Sixteen Candles

Summary

“Hot?! Ted… you’re a legend!”

When my older sister Chase was a little girl, a PG-rated movie came out into the theaters called Sixteen Candles. My mom figured it would be a pretty safe bet for entertaining the two of them and took my sister to the theater. Within ten minutes of the film beginning, the young protagonist has said “They fucking forgot my birthday” and then commented on a naked girl’s physique in the school showers. My mom was mortified and forced my sister to leave the theater. This incident would only repeat itself again when she took my big sister and brother to see Gremlins and pulled them out of the theater after a gremlin was placed in a microwave. When I was growing up I don’t think that I was allowed to watch Sixteen Candles unedited. Luckily, it seemed that the station WGN out of Chicago only played films by John Hughes, so Sixteen Candles played a lot throughout my childhood. Because the film was told from a female perspective, I never really gave it much of my time. Instead I focused on The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Arrow Video has recently released Sixteen Candles with a new 1080p transfer from a 4K scan completed in 2019. My wife and I sat down a few nights ago  to revisit the film that I had not seen in over twenty years.

As the film begins, Sam (Molly Ringwald) has woken up and nothing has changed about her overnight except her age. It’s her sixteenth birthday. Her family accidentally forgets her birthday because her sister Ginny (Blanche Baker) is getting married the next day. Sam’s father Jim (Paul Dooley) is consumed by doubts about Ginny’s choice of husband, Rudy (John Kapelos.) Ginny is worried that she is starting her period the same weekend as the wedding. Sam’s mother is consumed by the wedding planning. Sam heads to school on the bus with her friend Andrea. In the gym showers, Sam comments on the more developed physique of prom queen Caroline (Haviland Morris.) Caroline is a Senior and is dating Sam’s big crush, Jake (Michael Schoeffling.) In Sam’s eyes, Caroline has it all. In class Sam fills out a confidential sex test passed to her by Andrea. In it, she says she would do it with Jake. When she passes the note to her friend Andrea, Andrea has nodded off, and Jake gets the note instead. Jake reads the note and finds himself thinking about Sam. On the bus ride home, Samantha is hit on by a band geek named Ted (Anthony Michael Hall.) When she arrives home, her grandparents are sleeping in her room that night. They have also forgotten her birthday. One set of grandparents have brought along a foreign exchange student named Long Duk Dong (Gette Watanabe.) With the school dance and a night of parties ahead – Sam, Ted, Jake, Caroline, and Long Duk Dong will all have formative experiences.

Sixteen Candles surprised me when I revisited it. As a kid, I had always avoided this film and Pretty in Pink as “girl” movies. Watching the film as an adult, it actually goes out of its way to highlight the experiences of almost anybody who went to high school. Ted the geek is given plenty of time onscreen and has a story that is honestly at least as interesting as Sam’s story. It could be easily argued that his story is just as heroic as Sam’s. Even Long Duk Dong has a full character arc. I think that is why this film has maintained its popularity over the years. It is all inclusive and never judgmental, allowing thing to simply be funny for what they are.

Seen through the lens of the early twenty first century, the film has plenty of elements that would not fly today. In her video essay Soraya Roberts does a good job of discussing the numerous elements that would at the very least raise an eyebrow today. These include: a problematic depiction of an Asian, the use of the word “fag,” the possibility that two teens blacked out and slept with each other, and those are just the ones that immediately pop to mind. It’s funny that as a society we have moved far away from these things being fodder fo humor that it makes the film feel outrageous and quaint thirty six years later.

The casting in the film (like all John Hughes films) is exceptional. Molly Ringwald is perfect in the role of Sam. She is so natural in the role that it is hard to believe she was even acting. Anthony Michael Hall is hilarious as the over-confident geek Ted. Michael Schoeffling stole the hearts of girls and women as Jake. The cast is rounded out by solid turns by Gette Watanabe, John Cusack, Joan Cusack, and more.

The film also features a fantastic soundtrack that holds up beautifully. Songs by Kajagoogoo, Night Ranger, Oingo Boingo, Madness, David Bowie, Thompson Twins, and Spandau Ballet all work as a cohesive whole. Hughes was the master of soundtracks in the Eighties. Luckily, the rights were secured for all of the music to be used on this release. For posterity, there is an alternate soundtrack included without some of the licensed music that was sourced from laserdisc and VHS releases.

Overall – Sixteen Candles is a great comedy that also serves as a time warp to a less politically correct and less jaded time. 

Video

Presented in 1.85:1 aspect ratio with an MPEG-4 AVC Encoded image, the new  presentation is sourced from a new 4K scan done by Arrow Video and it looks as good as the film will ever look. Fine detail is strong and the film has been given a good facelift. The film has a decent amount of grain and uses some soft focus, but the transfer can’t be faulted for what is essentially just a very Eighties look. Arrow have put a great effort into the release.

Audio

The audio presentation on Sixteen Candles sounds great. The film features the choice of original lossless mono audio or 5.1 DTS-HD MA surround option. Both sounded good to my ears. While purists will probably enjoy the Mono track, the surround track is a little more immersive. In both, the soundtrack is killer.

Supplements:

– The disc includes the Theatrical Version of the film (92 minutes), and the Extended Version (94 minutes) of the film, featuring the additional “cafeteria” scene newly remastered in high definition.

– Alternate “home video” soundtrack prepared for VHS and laserdisc releases

– Option to watch the additional scene in the cafeteria from the Extended Version separately

– Casting Sixteen Candles–  in this all-new audio interview with casting director Jackie Burch, Jackie discusses how she received the casting job and how she found all of the talented actors featured in the film. 

– When Gedde Met Deborah – in this conversation between actors Gedde Watanabe and Deborah Pollack, the two actors reminisce about shooting the film and about working with writer-director John Hughes.

– Rudy the Bohunk – a newly filmed interview with supporting actor John Kapelos.

– The In-Between – camera operator Gary Kibbe talks about working on Sixteen Candles and mentions his long relationship with John Carpenter. I really enjoyed this interview.

– The New Wave Nerd – filmmaker Adam Rifkin is interviewed. He played a nerd as an extra in the film but then was lucky enough to shadow John Hughes as the film was made.

– Music for Geeks –  composer Ira Newborn discusses how he shaped the score around Hughes’ sense of humor and to match John Hughe’s taste in music.

– A Very Eighties Fairytale- in this video essay writer Soraya Roberts discusses the film from a contemporary feminist perspective. I really enjoyed the piece because it mentioned a lot of the issues that stuck out to me as I watched the film.

– Celebrating Sixteen Candles – this archive documentary features interviews with cast, crew and fans, including stars Anthony Michael Hall, Paul Dooley, Justin Henry, Haviland Morris and Gedde Watanabe, and writer/director Diablo Cody who is a fan of the film.

– Theatrical trailers, TV spots and radio spots

– Image galleries

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 4.5/5

Overall – 4.5/5

Sixteen Candles is an excellent coming-of-age comedy from the great writer-director John Hughes. The film has a strong female perspective but is just as interested in showing strong story arcs for supporting characters like Ted, Jake, and Long Duk Dong. The film is very satisfying. It is not very politically correct and certain aspects of the film would probably not fly in today’s climate. The film serves as a great time capsule to a less jaded time. Arrow Video have provided a good looking transfer from a new 4K scan and some excellent supplements. Highly recommended.