 

Written and directed by Paul Brickman, Risky Business follows Tom Cruise’s Joel, a rich student who wants to make his parents proud by getting into a prestigious university like Princeton. After they go away for vacation, he decides to have some fun, which results in turning his lovely family home into a brothel. It’s an absolutely wild narrative, but somehow, despite the almost contrived sounding nature of everything, it’s pulled off with a level of thought and style other sex-oriented comedies of the era never had. 

Tom Cruise’s breakout performance as Joel is remembered fondly for a reason. Whether it’s his iconic dance sequence to Old Time Rock and Roll, or him realising that “sometimes, you gotta say ‘What the f*ck”, Cruise is electric here and paired with the great performance of Lana (Rebecca De Mornay), the prostitute that Joel becomes fascinated with, it’s a wonderfully performed film all around. 

I have to highlight how unfortunate it is that director Paul Brickman only ever directed two films, Risky Business and the 1990 film Men Don’t Leave. His visual style is sublime, his direction of everything in Risky Business is practically perfect and it’s a tragedy we didn’t get more features from him after this. 

The film’s choked full of needle drops like the aforementioned Old Time Rock and Roll, as well as tracks like In the Air Tonight, Every Breath You Take, Hungry Heart and more but for me, the highlight of the soundtrack is the incredible Tangerine Dream score. Before this, Tangerine Dream composed scores for Friedkin’s Sorcerer and Mann’s Thief, but their work here might be their most memorable outing for me. Not to say it’s their best work, but it’s so entrancing and is utilised perfectly throughout the 99 minute runtime of Risky Business.

If you haven’t seen Risky Business for some reason, there’s never been a more perfect time. For fans of Cruise who’ve never dived into his earlier works, it’s a great opportunity to see his breakout performance, and for older fans who enjoy the film already, they get the definitive release with a gorgeous 4K remaster. 

Film:

Risky Business released on 29th July via The Criterion Collection on Blu-ray and 4K UHD. I viewed the UHD for the film and the Blu-ray disc for the bonus features. Having only seen the film previously through Amazon Prime, the upgrade in quality is phenomenal. Image detail is near perfect, the filmic look is retained with a healthy amount of grain and the Dolby Vision HDR grade makes everything in the film pop more than it ever has before. The 5.1 DTS HD M.A track sounds great too, with all of the music sounding excellent in particular. It’s a wonderful A/V presentation. The following extras are included: 

DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

New 4K digital restorations of the director’s cut and the original theatrical release, supervised and approved by director Paul Brickman and producer Jon Avnet, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks

One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features

Audio commentary for the original theatrical release featuring Brickman, Avnet, and actor Tom Cruise

New interviews with Avnet and casting director Nancy Klopper

New conversation between editor Richard Chew and film historian Bobbie O’Steen

The Dream Is Always the Same: The Story of “Risky Business,” a program featuring interviews with Brickman, Avnet, cast members, and others

Screen tests with Cruise and actor Rebecca De Mornay

Trailer

English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

PLUS: An essay by film curator and critic Dave Kehr

New cover illustration by Jeremy Enecio

Although it’s not listed as a bonus feature, I’d quickly like to highlight the two cuts of the film presented on the disc. The original theatrical version is present, with the happy studio-mandated ending, and then there’s the director’s preferred version which has the far more interesting ending. These are both present on the Blu-ray and UHD releases, which is excellent to see and in the age of boutique labels releasing a film with multiple cuts, but one gets relegated to the Blu-ray, I was beyond surprised to see the option for both when I first popped in the UHD disc. Great stuff.

The archival audio commentary with Paul Brickman, Jon Avnet and Tom Cruise was recorded back in 2008 for the Blu-ray release of the film and is a solid listen. On the original Blu-ray releases, it was a video commentary and also contained an introduction that’s not present here, so you may want to hold on to your old releases if that’s something that’d be a deal breaker for you. The trio have a blast recounting their experiences working on the film and it’s hard not to have a good time with them. It’s absolutely worth a listen to hear Tom Cruise gush about Risky Business. 

The Dream Is Always the Same: The Story of “Risky Business” is an archival 2008 making-of documentary, which was included on the previous Blu-ray release and runs for half an hour. Fearing interviews with all of the key players in the film and it’s a fun retrospective piece. If you’ve seen any DVD/Blu-ray making of documentary from this era, you know what you’re in for and the included outtakes during the iconic dance sequence are hilarious! It’s worth watching for sure.

The brand new conversation between editor Richard Chew and film historian Bobbie O’Steen runs for 30 minutes and is exclusive to this release. It’s a fascinating interview and might be the best extra on the disc. Chew discusses how he edited a few key sequences in the film, such as the iconic train sex scene and key music choices in the film. It’s a great, great watch that I’d highly recommend.

The brand new interview with Jon Avnet, exclusive to this release runs for 20 minutes and it’s a great one. Avnet recounts his experiences producing Risky Business and his working relationship and friendship with director Paul Brickman. The discussion on the original ending is the highlight of the interview for me. It’s a must watch.  

The brand new interview with Nancy Klopper, exclusive to this release is a fun 18 minutes. Klopper was the casting director, and she discusses the art of casting, how they landed on the actors in the film and more. It’s a fun interview that’s worth a watch.

Almost fifteen minutes of screen tests with Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay are included. These are an archival inclusion, present on the old Blu-ray releases so it’s nice to see these ported over.

An original theatrical trailer is included.

I wasn’t provided with the essay, unfortunately.

Criterion’s release of Risky Business may not include tons of new bonus features, but the ones that are present are solid and the main attraction is the inclusion of both cuts of the film and the stunning new transfer. Fans of the film will absolutely want this one in their collection. Highly recommended.

Disc/Packaging:

Where to watch Risky Business