The Most Important Tom Cruise Movie Gets Version Fans Have Been Craving
Tom Cruise had only a handful of screen credits before the production of the hit 1983 comedy Risky Business. The coming-of-age film gave the young actor the perfect opportunity to showcase his smarmy, smart-alec timing to the generation of Americans that would quickly elevate him to stardom and give Hollywood filmmakers one of their hottest commodities. Fans will be excited to learn that this critical piece from Cruise’s career has undergone a complete digital upgrade and will be available as part of the Criterion Collection’s library next month.
The Story
Tom Cruise stars as high school senior Joel Goodsen, a young man with his eyes set on attending Princeton the following autumn. Risky Business follows Joel’s exploits as his parents travel out of town, leaving the poor rich kid in possession of their massive Chicago home and expensive Porsche 928 while they’re away.
Tom Cruise’s Joel finds himself becoming involved with a thieving call girl named Lana (Rebecca De Mornay), her menacing pimp Guido (Joe Pantoliano), and Lana’s numerous call girl friends.
Risky Business sets the wits of the brainy and ambitious Joel against the street workers throughout the movie and culminates in the overachieving high schooler collaborating with Lana to set everything back to normal before his parents arrive home.
A Runaway Hit
The film was a surprising success, especially considering that neither Tom Cruise nor Rebecca De Mornay had the star power to lure in audiences to the box office.
Risky Business also had an inexperienced director in command. The movie marked the directorial debut of Paul Brickman, who managed to make his first foray into this role a memorable financial success.
Tom Cruise’s first starring role wasn’t in a movie that had a massive budget behind it. Risky Business was produced for only $6.2 million but raked in more than $63 million in ticket sales.
The Upgrade
This Tom Cruise film has never looked better than it does with the 4K digital restorations of both the theatrical version and the director’s cut.
The extensive upgrade of Risky Business was overseen by the movie’s director Paul Brickman and is accompanied with a revamped 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack.
The special release includes loads of extras for fans that want to do a deep dive into this Tom Cruise classic. There’s an audio commentary option available for the theatrical release version that features director Paul Brickman, producer Jon Avnet, and Risky Business‘s main star.
One disc also includes exclusive interviews with Avnet and Nancy Klopper, who served as the movie’s casting director.
Bonus Features
A filmed conversation is yet another bonus for the Criterion Collection release. The movie’s editor Richard Chew sits down with film historian Bobbie O’Steen for a lengthy discussion regarding the impact the movie had on Tom Cruise’s trajectory as well as the historical significance of Risky Business.
Additionally, a mini feature titled The Dream is Always the Same: The Story of Risky Business can be accessed on one of the two Blu-ray discs. This contains numerous interviews with cast and crew members, including Brickman and Avnet.
The Release
If these features aren’t enough, the special release has the filmed screen tests of both Rebecca De Mornay and Tom Cruise, a must see for any Risky Business fan.
Tom Cruise fans can find the Criterion Collection edition of Risky Business available on July 23.
