Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (DVD / Blu-ray) and Suburbia (DVD)
are both available for purchase at Amazon.com

These special edition DVDs of Rock ‘n’ Roll High School and Suburbia have already seen their street dates (the former is now out on Blu-ray as well), released roughly two weeks ago, and while the screeners didn’t arrive in time for me to provide advance coverage I see no reason not to give the discs the same treatment Shout!’s Gamera, the Giant Monster and Death Race 2000 have received here.  As with those, these are merely my first impressions of the discs – more comprehensive coverage of each will follow in short order.

I had the great pleasure of being more or less unfamiliar with both of these films when their screeners arrived in the post.  I had heard of Rock ‘n’ Roll High School in passing, having friends who were fans of it and The Ramones, but had seen neither picture.  These Roger Corman’s Cult Classics editions make for an excellent viewing experience, particularly for first-timer’s like myself.

The Packaging:

As with the earlier reviewed Death Race 2000, both of these discs come housed in high quality clear standard DVD cases.  The packaging for both is exceptionally designed (kudos to David Levine for his fine work here), and based around the original theatrical poster art.  Rock ‘n’ Roll High School is accompanied by a hefty 16 page booklet featuring introductions from producer Roger Corman and director Allan Arkush as well as an essay by screenwriters Richard Whitley and Russ Dvonch and interviews with the director and stars Paul Bartel, Mary Woronov and Johnny Ramone.  Suburbia receives only a single page insert, featuring an introduction by Roger Corman, DVD production credits and ad art for upcoming Roger Corman’s Cult Classics titles.

The Transfers:

Both Rock ‘n’ Roll High School and Suburbia benefit from new HD masters, each presented in their intended aspect ratio of 1.85:1, progressive and with anamorphic enhancement.  Given the highly variable production conditions of these low-budget efforts, the visuals are pretty stunning.  Detail, color and contrast are all quite strong for the format, and the lack of undue digital manipulation (edge enhancement, etc.) and high quality of the encodes make for excellent results when the image is up-converted for HD television sets or projectors.  Damage is infrequent, mostly limited to light speckling though more severe damage marks occasionally show themselves – none of it was distracting to me in the least.  Audio is represented by ample 2.0 tracks (192kbps / 48000 Hz) and the music so integral to both features comes across just fine.  My only complaint is that no subtitles are included on either release.

The Supplements:

Suburbia is something of a minor title in the Roger Corman’s Cult Classics series, and its supplements are more limited than is to be seen on Rock ‘n’ Roll High School or Death Race 2000.  That’s not to say that there wasn’t a good deal of work put into compiling content for the release, work this reviewer certainly appreciates.  The informative side of the special features is comprised of two feature-length commentary tracks, one with director Penelope Spheeris (The Decline of Western Civilization, Wayne’s World) and another with the director, co-producer Ben Dragis and actress Jen Clay, both of which are lively and make for good listens.  Other than the two commentaries the disc offers a photo and trailer gallery (with two spots for the film under the alternate title of Rebel Streets and a longer trailer under the original title) as well as trailers for additional Roger Corman’s Cult Classics releases – the simultaneously released Rock ‘N’ Roll High School and the upcoming Piranha and Death Race 2000.

The better known of the two, Rock ‘n’ Roll High School is absolutely stacked, collecting most of the features from past releases while providing entirely new content as well.  The feature is accompanied by not one but four commentary tracks – the first with director Allan Arkush, producer Michael Finnell and screenwriter Richard Whitley, a second with executive producer Roger Corman and star Dey Young, a third with stars P. J. Soles, Clint Howard and director Arkush, and a fourth featuring screenwriters Richard Whitley and Russ Dvonch.  I’d be lying if I said I’d listened to all of these at this point (not enough hours in the day!), but the snippets I have listened to have been quite pleasant – this looks to be another of those wonderful ‘everyone was having fun’ productions.

Next up is a hefty spate of featurettes, spearheaded by a 23 minute Back to School retrospective documentary. Staying After Class brings together stars Dey Young, P. J. Soles and Vincent Van Patten, with separate short interviews with director Arkush and executive producer Corman (the latter moderated by critic Leonard Maltin) rounding out the documentary content.  Rounding out the disc are a variety of odds and ends – 15 minutes of audio of The Ramone’s performance at The Roxy, a variety of trailers and tv and radio spots, several image galleries (including script pages from deleted scenes and the original pressbook), and a special text introduction to the film by director Allan Arkush.  Also included are a pair of trailers for other Roger Corman’s Cult Classics releases, one for the simultaneously released Suburbia and another for the upcoming Grand Theft Auto.

I have no complaints with regard to the supplemental content for either of these discs save for an odd inaccuracy with the latter.  The booklet for Rock ‘n’ Roll High School notes that a version of the theatrical trailer with commentary is included courtesy of Joe Dante’s novel website Trailers From Hell.  This version of the trailer appears nowhere on the disc that I can tell, but it can be viewed easily enough at Trailers From Hell proper.

Judgment:

As with the previously covered Death Race 2000, neither Rock ‘n’ Roll High School or Suburbia is new to DVD, but these latest Shout! Factory releases are a marked improvement over older variants in terms of presentation and supplemental content.  I can’t see fans being disappointed with either, especially with Rock ‘n’ Roll High School also premiering on Blu-ray, and I’ve been having enormous fun pouring over the considerable amount of content that’s made available.  They’re two fine films in two fine releases, and I see no recourse but to grant them two high recommendations.