10 Things I Hate About You (10th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray]
10 Things I Hate About You (10th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray]
The classic comedy that launched the careers of Academy Award winner Heath Ledger (2008, Best Supporting Actor, THE DARK KNIGHT) and Julia Stiles celebrates its ten-year high school reunion with 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU: THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION. This special edition is packed with a million things to love, including an exclusive sneak peek at Heath Ledger’s screen test. New kid in school Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is smitten with the beautiful Bianca (Larisa Oleynik). The problem is that Bianca isn’t allowed to date unless her surly older sister Kat (Stiles) does. Cameron’s only hope is to enlist the help of Patrick (Ledger), the school troublemaker with a reputation as nasty as Kat’s. This special edition brings back the love-struck high school classmates of ‘99 with a treasure trove of never-before-seen footage. Also featuring a retro soundtrack of memorable nineties tunes, 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU is a comedy you can count on.
Bonus Features include:10 Things I Love About 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU 10 Years Later Take A Look Back And Remember Why Everyone Loves This Classic Teen Comedy. This New Documentary Features Interviews With Director Gil Junger, Co-Writers Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah Lutz, Never-Before-Seen Casting Footage, Cast Interviews, And More, Deleted Scenes, Writers And Cast Audio CommentaryIt’s, like, Shakespeare, man! This good-natured and likeable update of The Taming of the Shrew takes the basics of Shakespeare’s farce about a surly wench and the man who tries to win her and transfers it to modern-day Padua High School. Kat Stratford (Julia Stiles) is a sullen, forbidding riot grrrl who has a blistering word for everyone; her sunny younger sister Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) is poised for high school stardom. The problem: overprotective and paranoid Papa Stratford (a dryly funny Larry Miller) won’t let Bianca date until boy-hating Kat does, which is to say never. When Bianca’s pining suitor Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) gets wind of this, he hires the mysterious, brooding Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) to loosen Kat up. Of course, what starts out as a paying gig turns to true love as Patrick discovers that underneath her brittle exterior, Kat is a regular babe. The script, by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, is sitcom-funny with peppy one-liners and lots of smart teenspeak; however, its cleverness and imagination doesn’t really extend beyond its characters’ Renaissance names and occasional snippets of real Shakespearean dialogue. What makes the movie energetic and winning is the formula that helped make She’s All That such a big hit: two high-wattage stars who look great and can really act. Ledger is a hunk of promise with a quick grin and charming Aussie accent, and Stiles mines Kat’s bitterness and anger to depths usually unknown in teen films; her recitation of her English class sonnet (from which the film takes its title) is funny, heartbreaking, and hopelessly romantic. The imperious Allison Janney (Primary Colors) nearly steals the film as a no-nonsense guidance counselor secretly writing a trashy romance novel. –Mark Englehart
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Blu-ray: Those who loved the film will love the reunion of some of the cast for the commentary and special features!
In 1999, the film “10 Things I Hate About You” which was is based on William Shakespeare’s play “The Taming of the Shrew” was adapted to a teen comedy film by screenwriters Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith (both who wrote “Legally Blonde”, “The Ugly Truth”, “The House Bunny” and “Ella Enchanted”) and featured first time film director Gil Junger (known for directing TV shows “Ellen”, “According to Jim” and “Hope and Faith”).
The film would be appreciated as a teen romantic comedy and since the film’s debut is considered among the top 10 teen romantic comedy films out there and the film is known to be the launching point for the director, the screenwriters and the film that would launch the careers of Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger.
The popularity of the film now reaching it’s tenth year anniversary has recently generated a television series on ABC Family and now a 10th Anniversary Blu-ray release.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“10 Things I Hate About You: 10th Anniversary Edition” receives its first entry to Blu-ray. Presented in 1080p High Definition (1:85:1), the film looks great! At first, I was a little worried when the stock footage of Seattle was grainy but once you see the film, you can’t help but be happy about the detail. You can see the skin pores of the people, details on the walls and surroundings. Some scenes are vibrant and colorful, there is a fine layer of grain on the film, blacks are nice and deep and picture quality that is much better than its DVD counterpart.
As for audio quality, the film is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and in French, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital. The film is front and center channel driven. Dialogue and music are clear but for the most part, the lossless soundtrack works for the film. I was hoping that with the crowd scenes, those sounds would be heard on the surround channels but I really didn’t hear too much surround channel usage or even anything from the subwoofer.
Subtitles are in English SDH, French and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“10 Things I Hate About You: 10th Anniversary Edition” comes with the following special features featured in 1080p or 480i, English 2.0 Dolby Digital with English SDH, French or Spanish subtitles. Included are:
* 10 Things I Love About 10 Things I Hate About You 10 Years Later - (35:05) Ten years after the film’s initial debut, director Gil Junger, and writers Kirsten Smith and Karen Lutz reflect and hear the story about how this classic teen comedy came to be. Featuring never-before-seen behind the scenes footage, original cast interviews, deleted scenes, original screen test and personal photos from the writers’ scrap books.
* Audio Commentary with co-writers Karen Lutz and Kirsten Smith, and stars Andrew Keegan, David Krumholtz, Larisa Oleynik and Susan May Pratt - An entertaining commentary with the writers and cast reflecting their past working on the film and working with members of cast and crew. Also, jokes and hilarious things that happened behind-the-scenes. Also, everyone talks about their memories of Heath Ledger on the set and auditions. For fans of the film, listening to this audio commentary makes this release so much worth it!
It’s important to note that “deleted scenes” are mentioned on back of the package are found on the “10 Things I Love About 10 Things I Hate About You 10 Years Later” featurette.
JUDGMENT CALL:
I can easily remember when the original DVD was released and how badly I wanted it. “10 Things I Hate About You” was in my mind, the best non rated-R teen romantic film. Although “American Pie” was the more popular teen film of that year (the year also featured my other favorite PG-13 teen romance film “She’s All That”), “10 Things I Hate About You” was a film I enjoyed because of its sincerity, everyone seemed to click well with each other and the screenplay never had to go the route of being perverted. Also, that poem by Kat at the end of the film is absolutely classic!
But here we are ten years later and “10 Things I Hate About You” is a pretty enjoyable film that still holds up today. But I know the big question for many people is if its worth upgrading from the DVD to the Blu-ray version? My answer is “YES!”. The picture quality is much better than its original DVD counterpart but for those who loved the film, the two special features are just worth watching.
The audio commentary is just absolutely hilarious and for the most part, it’s like reuniting with old friends again and hearing stories that happened behind-the-scenes of filming to the hotel parties that the cast would have and just the shenanigans that took place and how respectful they were in remember Heath Ledger. The audio commentary was fantastic!
I would have loved more special features to be included but considering that the original DVD had no special features at all, I’m glad that at least we get two special features for this 10th anniversary edition and the two are very entertaining.
Overall, “10 Things I Hate About You: 10th Anniversary Edition” is a fantastic release for fans of the film. The DVD may not have a lot of bells and whistles as I would have hoped but for the most part, this Blu-ray release is definitely an improved upgrade over the 1999 DVD and the audio commentary, again…hilarious and all-out-fun.
If you are a hardcore fan, a person who enjoyed this film or someone that is curious about this release, “10 Things I Hate About You: 10th Anniversary Edition” is definitely recommended!
5 Stars Finaly a Fully Loaded Version
I had to pre-order This BR Disc
The 90’s Seem to have been the Decade of 2 Different Genres That were put out way Too Much
Teen Comedy and the Teen Horror
Both Genres that were Beaten to Death
The Film came out in 1999 when Both Critics and Moviegoers were Drained from to Much of the same thing
So it was Beyond Over Looked and not given nearly enough attention
10 Things I Hate About You was a Victim of that Genre and the timing of it’s release
When it was So much more Then the previous “High School Teen Chick-Flicks”
The Movie is Close to Perfect with a Amazing Cast
Both Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles Steal this film and make it something Very Special!!!!
Also the Story is written and flushed out in reality, u watch it u can actually Relate to all The Characters
The soundtrack is also spot on that fits the Film
It’s sad that it get’s a 2disc special edition after the untimely death of Ledger………….
Such a Under-Rated Film
I highly recommend it 9.5/10
5 Stars 10 Things rates a 10
My teenaged daughter’s all time favorite movie. She got it as a gift 4 years ago and she and her friends loved it so much that the friends borrowed it — but it never made its way back to my daughter. She has looked everywhere for a replacement and I finally found one through Amazon. YIPEEE! She’s getting it for her birthday and I hope she doesn’t lend it out this time. Even her male friends like it.
4 Stars Good Movie
I bought this movie for my sister for her birthday; it’s one of her favorites. I happen to like it as well. It makes a great gift because the DVDs are often harder to find in stores now that the movie is older. Also, they are easy to buy used but in good condition. It’s a funny and entertaining movie, a spin off of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a fun movie, especially teens.
4 Stars 5-star Movie, 3-star DVD
One would think, for the 10th anniversary of this movie, the DVD would be a little bit more special, but all you’re getting is a digital copy, a newly recorded audio commentary with some of the actors & writers, and a 10-yr retrospective with the director and the two writers (a measly half-hour). Any shot with the actors in the retrospective all are from when the movie was being made, nothing more current with any of the actors.
Ridiculously stingy DVD extras aside, though, this is still something worth buying if you don’t already own the movie. It’s definitely something that will go down amongst Clueless et al. as a great teen movie. It’s a fun, frothy (given credibility by that “based on Will Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew” line but frothy nonetheless) teen movie that doesn’t condescend. The script is just so well written! The teenagers are written like, well, people I went to school with (which is saying something since I was in high school when this movie came out). And the subtle jokes that appeared in this movie, well, it says something about the writers that they bothered with subtlety for a teen movie. It’s this earnest writing, rife with references to Shakespeare, that allows this movie to transcend beyond just another teen movie.
The cast is wonderful, and it’s amazing to think how many names I can easy recognize - Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Allison Janney, Gabrielle Union, etc. Oh sure, it may have been the first big movie for many of these names, but they all showed why it was that they went on to have real careers after.
All in all, it’s worth buying if you don’t own the movie but is not worth buying if you’ve got a copy hanging around. The movie itself is what you’ll be buying this movie for - the audio commentary with the actors sharing a few Heath Ledger stories is cute and sentimental but not especially special.
Filed under: Blue Ray Movie Reviews