“10 Things I Hate About You” receives it’s 10th Anniversary Edition on Blu-ray. Featuring an enjoyable 10 Years later featurette and a very entertaining audio commentary remembering Heath Ledger and the fun moments of making the film, fans of the film will definitely be entertained by this Blu-ray release!
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TITLE: 10 Things I Hate About You: 10th Anniversary Edition
DURATION: 97 Minutes
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (1:85:1) Full Screen, English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish
RATED: PG-13 (For Crude Sex-Related Humor and Dialogue, Alcohol and Drug-Related Scenes, All Involving Teens)
COMPANY: Touchstone Pictures
RELEASE DATE: January 5, 2010
Based on the William Shakespeare play “The Taming of the Shrew”
Directed by Gil Junger
Written by Karen McCullah Lutz, Kirsten Smith
Executive Producer: Jeffrey Chernov, Seth Jaret
Producer: Andrew Lazar
Co-Producer: Jody Hedien
Associate Producer: Greg Silverman
Music by Richard Gibbs
Cinematography by Mark Iwrin
Edited by O. Nicholas Brown
Casting by Gail Goldberg, Donna Morong, Marcia Ross
Production Design by Carol Winstead Wood
Art Direction by Gilbert Wong
Set Decoration by Charles Graffeo
Costume Design by Kimberly A. Tillman
Starring:
Heath Ledger as Patrick Verona
Julia Stiles as Kat Stratford
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cameron James
Larisa Oleynik as Bianca Stratford
David Krumholtz as Michael
Andrew Keegan as Donner
Susan May Pratt as Mandella
Gabrielle Union as Chastity
Larry Miller as Walter Stratford
Daryl Mitchell as Mr. Morgan
Allison Janney as Ms. Perky
Padua High sophomore Bianca Stratford (Larisa Oleynik) has two invitations to the prom and one big problem: her father (Larry Miller) won’t let her go unless her older sister Kat (Julia Stiles) agrees to attend as well. It looks like both girls are staying home, since independent and unconventional Kat has no interest in going—until she meets the school’s mysterious new bad boy Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger). What she doesn’t know is that her sister’s suitors (Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Andrew Keegan) have ponied up $300 to convince Patrick to woo her. Just as Patrick realizes he has unexpectedly fallen for his “assignment,†Kat finds out about the scheme and Patrick has to launch an all out campaign to win her back. Inspired by Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew,” 10 Things I Hate About You takes a witty and contemporary look at the eternal battle between the sexes, high-school style.
In 1999, the film “10 Things I Hate About You” which was is based on William Shakespeare’s play “The Taming of the Shrew” was adapted to a teen comedy film by screenwriters Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith (both who wrote “Legally Blonde”, “The Ugly Truth”, “The House Bunny” and “Ella Enchanted”) and featured first time film director Gil Junger (known for directing TV shows “Ellen”, “According to Jim” and “Hope and Faith”).
The film would be appreciated as a teen romantic comedy and since the film’s debut is considered among the top 10 teen romantic comedy films out there and the film is known to be the launching point for the director, the screenwriters and the film that would launch the careers of Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger.
The popularity of the film now reaching it’s tenth year anniversary has recently generated a television series on ABC Family and now a 10th Anniversary Blu-ray release.
“10 Things I Hate About You” is a high school comedy about a group of teenagers which include the new guy in school named Cameron James (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “3rd Rock from the Sun”, “G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra”, “(500) Days of Summer”) who likes Bianca (played by Larisa Oleynik, “3rd Rock from the Sun”, “The Secret World of Alex Mack”).
Cameron wants to go out on a date with Bianca but her father (played by Larry Miller, “Pretty Woman”, “Harold & Kumar” films, “Numb3rs”)Â makes a rule that she Bianca will not be able to date until her older sister Kat (played by Julia Stiles, “Save the Last Dance”, “The Bourne Ultimatum”) goes on a date.
So, Cameron wants to help Bianca by finding a guy that her sister can date. Meanwhile, unknown to Cameron, Bianca wants her sister to find a date, so she can go out on dates with bad boy Joey (played by Andrew Keegan, “7th Heaven”, “Dough Boys”).
Immediately, Cameron and his friend Michael (played by David Krumholtz, “Numb3rs”, “Superbad”, “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story”) decide to get the new student from Australia, Patrick Verona to date Kat.
Meanwhile, in order for Joey to date Bianca, he pays Patrick to date Kat and thus the plan is set and the guys hope that Patrick will be able to win Kat over and get her to go out on a date with him.
But will the plan work or will Kat find out the truth?
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“10 Things I Hate About You: 10th Anniversary Edition” receives its first entry to Blu-ray. Presented in 1080p High Definition (1:85:1), the film looks great! At first, I was a little worried when the stock footage of Seattle was grainy but once you see the film, you can’t help but be happy about the detail. You can see the skin pores of the people, details on the walls and surroundings. Some scenes are vibrant and colorful, there is a fine layer of grain on the film, blacks are nice and deep and picture quality that is much better than its DVD counterpart.
As for audio quality, the film is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and in French, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital. The film is front and center channel driven. Dialogue and music are clear but for the most part, the lossless soundtrack works for the film. I was hoping that with the crowd scenes, those sounds would be heard on the surround channels but I really didn’t hear too much surround channel usage or even anything from the subwoofer.
Subtitles are in English SDH, French and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“10 Things I Hate About You: 10th Anniversary Edition” comes with the following special features featured in 1080p or 480i, English 2.0 Dolby Digital with English SDH, French or Spanish subtitles. Included are:
- 10 Things I Love About 10 Things I Hate About You 10 Years Later – (35:05) Ten years after the film’s initial debut, director Gil Junger, and writers Kirsten Smith and Karen Lutz reflect and hear the story about how this classic teen comedy came to be. Featuring never-before-seen behind the scenes footage, original cast interviews, deleted scenes, original screen test and personal photos from the writers’ scrap books.
- Audio Commentary with co-writers Karen Lutz and Kirsten Smith, and stars Andrew Keegan, David Krumholtz, Larisa Oleynik and Susan May Pratt – An entertaining commentary with the writers and cast reflecting their past working on the film and working with members of cast and crew. Also, jokes and hilarious things that happened behind-the-scenes.  Also, everyone talks about their memories of Heath Ledger on the set and auditions. For fans of the film, listening to this audio commentary makes this release so much worth it!
It’s important to note that “deleted scenes” are mentioned on back of the package are found on the “10 Things I Love About 10 Things I Hate About You 10 Years Later” featurette.
I can easily remember when the original DVD was released and how badly I wanted it. “10 Things I Hate About You” was in my mind, the best non rated-R teen romantic film. Although “American Pie” was the more popular teen film of that year (the year also featured my other favorite PG-13 teen romance film “She’s All That”), “10 Things I Hate About You” was a film I enjoyed because of its sincerity, everyone seemed to click well with each other and the screenplay never had to go the route of being perverted. Also, that poem by Kat at the end of the film is absolutely classic!
But here we are ten years later and “10 Things I Hate About You” is a pretty enjoyable film that still holds up today. But I know the big question for many people is if its worth upgrading from the DVD to the Blu-ray version? My answer is “YES!”. The picture quality is much better than its original DVD counterpart but for those who loved the film, the two special features are just worth watching.
The audio commentary is just absolutely hilarious and for the most part, it’s like reuniting with old friends again and hearing stories that happened behind-the-scenes of filming to the hotel parties that the cast would have and just the shenanigans that took place and how respectful they were in remember Heath Ledger. The audio commentary was fantastic!
I would have loved more special features to be included but considering that the original DVD had no special features at all, I’m glad that at least we get two special features for this 10th anniversary edition and the two are very entertaining.
Overall, “10 Things I Hate About You: 10th Anniversary Edition” is a fantastic release for fans of the film. The DVD may not have a lot of bells and whistles as I would have hoped but for the most part, this Blu-ray release is definitely an improved upgrade over the 1999 DVD and the audio commentary, again…hilarious and all-out-fun.
If you are a hardcore fan, a person who enjoyed this film or someone that is curious about this release, “10 Things I Hate About You: 10th Anniversary Edition” is definitely recommended!