Mean Girls: 15th Anniversary Edition - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Mean Girls: 15th Anniversary Edition



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
I had almost forgotten about Mean Girls (outside of referencing it in other reviews) when I saw that Paramount had sent me this review disc last week. I was shocked. Was it really 15 years ago that this came out? Nah, couldn’t have been! I was just out of college when this hit theatrically and went to go see it with my fiancee (now wife) and remember it being really funny. A sort of modern version of Heathers sans guns and shooting up the school (oh the irony and ohhhhhhh how Heathers would never be socially acceptable nowadays). Now I’m looking at the realization that it was FIFTEEN YEARS since I graduated and I have to come to grips with the fact that time flies. Mean Girls also stands as the last really big name film that child star Lindsay Lohan did before she pretty much dropped out of Hollywood standing due to her rampant drug abuse.

15 year old Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) has just moved to a new school for the first time. Pretty typical of most teenagers who move around, but for Cady it’s a bit different. Here parents lived in Africa for most of her life, so she was home schooled for her entire life until this point in her existence. That means that she’s not only having her first day of a new school, but a first day AT school in general. Blending in is hard enough when you’re new, but being a newbie at EVERYTHING to do with school leaves one a bit on the outside. Finding solace in the school “losers” Janis (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian (Daniel Franzese, Cady does her best to fit in. Out of sheer boredom the “plastics” (e.g., the hot snooty girl cliques) invite Cady over to their table, which gives Janis the perfect idea. Since Cady is the new “hot” girl, she can infiltrate the plastics and unveil their inner demons to the whole school.

Soon Cady is lost in her role as an undercover “plastic” girl. Her sweet and innocent nature starts to become like the other girls and what was once an undercover mission soon turns into Cady’s desire to become number one. As lines between snooty plastic and geek blur, the young newbie has to figure out what it means to be herself, and what it means to have actual real friends instead of stabbing everyone and anyone behind their backs in order to get ahead.

Mean Girls raises the pertinent question, “who IS the mean girls?”. Is it the snotty Regina George (Rachel McAdams) and her cohorts? Or is it the ones who want to infiltrate the snotty girls and destroy their lives? It’s a question that must be asked as the initial straight and narrow lines are blurred and you’re left wondering WHO really is the mean ones. This is the same style of lines that were drawn with Heathers. A misunderstood girl come to a new school, things get heated, and she’s suddenly the evil vixen of the class. Everything plays out pretty predictably, but also with more than a few laughs.

Lindsay is still young enough here to play the cute and innocent girl gone bad, and she does well with the role. Rachel McAdams is perfect as the twisted Regina, and Amanda Seyfried does what she does best. Play a ditzy blonde (and this was also her first really big role as well). The old 90s and early 2000s comedians are at play as the adults, and Tim Meadows actually manages to steal the show whenever he’s on screen. The film itself isn’t the greatest of early 2000s comedies, but it has held up rather well after 15 years, and is a very solid one to say the least.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, language and some teen partying




Video:

Like Paramount is like to do with most of their catalog title re-releases, Mean Girls is the EXACT same disc as the one that came out in 2009, meaning the exact same encode (even the same silk screening on the disc from when they would just do that flat gray look). Thus it has the same average looking encode that we’ve all seen for the last 10 years. The film has that comedy look to it, with bright over saturated colors, moderate amounts of detail visible to the naked eye, and decent black levels. Nothing is really BAD with the disc, it’s just a bit dated and doesn’t excel at anything either. It shows everything off quite nicely, but is never super sharp, super detailed, or have anything that makes it stand out. Just a solid, middle of the road, disc that does everything good enough.








Audio:

The same 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track is found on the disc as was found on the 2009 disc (no surprise there), and it is what it is. A very front heavy comedy mix that does everything well, but in a rather generic way. Dialog is clean and clear, precisely located in the center of the room, while the mains handle the hustle and bustle of the high school environment. The music is loud and aggressive, while the surrounds pick up the last modicum of activity with said music and the end spring fling scene. It’s not a mix that’s going to blow your socks away, but it does everything well enough, just with not many expectations of heavy bass use or surround activity.







Extras:

• Commentary with Director Mark Waters, Actor/Writer Tina Fey and Producer Lorne Michaels
• Featurrettes
-- Only the Strong Survive
-- The Politics of Girl World
-- Plastic Fashion
• Word Vomit (Blooper Reel)
• Interstitial
• Theatrical Trailer
• So Fetch - Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Director Mark Waters and Tina Fey

Final Score: ​

Looking back 15 years, it’s interesting to see a snapshot of Lindsay Lohan BEFORE she kind of fell (rather heavily) from grace. Mean Girls plays out like a less satirical version of Heathers, just without guns, bombs and other violence. A who’s who of today’s acting world, it’s amusing, but kind of dated at the same time. Lindsay was everyone’s darling back then, and all the other girls have moved on to bigger and better things, leaving only Lindsay left holding the bag. The Blu-ray itself for this 15th anniversary is a carbon copy of the 2009 disc, just with a new pink case and a slightly altered (VERY slightly) cover. If you have the old version, zero reason to upgrade, but if you haven’t, it’s certainly a solid enough disc for fans. Solid Watch is my recommendation.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Jonathan Bennett, Rachel McAdams, Tina Fey, Tim Meadows, Amy Poehler, Lizzy Caplan
Directed by: Mark Waters
Written by: Mark Waters (Book), Tina Fey (Screenplay)
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, French, Spanish DD 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
Studio: Paramount
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 97 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: June 11th, 2019

Recommendation: Solid Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I loved "heathers" and I agree, it would be impossible to put that in theaters today. Look at the new Joker movie, it is already getting bad press for the violence and destruction. Now, for this movie, yes, I enjoyed it back in the day and will look at this again.

 

[Asere]

I have heard of this movie countless time but never got around to see it maybe because it is a really chick movie idk.I did see Clueless and Jawbreaker but didn't like them. I know there is a famous Regina line that everyone keeps talking about. Maybe one day I will watch it. Thanks for the review.

 

[Michael Scott]

lol, I'd say it's less a chick movie as much as it is a teen comedy with chicks as the leads.

 

[Todd Anderson]

This is a classic for teens...