Flashdance

Influential in all the wrong ways, Flashdance helped make the careers of über-producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson, who applied its flashy style in myriad subsequent films. Jennifer Beals is winsome as the most unlikely (and best coiffed) welder in a Pittsburgh steel mill, who dreams of someday becoming a serious dancer even while she struts her stuff in a seedy bar (albeit one with unbelievably impressive stage lighting). With performance sequences that play like music-video clips, the film set the stage for many a successor that elevated glitz over substance (although the dance school audition sequence in the finale here is rousing, even if manipulative). The DVD transfer is fine, overall, and the audio has been re-mastered, lending more punch to the music (including the signature tune, “What a Feeling”), but there isn't a single extra to be found here--not a token trailer, not a bit of production notes, not even a commemorative shred of torn sweatshirt. Sure to be popular, this is still very optional. (T. Rich)[DVD Review—Oct. 2, 2007—Paramount, 94 min., R, $19.99—Making its second appearance on DVD, 1983's Flashdance (Special Collector's Edition) sports a fine transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. DVD extras include “The History of Flashdance” (15 min.), a 10-minute featurette on “The Choreography,” “The Look of Flashdance” (9 min.), “Releasing the Flashdance Phenomenon” (9 min.), a six-minute segment on “Music and Songs,” a bonus six-track audio CD, and trailers. Bottom line: a definite improvement over the first lackluster DVD release, this collector's edition version is a solid presentation of a bad film that is nevertheless an ‘80s icon.]