The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

Crikey, mate, what would Crocodile Dundee make of three drag queens who leave the comforts of Sydney to travel across the Australian outback in a somewhat undependable bus, en route to a lip-syncing casino gig in the middle of nowhere? Dunno. But I'll bet he'd agree that the “girls”—played by Terence Stamp (Bernadette), Hugo Weaving (Mitzi), and Guy Pearce (Felicia)—look absolutely fabulous. Stephan Elliott's cheeky indie comedy The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert was a surprise hit at Cannes in 1994 and has been a cult favorite ever since—not so much for the plot, which is basically a road trip adventure, but for the catty dialogue. Bernadette: “I'll join this conversation on the proviso that we stop bitching about people talking about wigs, dresses, bust sizes, penises, drugs, night clubs, and bloody ABBA!” Mitzi: “Doesn't give us much to talk about then, does it?” Priscilla is not all giggles—Felicia is pummeled by rednecks in one harrowing and moving scene, while Mitzi not only has a wife in the closet but a son as well—yet the overall tone (and raunchy jokes) make this a light and breezy film that also just happens to be warm and bighearted. Boasting a fine transfer, DVD extras include audio commentary by Elliott, the retrospective half-hour featurette “Birth of a Queen,” deleted scenes, archival interview clips, bloopers, and a “Frocks, Frills and Fotos” photo gallery. Incidentally, the film won an Oscar for its ab fab costumes (partial credit goes to designer Tim Chappel's mom, who worked at K-Mart and had a 15% employee discount). Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)[Blu-ray Review—June 21, 2011—MGM, 103 min., R, $19.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1994's The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert boasts a nice transfer with DTS-HD 5.1 sound. Blu-ray extras are carried over from the previous DVD release, including audio commentary by director Stephan Elliott, the production featurette “Birth of a Queen” (30 min.), “The Bus From Blooperville” outtakes (10 min.), deleted scenes (7 min.), a “Tidbits from the Set” behind-the-scenes segment (6 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: an indie winner makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray.]