Cheap Sixteen Candles (High School Reunion Collection) (DVD) (John Hughes) Price

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Customer Reviews of Sixteen Candles (High School Reunion Collection)

The Film that Defined a Generation and Made Stars Out of Molly Ringwald and director John Hughes
Set it middle America in the mid 1980s, SIXTEEN CANDLES is the story of Samantha Baker and the day she turned 16. Written by first time director, John Hughes and starring then teen queen Molly Ringwald, this is a must-see DVD for anyone who appreciates coming of age films. <
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>Almost like a modern day Jane Austen and the recent films that are based on her novels (Clueless), Hughes and SIXTEEN CANDLES successfully depict timeless teenage predicaments that anyone who has ever been young can relate to. <
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>SIXTEEN CANDLES takes place over the course of two days, which includes the long-awaited 16th birthday of a suburban teenage girl, whose family is too overwhelmed by their oldest daughter's pending nuptials the next day to remember the lead character's rite of passage birthday. <
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>With a soundtrack of new wave music, SIXTEEN CANDLES perfectly captures life in suburban American during the 1980s. The cast includes Anthony Michael Hall, who plays a nerdy guy who hero-worships Ringwald's character; Justin Henry, the hunky senior whom Samantha has a crush on; and John and Joan Cusack who in small roles, play random geeky high school kids on the outskirts of the popular crowd. There are also great performances by the two sets of grandparents who horrify Samantha Baker and the Chinese exchange student who accompanies her to a school dance. <
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>Though I have seen and enjoyed this film many times since it was first released, with older eyes and ears, I am somewhat shocked by the scene where Jake Ryan (the hunk) allows his drunken girlfriend to be pretty much raped by the Anthony Michael Hall character. In these politically correct times, I doubt this scene would ever be included in a mass-market film. <
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>Still by masterfully capturing teen insecurities, SIXTEEN CANDLES is a fantastic film that will long be remembered as Ringwald's finest work. Though Hughes went on to even greater directorial success in the wildly popular "Home Alone," in many ways this is a better representation of his genius, if for no other reason because it offers a timeless take on the complicated, distressing lives of teenagers. <
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>- Regina McMenamin

Staple for any 80s movie fan
"Sixteen Candles" was the first film collaboration between John Hughes and Molly Ringwald and started a very profitable franchise for both Ms. Ringwald and Mr. Hughes. <
>Ringwald stars as Samantha "Sam" Baker, a teen who is turning sixteen, unfortunately for her at the same time her spoiled, indulged and fairly shallow older sister Jenny (Blanche Baker) is getting married. Sam wakes up on her birthday, expecting her body to blossom and everything to be roses. Unfortunately, her own family forgets and it appears that she is going to have a miserable birthday. <
>Additionally, the nerdy "Farmer Ted" (Anthony Michael Hall) has developed a crush on Sam, while Sam pines away for dreamy Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling), who is quite involved with the pampered princess Caroline (Havilland Morris). <
>What makes this movie such a staple for any 80s fan is not just the John Hughes/Molly Ringwald connection, but the appearance of Anthony Michael Hall, John Cusack (in a small, but early, film role), the unforgettable Long Duck Dong and the sympathy shown to Sam's plight. Who didn't have a crush on the most unobtainable guy in high school? Who didn't pine away for that senior, who seemed to have it all, including the perfect girlfriend? What girl didn't go thru high school awaiting that "perfect" sixteenth birthday? Sam's problems are all-important to her, as with most teens, but Hughes doesn't gloss over it or make them seem trivial. He sympathizes with Sam's plight and the plight of teen girls everywhere, whose biggest tragedy is not getting that car for their sixteenth birthday, or that popular guy not being interested in them. <
>In keeping with Hughes' later films, all of the action is over the course of a day or two, so the "problems" are fairly quickly resolved. Perhaps not highly realistic, but more satisfactory. <
>Also not highly realistic, in most teen worlds, is the incredibly decent and moral character of the oh-so-popular Jake Ryan. Would any other popular guy, upon intercepting a note naming him as Sam's biggest crush, keep that to himself? Would he really want to dump his popular, sexually active, girlfriend because he wants more than a party? <
>Maybe not in reality, but in a teen girl's dream world, this is EXACTLY what would happen. And so, ultimately, "Sixteen Candles" is a fantasy film - - a fantasy that teen girls everywhere in the 80s ate up and made Molly Ringwald their poster girl. <
>Highly recommended for a nostalgic look back at Molly, Anthony Michael Hall, a young John Cusack and the adorable Michael Schoeffling. <
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