Clueless:30th Anniversary Limited Edition - 4K UHD SteelBook

Based loosely (very) on Jane Austen's 1815 novel Emma, Clueless tells the story of very wealthy, very privileged teenagers living in Beverly Hills. But don’t worry. It’s not that kind of movie. Amy Heckerling’s screenplay seems to exist in the same kind of cinematic universe as a Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers picture, where everyone is a millionaire. It’s a sweet-natured film where everyone involved is just trying to get by as a decent person.

Cher (Alicia Silverstone) even begins the story as a nice person. Sure, she’s a little selfish, but who isn’t? She has a “C” in one of her high school classes, and instead of buckling down and studying, cramming in extra credit assignments, she decides the problem isn’t with her, it’s with her teacher, who’s uptight and maybe in need of love. So, she plays cupid, pulls some strings behind the scenes, and gets him set up with another teacher, and they hit it off. His mood improves, and so does her grade.

Similarly, when Cher sees new girl Tai (Brittany Murphy), her first instinct isn’t to destroy her. Her first instinct is to take her under her wing and show her how to fit in with her new environment. Tai winds up taking to the makeover and the new confidence and becomes a source of jealousy for Cher, who, as it turns out, needs to do some growing up. Not helping Cher's mood, her sort-of former know-it-all step-brother Josh (Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers star Paul Rudd) is staying over. 

Movies like Clueless, despite some wildly dated fashion and slang, tend to age well because they’re an exaggeration of a time and place. The world of Clueless doesn’t accurately convey life in the 1990s, and it was never meant to. It takes place in its own little world, with its own unique language, and embodies a sweet innocence. Cher and her friends may be stereotypical teenagers in many ways (they love to shop, they love to gab on their phones), but in the vein of similarly deceptively empty-headed teens like Bill & Ted, they’re really good people. They’re smarter than they let on, and wise beyond their years, and the message seems to be an old, tried-and-true one: To not judge a book by its cover.

Clueless came out when I was nine years old, and it was the perfect age to proactively hate it in advance, before ever getting a chance to see it. It was a surprise hit, and its popularity exploded, and it was inescapable. The ubiquitous slanguage, the pink-and-glitter aesthetic… it felt obnoxious to me. I wanted no part of it and had zero desire to see it, but my sister really wanted to see it, so for family movie night one evening, we all watched Clueless together. And, despite my best efforts, I found myself charmed by it, and I wound up adoring it. What was it I said earlier about not judging a book by its cover?

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
Cher would be proud of the totally fabulous, deluxe packaging that Paramount has assembled for its release of Clueless on 4K UHD. The film is released in a two-disc set, contained on both a 4K UHD Blu-ray and a regular Blu-ray, housed in a SteelBook case. The Blu-ray disc is from a previous release and contains the legacy special features. Inside the glittery hardcase is an envelope with a lot of extra goodies like Language Arts 101 cards with slang terms and their definitions, polaroids of the characters, a mini-sized poster, and stickers.

The joy of having the opportunity to revisit so many movies in 4K is to see them in a new light. Not just in terms of the results of the restoration, but also in the technical craft. When I think of a movie like Clueless, “great cinematography” isn’t something I usually have at the top of my mind, but damned if Clueless doesn’t have some great cinematography! Lensed by legendary D.P., Bill Pope, who also shot such Wachowski classics as Bound and The Matrix, composes each shot meticulously, with intricate lighting effects. While most sequences are bathed in an overly bright light, like a Noxzema commercial, there are a few shots with beams of light streaking across the room or a soft silhouetting against an actor’s face.

Clueless was graded in Dolby Vision HDR, and the bright colors of Mona May’s costume design pop brilliantly without oversaturation. Throughout, the presentation looks sleek and sharp, but with a distinctly filmic look. While Clueless isn’t a particularly grainy picture, there are a few shots where film grain is apparent, and it looks organic in how it’s incorporated into the final result.

On the audio front, Clueless is mixed in 5.1 surround, encoded in DTS-HD MA. Rear speaker activity is at a near-constant level, whether through ambient effects, like the chatter of a classroom, or the buzzing insects in an exterior shot. Clueless is also jam-packed with constant needle-drops from artists like The Muffs, No Doubt, David Bowie, and Radiohead, which wrap the entirety of the soundstage. Clueless has a fun, boisterous soundtrack, but never loses sight of the dialogue that propels its story.

When it comes to the supplemental features, sadly, Clueless on 4K is totally buggin’. It’s a full-on Monet! All features are found on the Blu-ray disc (which carries over from the DVD), and no new supplements were created for this release. At least the supplements that are included are robust, so there’s no shortage of material relating to the production history and legacy.

• Clue or False Trivia Game
• The Class of ’95 (SD 18:31)
• Creative Writing (SD 9:39)
• Fashion 101 (SD 10:46)
• Language Arts (SD 8:09)
• Suck ‘n Blow: A Tutorial (SD 2:47)
• Driver’s Ed (SD 3:49)
• We’re History (SD 8:52)
• Trailers

Clueless is a classic 90s comedy. A surprise hit that wound up being adapted as a television series, Clueless was a comedy for a generation, one that took modern trends and vernacular and cranked them up way past 11, into their most ridiculous logical conclusion. But this isn’t a film that laments its era; it lovingly embraces it, even as it lampoons it. The film’s secret success is in how sweet-natured it is, with a cast of characters who, although imperfectly, try their best to be good people at heart. Although this release has no new special features, its 4K video presentation highlights Bill Pope’s excellent work, and the DTS-HD MA surround track is awesome and engaging. Clueless on 4K UHD Blu-ray from Paramount Home Entertainment is Highly Recommended.