Richard (Jonathan Silverman) and Larry (Andrew McCarthy) are a pair of under-appreciated working stiffs who discover a 2 million dollar accounting error while transferring the insurance company’s accounts to a new computer system. When they inform their obnoxious, self-centered boss Bernie Lomax (Terry Kiser), he invites them to his place on Hampton Island for the weekend to celebrate. What they don’t know is that Bernie was involved in the scam and has hired hit man Paulie (Don Calfa) to kill them once they arrive. However, when mob boss Vito (Louis Giambalvo) discovers that Bernie is sleeping with his girlfriend, he decides to have Paulie kill Bernie instead.

When the guys arrive on the island and discover that Bernie is dead, they think their weekend in the sun is over, but after a huge party breaks out in Bernie’s beach house, and no one realizes their host is dead, Larry gets the idea to keep up the charade so they can continue to enjoy their vacation. And Richard goes along with the plan so he can spend more time with office intern Gwen Saunders (Catherine Mary Stewart).

Weekend At Bernie’s has always been one of my favorite comedies, and watching it again on this Blu-ray I quickly remembered why. The film is very creative, and a lot of fun—from the one-liners to the slapstick comedy, it’s got a bit of everything. Silverman and McCarthy pair well together, with Silverman playing nervous straight man Richard to McCarthy’s more laid back Larry. And Terry Kiser is phenomenal as the dead Bernie—I don’t know how much is Kiser versus a dummy, but it is all so seamless and believable.

These scenes where the guys bring dead Bernie to life, in order to keep up appearances, are so hilarious! Another fun running thread in the film that I really enjoyed is how hitman Paulie keeps thinking he has failed to kill Bernie and has to try again.

The picture on the Blu-ray looks excellent for the most part. There are a couple scenes that are excessively grainy, but otherwise it looks quite crisp and clear. The audio track, despite only being stereo, still sounds quite good. The dialogue is clear, and the fun soundtrack sounds great.

The one disappointment is that this release still contains no bonus features, except for a theatrical trailer. I would have loved to see an audio commentary or some deleted scenes or behind-the-scenes footage, but the film has been released on Laserdisc and DVD several times, and still continues to get no bonus love—not even a digital copy!

What’s Included:

Film: (98 min)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Spanish Dolby Digital 1.0
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

Extras:

• Theatrical Trailer (2:35)

Final Thoughts:

Weekend at Bernie’s continues to be one of my favorite 80s comedies—it feels timeless and still stands up really well today. I was a little disappointed to see there continues to be no bonus material offered for this title—I have previously owned it on Laserdisc, as well as several different DVD releases, and the only bonus that has ever been included is the trailer. For those who don’t already own this title in any format, I highly recommend picking up this hilarious Blu-ray. For those who already own one of the previous DVD releases, it may not be worth the double-dip.