Classic... but edited!
W. Price | Senatobia, MS United States | 03/20/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Hey, I know it's not Citizen Kane, but it was never intended to be. Anthony Micheal Hall is actually the cool guy in this one... enough said. It is truly one of the most overlooked 80's film ever (this and Emilo Estevez's brilliant directorial debut, "Wisdom")and actually contains one of the 3 inspired performances Robert Downey Jr has commited to film (Johnny Be Goode, Less than Zero and Weird Science).
I was extremely glad to see this finally released on DVD, but MGM has mislabled this version as "R" rated. This is a glaring and lazy oversight. This DVD version is actually the "PG-13" theatrical version. Once "Johnny Be Goode" came out on video, it was released with extended footage in an "R" rated version. It contained more nudity and showed a great deal more footage of Johnny's visit with "Ole Tex". I know this sounds crazy but this particular version of the movie helped enhance the other "Ole Tex" candidates roles quite a bit and showed why they backed Johnny's ultimate decision towards the end of the movie.
I believe MGM should correct this lazy mistake by either releasing the actual "R" rated version or re-labeling this version as "PG-13"."
Warning the DVD movie is censored
ejuggaloe | KY USA | 12/01/2003
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I've been a big fan of this movie since it first came out, with that said I give the movie alone a 5 star rating. However, the MGM DVD release is edited, which brings the score way down. There's a scene in the movie where Johnny is playing football to win back his girlfriend from her father, during the game 3 cheerleaders flash the cops to distract them. This has been edited and all that is shown is them starting to lift their shirts then it cuts quickly to the next scene. Now I didn't buy this movie for the nudity but censorship in any form is just unforgivable especially when it's unnecessary because all the other scenes containing nudity (that I can remember) are intact. Though more scenes could have been edited I'm not sure. The DVD extras include only one trailer for the movie, so it's basically barebone which I expected it to be. I still suggest you buy this DVD the quality is excellent just a little warning it's not the original."