Heathers - 20th High School Reunion Edition | 
| Director: Michael Lehmann
Actors: Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Bill Cort, Mark Carlton
Studio: ANCHOR BAY
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.97
Buy New: $8.61
You Save: $11.36 (57%)
New (54) Used (9) from $8.61
Rating:  156 reviews
Sales Rank: 6138
Format: Color, Dvd, Ntsc, Widescreen
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 103 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: DV15989
UPC: 013131598995
EAN: 0013131598995
ASIN: B00180OU4S
Theatrical Release Date: 1989
Release Date: July 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Movie DVD
Amazon.com essential video
This dark comedy from 1989 was a good showcase for Winona Ryder, playing a high school girl brought into a clique of bitchy classmates (all named Heather), and Christian Slater, doing his early Jack Nicholson thing. While Ryder's character mulls over the consequences of giving up one set of friends for another, her association with a new boy (Slater) in school turns out to have deadly consequences. Director Michael Lehmann turned this unusual film into something more than another teen-death flick. There is real wit and sharp satire afoot, and the very fusion of horror and comedy is provocative in itself. Heathers remains a kind of benchmark in contemporary cinema for bringing surreal intelligence into Hollywood films. --Tom Keogh
Amazon.com
This dark comedy from 1989 was a good showcase for Winona Ryder, playing a high school girl brought into a clique of bitchy classmates (all named Heather), and Christian Slater, doing his early Jack Nicholson thing. While Ryder's character mulls over the consequences of giving up one set of friends for another, her association with a new boy (Slater) in school turns out to have deadly consequences. Director Michael Lehmann turned this unusual film into something more than another teen-death flick. There is real wit and sharp satire afoot, and the very fusion of horror and comedy is provocative in itself. Heathers remains a kind of benchmark in contemporary cinema for bringing surreal intelligence into Hollywood films. --Tom Keogh
Stills from Heathers (Click for larger image) Beyond Heathers 
Heathers [Blu-ray]
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Heathers - Limited Edition Box Set | 
Heathers (THX Version) |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 151 more reviews...
 loved it!! June 28, 2009
Rosa A. Munoz (Bridgeport, CT USA)
never saw the movie before I bought it..but it was a good deal so I bought it...watch it...annnnd loved it...I highly recommend it. But, if you are looking for the mean girls kind of movie that this is rumored to be like...then this isn't for you..but I think it is better
 Now This is A High School Movie! June 19, 2009
Untitled (nowhere)
Heathers is quite prossibly the only (okay, not likely, but I haven't had the chance to see a few other contenders such as Election and Dazed and Confused) high school movie that's good, for various reasons. First, it's hilarious, and while the plot deals with high school (something that's pretty mundane and can be done as an actual person), it's plot is anything but. After all, how many homicidial kids that Heathers, despite it's obviously outdated fashion senses (well, the movie still is kind of 80's in fashion), is also pretty relevant today in a sense (though I feel that cliques have softned up and are not as stereotypical today). Besides, I don't think these are the kinds of thigns I never see in High School either. Of course, that's because I basically ignore most people and talk to the people necessary.
Heathers starts with a mean joke played on some hapless fat chick, one of the most often ridiculed kind of classmate you probably know. It's mean, but it's darkly hilarious, and maybe even I take some pleasure in seeing it. The Heathers are depicted beautifully as these nasty, mean clique of three girls, who are determined to be a tryniccal force of girls who rule the school and put nearly every other school pupil to shame. It's a bitter movie, as most of the characters are not portrayed in a good way, not even Veronica's boyfriend. Very few are portrayed as good, and even Veronica herself isn't some amped up good person either.
Suffice to say, once Heather meets the outsider to help her get away from the clique she hates, she'll realize that It turns into a pretty biting yet darkly hilarious look into teen suicide as well, and the final confrotation also is eirre. You're going to have to watch the rest to know what happens at the end.
For what's it's worth, the film-making aspect of it is good, basically because this isn't a heavily-stylized visual feast. But there is style within, and not just the 80's clothing. Dramatic camera shots and lighting are used to great effect in this movie, and the soundtrack enchances that, more so than your average movie (give or take explanation, but I think you should just listen to it). The acting itself is good, it does the job well; Christian Slater is disctinctive amongst the rest of the classmates, and has his own style of speak and dress, which makes him all the more of the "outsider". Winona Ryder and the rest of the Heathers are all rather pretty, though the Heathers of course are just pretty on the outside, obviously. All the characters are still a bit stereotypical in these days, although, as someone who pretty much goes through school, I haven't had much of a clue, but even the jocks I have talked to aren't as brain dead as the two jocks. Though I think that may be the point, considering there is elements of satire in this movie.
Plenty of other movies, such as Mean Girls, have made an attempt to ape this movie or have similar plot lines, but movies like that don't portray the kind of popular douchebags as well as this movie does. And I'll bet that none of those movies are "...a cynic's chocolate binge!" (back of the box). Reccomended.
B-
Must by for those who saw it when you were younger May 25, 2009
Amy Nicole Showers
OMG I so remember seeing this movie when I was younger and thinking it was the BOMB then, and I still think that. This movie has it all. Its a great movie to watch, even now I think it relateable to the youth of today, and I am only 28 hehe.
This movie would never be made today May 16, 2009
Richard Ross
Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder) is reevaluating her choice of friends. She is part of a clique of mean girls, all of whom are named Heather. She is their apprentice whom they are grooming to join their ranks. Daily taunting and humiliation are part of her initiation and Veronica is having a change of heart. She finds an ally in Jason Dean (Christian Slater), or J.D., a mysterious student who has transferred to her school. The two bond over their mutual disgust of the Heathers and J.D. suggests teaching them a lesson. His methods are a bit more extreme than Veronica's and before she knows it she is standing in Heather's bedroom, with J.D., looking down at the dead body of her "best friend and worst enemy". J.D. has the idea to make the murder look like a suicide. This sets off a dark chain of murders rigged as suicides targeting all the bullies that J.D. and Veronica despise. The film is extremely dark and shocking. Frightening even in the wake of such high school massacres as Columbine and Virginia Tech. The comparison is unavoidable but yet to focus on that would miss the film maker's intent to create a satire. Daniel Waters' script is extremely intelligent and often funny full of quotable lines. That isn't to say that every joke works since some try too hard and fall flat. Couple the great writing with great acting from Ryder, Slater, and Shannen Doherty and you have the makings of a cult classic. It's no wonder that 'Heathers' is the most imitated of high school films. Other movies like 'Clueless', 'Jawbreaker', and 'Mean Girls', to name a few, have borrowed from it. Worth mentioning is the fact that 'Mean Girls' director Mark Waters is the brother of 'Heathers' writer Daniel Waters. After 'Juno' came out and Diablo Cody was hailed as an innovative new voice critics began reassessing Dan Waters' work and wrote articles that noted the similarity between him and Cody. Having seen most of his films 'Heathers' is his masterpiece. Unimpressed the first time I saw the film I gave it a second chance years later and now count myself as a big fan. It helps that I'm a huge Diablo Cody and Winona Ryder fan. Ryder is gorgeous in one of her best film roles. The movie isn't without it's faults. It's too long and things start to slow down as it reaches it's shocking conclusion. The DVD extras have a lot of good stuff like a retrospective documentary and a commentary. Also included is the original script ending (60 pages for God's sake) that the studio thought was far too dark and weird to film. That's interesting considering some of the stuff that got left in. Definitely not a movie for everyone but the more adventurous viewer should appreciate it.
 Didn't Work For Me April 17, 2009
Jessica Winney (Houston, TX USA)
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
I did not get this film in a major way. After hearing such good reviews of it, I thought I would give it a try, but I didn't like it. The film wasn't funny enough to be a comedy and wasn't serious enough to be a drama, and I thought many of the scenes were disturbing, particularly in these post-Columbine days. I guess the film was supposed to be a humorous look at teen suicide and angst and "getting back" at the popular kids, but I thought it was in bad taste. There are some things that just shouldn't be made fun of because they aren't funny, like kids dying, kids committing murder, and anything involving bombs at school. Rather than evoke humor, the film just made it even clearer how disturbing it all is, right down to the portrayals of Veronica's parents, J.D.'s creepy father, the parents of the murdered kids, and the disinterested faculty at the high school, all of whom appear detached and unconcerned about the goings-on. Christian Slater's portrayal of the psychotic J.D. was too much like a long Jack Nicholson impression and his character reminded me of the Columbine killers, even though this film was made years before that incident. The film failed as a comedy because it wasn't funny and failed as a drama because it was too tongue-in-cheek.
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