Youngblood (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Nov 21, 2024
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
Peter MarkleRelease Date(s)
1986 (October 22, 2024)Studio(s)
United Artists/The Guber-Peters Company (Kino Lorber Studio Classics)- Film/Program Grade: B+
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: B
Review
Rob Lowe was already a star, with credits including The Outsiders, The Hotel New Hampshire and St. Elmo’s Fire, when he took on the challenging role of a young hockey prodigy in the 1986 film Youngblood.
Lowe plays American farm boy Dean Youngblood, a talented amateur hockey player who yearns for a chance to make it as a professional. At tryouts for a Canadian team, the Mustangs, his speed on the ice impresses the coach (Ed Lauter, The Longest Yard). His main competition is a much bigger player, Carl Racki (George J. Finn, The Dozens), who lacks Dean’s skills but makes up for that with brute force. Dean’s ability to defend himself against bigger and rougher players is his Achilles heel, but he’s chosen nonetheless.
Dean undergoes an awkward hazing ritual by fellow Mustangs players, is repeatedly admonished by the coach to hone his skills, and gradually learns how to become a productive member of the team. This doesn’t rule out heavy drinking, a sexual welcome by flirtatious landlady Miss McGill (Fionnula Flanagan, Money for Nothing), and a budding romance with the coach’s daughter, Jessie (Cynthia Gibb, Death Warrant). He also develops a friendship with star team member Derek Sutton (Patrick Swayze, Dirty Dancing), who gives him pointers about the game and useful techniques on ice.
Youngblood is more a coming-of-age film than a sports film, as the title character learns what it takes to be a team player while preserving his dignity and achieving praise not only for his skills but also for his character. There’s an excellent scene in which Dean is confronted by his older brother Kelly (Jim Youngs, Footloose), whose own dream of playing hockey professionally was shattered by an accident that blinded him in one eye. Kelly’s tough love shakes up Dean into doing what it takes to be the best player he can be and leave self-pity behind. Dean’s father (Eric Nesterenko, TV’s For the Record), a former hockey player himself, also rallies around Dean when the boy is depressed and beaten down.
The scenes between Lowe and Swayze project a bromance believability and the romantic scenes between Lowe and Gibb have a tenderness and sweetness. Their meet-cute scene offers a considerable look at Lowe’s backside as she notices him outside the locker room right after a shower as his towel falls to the ground.
Writer/Director Peter Markle has crafted a fast-paced film that balances action scenes on the ice with moments of Dean doing rigorous chores on the farm and locker room moments, some funny, others deadly serious. Lowe handles the acting fairly well. His skating is hardly worthy of a true hockey player, so several doubles were used in scenes involving more elaborate plays and greater sure-footedness on ice. Swayze has a natural delivery and, as a former figure skater and dancer, does much of his own skating. Gibb is fine in the secondary role of love-interest Jessie. Markle keeps the romantic sub-plot in check so that it never stops the action cold. The chemistry between Lowe and Gibb is very good, and her character in one scene becomes the voice of reason as Dean vows vengeance for a brutal injury to a teammate.
Youngblood is disturbing in that it portrays violence as the expected resolution to conflict. Hockey is a violent sport, and the screenplay takes that as a matter of course. That being said, the events all seem rational, given the circumstances and the sport.
Youngblood was shot by director of photography Mark Irwin on 35 mm color film with spherical lenses, processed by Medallion Film Labs, Toronto, Canada, with prints by Metrocolor, Hollywood, and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Contrast and clarity are excellent on the Blu-ray. In scenes filmed on the ice, there’s smoke, some pumped in, some created by ice condensation. Stunt men double for Rob Lowe in scenes of Dean practicing and playing. Often, only the lower portion of the double’s body or his feet are shown. Color palette is fairly bright, especially under the bright lights of the skating rinks, and tends toward primary hues, such as the red and white Mustangs uniforms, the blue and yellow uniforms of an opposing team, women’s outfits in a bar scene, and team jersey-clad spectators. Skin tones are registered naturally. Details such as a slash on Dean’s forehead, Racki’s mustache and beard, the striped referees’ shirts, perspiration on the faces of the players, the coach’s ties, and Miss McGill’s tea service are nicely delineated. As Kelly drives Dean across a bridge to tryouts in Canada, a lens flare is shown. The editing of the hockey scenes places expression-revealing close-ups amid the rapid action so that we understand what characters are thinking or reacting to.
The soundtrack is English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio. English SDH subtitles are available. Dialogue is clear and distinct. Scenes on the ice are louder than scenes off the ice, with sounds of skates cutting into ice, sticks hitting the puck, bodies slamming into one another, and outright fights dominating. William Orbit’s score is most prominent during the hockey games and adds excitement to the action. Channel separation is especially good with the sounds of cheering fans coming from both left and right.
Bonus materials on the Region A Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber Studio Classics include the following:
- Audio Commentary by Peter Markle
- Trailer (1:26)
- Masquerade Trailer (1:25)
- Father Hood Trailer (1:34)
- Modern Girls Trailer (1:09)
- The Longest Yard Trailer (4:04)
- River’s Edge Trailer (2:00)
- Bat 21 Trailer (2:25)
Audio Commentary – Director Peter Markle knows hockey firsthand. He explains that he played the sport when he was younger and included a number of incidents from his own background in the movie. Rob Lowe had never ice skated and had to learn how in three weeks prior to filming. Hockey trainer Eric Nesterenko stepped in to play Dean’s father in place of the original actor. It was tough getting time to film at the rink, so much of the shooting had to be done at night. Markle contrasts the way hockey used to be played with how the game is played today. In some Canadian hockey games, there can be as many as nine referees. Amusingly, Markle refers to scenes featuring partial male nudity as “for the ladies.” The film was taken on the road to screen it for actual audiences. It did very well in Chicago and Texas, even though Texas had no hockey team of its own. The project made the rounds from one studio to the next until it was green-lighted by MGM. Most of the crew were on skates during the lengthy filming on ice so that their feet wouldn’t get uncomfortably cold. It was important for the skaters to be wary of hockey sticks. Markle speaks about how helmets have become much safer now than they were when Youngblood was made. Post-production can be as hard as making the film.
There’s a lot to recommend Youngblood—camaraderie among the teammates, the romantic subplot between Dean and Jessie, a hulking villain in the person of Racki, locker room hijinks, moments of introspection, and plenty of hockey action on ice. The film is about people and tough decisions but never preachy, offering its lessons in solid entertainment. It’s unfortunate that the picture views violence as the acceptable means to resolve conflicts.
- Dennis Seuling