Search - Hairspray on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Adult Language, Scatological Humor, Suitable for Teens Movie Release: 1988 DVD Release: 11/05/2002 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 32 mins Studio: New Line Home Video Members Wishing: 15 Genres: Comedy, Period Film, Musical Comedy, Teen Movie, Dance Film

Forever interested in the kitsch built into past eras, director John Waters chooses the TV dance show craze of the early '60s for his playful focus in Hairspray. Ricki Lake plays Tracy Turnblad, just one of several alliteratively named characters coming of age in 1962 Baltimore, where "The Corny Collins Show" is the most popular American Bandstand-type program, watched by hundreds of young dreamers each day after school. Being chosen to dance on it is the ultimate status symbol and every young girl's dream, and Tracy improbably wins a featured spot when she infiltrates a dance contest and makes a better impression than her favored rival, the catty Amber von Tussle (Colleen Fitzpatrick). Always able to have fun, even when she's being mocked by the jealous popular girls, Tracy wins the affections of Amber's boyfriend and soon begins leading a movement to integrate the dance show, which has previously featured blacks only in a once-weekly theme night. She is arrested following a demonstration at a local theme park owned by Amber's father (Sonny Bono), who subscribes to the same theory of race relations as "The Corny Collins Show." Tracy's adventures are also filtered through her loving but eccentric parents (Divine and Jerry Stiller) and involve a humorous cultural clash with pot-smoking beatniks (Ric Ocasek and Pia Zadora). ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

Ricki Lake - Tracy Turnblad
Michael St. Gerard - Link Larkin
Divine - Edna Turnblad
Colleen Fitzpatrick - Amber von Tussle
Sonny Bono - Franklin von Tussle
Ruth Brown - Motormouth Maybell

Arguably shockmeister John Waters best film, Hairspray comes to DVD with a widescreen transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. English soundtracks are rendered in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital Surround. There are no subtitles, but the 5.1 soundtrack is closed-captioned. Supplemental materials include an entertaining commentary track featuring Waters and star Ricki Lake, and the original theatrical trailer. This is a strong release from New Line Home Entertainment that will please both Waters' ardent fans as well as those unfamiliar with his more grotesque offerings. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide