Rock ’n’ Roll High School is a fun romp with the Ramones in a teen comedy. You don’t need to be a Ramones fan but the music and dancing is pretty irresistible.
Shout! Studios, who put out a Blu-ray of the film five years ago, upgraded it again to 4K. It is full of bright colors with streamers, football helmets and pom poms throughout the school, and pillows in Riff (P.J. Soles)’s bedroom.
On staage, colorful Screamin’ Steve Steve Stevens (Don Steele), Riff and Rambeau (Dey Young) stand out against the black background. Even the Ramones stand out and they’re wearing black leather.
You can see the line guiding the paper airplane into Paul Bartel’s ear, but maybe you always could.
The stereo music fills modern speakers immersively.
Even though Shout! did thorough 40th anniversary content, they still found some more extras for the 4K UHD edition. Marky Ramone shares stories about shooting the movie while on tour and filming specific musical scenes like the bathroom, the finale, the hallway scene and the street.
A new Commentary with author Stephen B. Armstrong combines his own appreciation of the subversive movie with facts he knows about the production.