4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Review: AMERICAN GRAFFITI 50th Anniversary Edition

Home » 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Review: AMERICAN GRAFFITI 50th Anniversary Edition

Dec 31, 2023 Posted by Kyle Nolan in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

The summer of 1962 is coming to a close, and a group of California teenagers spending one last night together, living it up before their lives head off in different directions. Recently graduated star quarterback Steven (Ron Howard) and current head cheerleader Laurie (Cindy Williams) are high school sweethearts, but they have a bit of a falling out when Steve suggests that they be open to seeing other people while he’s away at college. Though they try to keep up appearances as they head to the Freshman hop as the reigning king and queen. Laurie’s older brother Curtis (Richard Dreyfuss) had been planning to head off to college the next day with Steve, but he finds himself at a crossroads, debating whether or not to go. John Milner (Paul Le Mat) graduated a few years earlier but never left town, working as a mechanic. He has become a local legend for his racing, and plans to spend the night cruising the strip, but gets stuck babysitting 12-year-old passenger Carol (Mackenzie Phillips), who ends up in his car. Meanwhile, cowboy Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford) is also cruising the strip, looking to challenge Milner to a race. Finally, Terry the Toad (Charles Martin Smith) is cruising for first time on his own after Steve hands over the keys to his car, and spends the night pursuing and trying to impress blonde Debbie (Candy Clark), who catches his eye.

American Graffiti is George Lucas’ love letter to the music and cruising culture of the late ’50s/early ’60s that he grew up with. It follows these four separate stories of teens trying to figure out the next phases of their lives, which leads to some hilarious moments and just a really fun time. The cast is amazing, most of whom were unknown at the time, but have since gone on to have big careers. It’s easy to see why many of them went on to be stars—they have such great comedic timing, and chemistry with one another. The film is shot documentary style, making you feel like you’re right there in these cars with the teens. Lucas also encouraged the actors to improv and go off-book, to give the dialogue a more natural feeling. He also purposely put the actors into unexpected situations to capture their natural reactions. I don’t think I had ever actually seen this movie before, but I really enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun to just hang out with these characters, and experience this slice of Americana that no longer exists.

The film also has an amazing soundtrack, making use of wall-to-wall rock music rather than a more traditional score. Lucas wrote the scenes with certain songs in mind. The songs are an integral part of his story-telling process, and help to inform and complement what’s going on in each scene. Lucas was doing the job of a “music supervisor” before this was even a thing. The music is wonderful, with one recognizable hit after the next—both with the songs being sung by the band at the hop, as well as the music playing from all the cars and shops on the strip, as introduced by legendary DJ Wolfman Jack (who also appears as himself in the film as this mythical like being).

Universal previously released American Graffiti on Blu-ray in 2011, but now it makes its way onto 4K disc for the first time. Much of the film takes place at night, but the picture remains very crisp and clean throughout. However, for the 4K release all of the original film grain seems to have been removed, causing the picture to look slightly flat at times. This natural film grain can still be seen on the 2011 Blu-ray version, and it’s a shame that this was scrubbed out for the 4K release. Though there definitely seems to be an improvement in the color pallette and more solid blacks in the 4K picture. The 4K disc also sports a new 5.1 audio track. The dialogue remains clear throughout, and the music sounds great. While there are some moments where the surround channel is utilized, there didn’t seem to be a drastic difference from the previous 2.0 track.

There is no new bonus material created for this 4K release, but it ports over several of the bonus features from the 2011 Special Edition Blu-ray, which is also packaged with the 4K disc. The 4K disc includes an excellent 78-minute making-of documentary from 1998, the original screen tests with the cast, the film’s trailer, and an audio-only version of George Lucas’ commentary track (the Blu-ray features a picture-in-picture view of the director). The Blu-ray also adds the option to display pop-up facts about the music as the film plays.

The 4K and Blu-ray discs come packed on either side of a standard 4K keepcase, along with a glossy carboard slipcover, and an insert containing a code to redeem for a 4K MA digital copy of the film.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:52:30)

2160p / Widescreen 2.35:1
HDR10
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 2.0 DTS, French 2.0 Mono DTS, Spanish (Castilian) DTS 2.0 Mono, Japanese 2.0 DTS, Japanese 2.0 Mono DTS, German 2.0 Mono DTS, Italian Mono DTS 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH, French, French (Canada), Spanish (Castilian), Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Czech, Chinese, Korean

Blu-ray:

1080p / Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 2.0 DTS Mono
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish

Digital (code may not be valid after 12/31/2024):

4K Digital Copy (Movies Anywhere compatible)

Extras:
All of the bonus material has been ported over from Universal’s 2011 Special Edition Blu-ray release, which is the same disc included here. Only a subset of the features appear on the 4K disc, which are noted with an * below. Play All, or select from:

The Making of American Graffiti* (1:18:10)
Originally created in 1998, an extensive seven-part making-of documentary with the cast and crew, who discuss how the project came about, the struggle to get the movie made, the story and music, the basis for the characters, casting the movie and the audition process, the hair and costumes, filming challenges and process, the mistakes that made it into the film, the guerilla documentary-style shooting, some Easter Eggs, the use of the music, the reactions to the finished film, some of the elements of the movie that have become the industry standard, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage and photos, and interviews with writer/director George Lucas, producer Francis Ford Coppola, co-writers Willard Huyck & Gloria Katz, sound montage/re-recording Walter Murch, casting director Fred Roos, visual consultant Haskell Wexler, and stars Ron Howard (“Steve”), Richard Dreyfuss (“Curt”), Cindy Williams (“Laurie”), Paul Le Mat (“John Milner”), Charles Martin Smith (“Terry, The Toad”), Candy Clark (“Debbie”), Mackenzie Phillips (“Carol”), Harrison Ford (“Bob Faffa”), Kathleen Quinlan (“Peg”) & Suzanne Somers (“Blonde in T-Bird”). Presented in full frame format. Play All, or select from:
- Genesis of the Project (7:50)
- A Personal Story (5:41)
- Casting (15:28)
- Production Begins (8:04)
- Production Stories (26:11)
- Post Production (11:52)
- Final Words (3:00)
Screen Tests* (22:54)
The original screen tests with the cast, presented in full frame format. Play All, or select from:
- Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, and Paul Le Mat (12:05)
- Ron Howard and Cindy Williams (2:14)
- Mackenzie Phillips and Paul Le Mat (6:44)
- Charles Martin Smith (1:39)
Theatrical Trailer* (2:52)
Feature Commentary with Director George Lucas* (1:52:30)
Director George Lucas provides an interesting and informative commentary during the film, sharing lots of behind-the-scenes stories about the production, and about the inspirations for the story and characters. On the 4K disc, this is an audio-only commentary, but the Blu-ray offers an interactive U-Control feature—when activated, Lucas occasionally appears in a pop up window in the corner of the screen.
The Music of American Graffiti
Only available on the Blu-ray disc. When enabled, this interactive U-Control feature causes pop-ups windows to appear throughout the movie, identifying the titles and artists for the music playing in the scenes.

Final Thoughts:

My Rating

Film:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:

Recommended

American Graffiti is a fun movie that holds up really well. It is a time capsule depicting a very specific period and cruising culture. The film features an amazing cast, most of whom went on to huge careers afterwards, and a wonderful soundtrack. The film was low budget, but certainly doesn’t feel like it. It was more of an experiential feature for Lucas, but some of his storytelling techniques and the use of a rock soundtrack have since become staples of modern TV and movies. Universal’s 4K release looks and sounds great. The only negative is how the 4K picture loses all of the film’s natural film grain. There are no new bonus features produced for this release, but the discs includes all of the previously released material, which is quite entertaining. If you don’t already own a copy of the film, this is certainly the version to pick up.