Today’s Fact That Makes Me Feel Old: it’s now been more than 40 years since Tom Cruise became a star. 1983’s Risky Business wasn’t Cruise’s first flick, however.

Indeed, he’d been in fairly high-profile efforts like 1981’s Taps and 1983’s The Outsiders. His charismatic turn in Business brought him mass attention, though, and launched him on the path to his current status as a Hollywood icon.

Actually, it took Cruise a few years to seem like more than a one-trick pony. 1983’s follow-up effort All the Right Moves did okay, mostly because teen girls who fell for Cruise in Business flocked to it.

After that, Cruise appeared in 1985’s flop fantasy Legend. However, he didn’t hit the top of the box office charts – and cement his status as a movie star – until 1986’s Top Gun.

In Risky Business, Cruise plays high school student Joel Goodsen. A senior who frets about college, his future and life in general, he always plays it safe.

This changes when his parents go out of town for a few days. At the urging of his friend Miles (Curtis Armstrong), Joel manifests some mild acts of independence/rebellion, all of which culminate in Miles’ recruitment of a prostitute.

Joel resists this, but he eventually changes his tune. Though his initial encounter goes awry, he follows up with a call to a prostitute named Lana (Rebecca De Mornay).

Joel enjoys his night with her but comes up with insufficient funds when he needs to pay her. She takes his mom’s valuable crystal egg as compensation.

This starts a topsy-turvy few days for Joel. After she breaks with her “manager” Guido (Joe Pantoliano), she insinuates herself into Joel’s life and eventually comes up with a plan to bring her friends to his house so they can rake in the bucks from Joel’s wealthy pals. This starts even more wild events as Joel spends time with Lana and sees his conservative life change.

Given all the water under the bridge since 1983, it can become tough to view Cruise’s performance here on its own merits. Back in 1983, Cruise was nearly an unknown, so we couldn’t pin all that baggage on him.

If we do try to look at Cruise’s work through objective eyes, I think his performance holds up well. The man definitely earned his stardom, and we can see why his appearance here endeared him to audiences.

Cruise does a good job with Joel’s conservative side. In addition, his trademark charisma comes out when the character learns to loosen up along the way.

Actually, Cruise’s flamboyance almost harpoons things at times, as I think Joel occasionally handles his transition into smooth-talking pimp a little too smoothly. One minute he frets about his future, and the next he leads a high-speed car chase through the streets of Chicago. Joel goes from one extreme to the other without a great deal of logic or fluidity.

Still, Cruise’s positives outweigh the negatives. Someone else probably could have made the changes more believable, but Cruise’s charm helps carry the movie, so that acts as compensation.

Indeed, Business provides a surprisingly realistic take on its subject – or at least at realistic as a movie with such an outlandish plot can be. Make no mistake: this creates a teen fantasy.

Joel acts as a proxy for all the kids under pressure from school and parents to be perfect and make massive decisions for the future while they’re still figuring out who they are. Joel stands in for all the teens who just want to live life a little before they commit to adult reality.

When subjected to scrutiny, the material doesn’t hold up as remotely believable, but the film makes us accept it anyway. That’s because Business doesn’t follow the expected teen comedy patterns.

Usually a movie like this would play everything for big guffaws. For instance, the scene when the college recruiter interviews Joel normally would include all sorts of racy wackiness.

We’d get broad gags from his seduction by the prostitutes. Instead, the flick keeps things subtle and doesn't tip its comedic hand.

That tone dominates Business, as the film prompts some laughs, but they’re not from wild shenanigans. Yes, it remains an absurd plot, but the flick keeps things surprisingly grounded.

Honestly, the movie often feels like an update on The Graduate. It doesn’t remake or rip off that classic, but it brings the same tone and character emphasis.

It also shows its era, as those of us who were teens in the Reagan years can clearly relate to its money-hungry characters. Granted, I don’t think wealth has gone out of fashion over the last 40 years, but there was a certain “greed is good” vibe to the 1980s that I don’t think has resurfaced, at least not in the same way. That attitude comes through clearly in this movie.

But that doesn’t make Business dated – or at least not really dated. Sure, it looks and sounds like the 1980s, but the message and the attitude remain universal.

If anything, kids today undergo many more pressures than we had 40 years ago. Schools are more competitive and force teens to make even bigger sacrifices, so I’m sure they can identify with a guy who manages to mildly rebel against this.

I can’t say that Risky Business becomes a great movie, and how much it appeals to you may depend on your stage of life. Clearly the flick spoke to me a lot more when I was 16 than it does now that I’m 57.

Nonetheless, it provides an engaging, surprisingly mature look at a teen fantasy. Risku Business continues to satisfy after 40 years.

Risky Business appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The image appeared to replicate the source well.

Sharpness usually worked fine. Some softness occurred, but those instances seemed related to the original photography, so the majority of the movie offered appealing delineation.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and edge haloes remained absent. Source flaws didn’t become a factor in this clean presentation, and the natural film grain led me to believe no noise reduction affected the transfer.

Colors worked fine, with a palette that leaned a little blue but seemed fairly natural overall. Given the nature of 1980s films, the hues didn’t often pop, but they appeared positive.

Black levels looked dark and dense, while shadows offered appealing clarity. Outside of restrictions related to the source, this became a good-looking film.

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Risky Business seemed pretty solid. Music used the speakers in the most dynamic fashion, as the score and songs demonstrated active stereo imaging.

Effects turned into a lesser partner, though they occasionally came to the fore. For instance, some train shots provided nice movement, and they also blended well with the back channels.

The surrounds didn’t have a lot to do here. Nonetheless, they reinforced the front and sporadically threw in unique information such as during those train sequences.

Audio quality remained positive. Speech appeared reasonably natural and concise, and I noticed no edginess or other problems.

Effects usually appeared pretty accurate, and the louder elements presented surprising depth. For example, the train roared to life in a manner more satisfying than I anticipated.

Music showed nice range and definition, as both score and songs boasted good dynamics. This was a soundtrack without great ambition, but it satisfied.

How does this 2024 Criterion Blu-ray compare with the prior BD from 2008? Though we got a shift from Dolby TrueHD to DTS-HD MA, both felt virtually identical.

Visuals offered a shift, as the Criterion Blu-ray felt a bit better defined and more vivid. As noted, the nature of the original photography meant the image never dazzled, but the Criterion version turned into a decent step up in picture quality.

The Criterion release mixes old and new extras. We find both the film’s theatrical version (1:39:14) as well as a Director’s Cut (1:39:15).

No, this doesn’t mean the DC simply extends the theatrical edition by one second. Instead, the DC comes with an alternate ending.

This means the DC presents a more ambiguous and bittersweet finish to the film. Is it better? Maybe, maybe not, but it’s interesting to see.

Note that the prior Blu-ray included the DC’s ending. However, it didn’t integrate this finale into the actual movie and just presented it on its own.

Alongside the theatrical version, we get an audio commentary from writer/director Paul Brickman, producer Jon Avnet, and actor Tom Cruise. All three sit together for this running, screen-specific chat that looks at cast and performances, the script and its creation, sets and locations, relationships during the shoot, music, and various anecdotes from the production.

On the negative side, the commentary sags on a few occasions, so we end up with more dead air than I’d like. There’re also the inevitable bouts of praise and happy talk. Nonetheless, the track includes a good examination of the film. It comes as a pleasant surprise that the three participants chat together, as I expected an edited, non-running piece. This ends up as a generally positive discussion.

Note that the old Blu-ray presented this as a video commentary. However, that format added little.

A semi-fun one-minute, 24-second intro launched it but the video commentary itself didsn’t bring anything to the set. It just showed the guys in a box located in the bottom left of the screen, so it failed to deliver anything especially exciting.

The Dream Is Always the Same: The Story of Risky Business lasts 29 minutes, 29 seconds as it gives us notes from Brickman, Cruise, Avnet, filmmakers Cameron Crowe and Amy Heckerling, film critic Peter Travers, producer Steve Tisch, film historian Stephen Tropiano, and actors Bronson Pinchot, Curtis Armstrong, Rebecca De Mornay, and Joe Pantoliano.

“Dream” examines the teen movie marketplace of the early Eighties and how Business fit into the era, the film’s story/themes and approach to the material, Brickman’s directorial debut, the script and attempts to find backing, casting and performances, music and visual choices, various scene specifics, the flick’s original ending, and the movie’s reception.

While not an all-encompassing program, “Dream” manages to offer a good overview of the production. I’d probably like to hear a little more from the various actors and other participants, especially since we already learn so much from Brickman, Cruise and Avnet in the commentary. Nonetheless, “Dream” relates a nice summary of various issues related to the movie, so it satisfies.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we find Screen Tests. These feature Cruise and De Mornay and they last a total of 14 minutes, 36 seconds. We see a little of these in “Dream”, but here we get a more complete view of their interactions.

The tests mostly feature Cruise and De Mornay together. We also get some comments from Heckerling, Tisch, Cruise, Brickman, Avnet, and De Mornay.

Those notes provide some good perspective, but the tests themselves remain the main attraction. The info comes in the first three and a half minutes or so, which means the tests themselves fill about 11 minutes. They’re very fun to see.

The remaining components are new to the Criterion release, and we get an Interview with Producer Jon Avnet. It lasts 20 minutes, 34 seconds.

Avnet examines the project's development, Brickman's approach to the material, story/character domains, the alternate ending, and general thoughts. He starts well but the chat gets less informative as it goes.

An Interview with Editor Richard Chew and Film Historian Bobbie O’Steen follows. This chat spans 30 minutes, 13 seconds.

During their conversation, Chew and O’Steen look at the movie's influences, editing, photography, and music. We get a good view of Chew's work here.

Finally, we locate an Interview with Casting Director Nancy Klopper. Her conversation runs 18 minutes, nine seconds.

As expected, Klopper covers how she got into her career as well as what she did for Risky Business. Klopper relates quality information about a topic not often discussed in featurettes like this.

The package also provides a booklet with a replica of the movie’s poster on one side and an essay from critic Dave Kehr on the other. It completes the set well.

For better or for worse, Risky Business made Tom Cruise a star. His performance continues to charm, as does the movie itself. It shows some weaknesses but still works. The Blu-ray delivers good picture, audio and bonus materials. This works as a positive representation of an enjoyable film.

To rate this film, visit the original review of RISKY BUSINESS