Adventures In Babysitting [DVD]

If it was a gun to the head moment where I would have to write down my top five 80’s films of all time I can assure you I would include Adventures in Babysitting. Films like this always help if you have a crush on the female lead and Elisabeth Shue wasn’t just any crush, she was THE crush of my favourite 80’s actresses.A very warm personality with an addictive cute laugh and is also a wonderful actress. Just the whole package for me with my first introduction being The Karate Kid, then Babysitting and of course Cocktail where the admiration really took hold and would not look at any other girl unless she looked like her (not like I had much choice in the matter).The movie is a wild adventure taking babysitting to new dangers around downtown Chicago. Due to a last minute cancellation with her boyfriend Mike, Chris played Elisabeth Shue is asked to babysit for a family nearby called The Anderson’s who have their son Brad (basically me in the 80’s and to be honest now) and their young daughter Sarah with a added friend of Brad’s, the always horny Daryl. As much as she does not want to do it she is convinced by her mental mate Brenda as it will take her mind off being duped by Mike. From there it’s a thrill ride every step of the way with so many iconic moments from Babysitting Blues to a Warriors like meeting on the subway train where Chris is the only one calling shots with the everlasting line “Don’t f*** with the babysitter”.After many physical releases what do we have now? Well we have a 25th Anniversary Edition Blu-Ray. No extras, interviews, documentaries ever to my knowledge have ever been released so let the good times roll with this edition as surely as its 25 years and the actual words “25th Anniversary Edition” appear on the cover then we are in for a treat correct? Wrong!The entire Blu-Ray has ZERO extras! This is ok as all I really wanted was the film and the gorgeous Drew Struzan cover and seeing as I had never been aware of extra material before I was never expecting anything anyway but to add this “Anniversary Edition” to the packaging will mislead consumers into what they are buying. It is true this edition was released 25 years after it first appeared so they got that right but it just cheapens the whole experience because even a few little interviews would not have gone a miss here. Keith Coogan who plays Brad talks regularly about his experiences on set and would not say no to adding some background info for the fans and maybe a possible audio commentary would be great. The transfer is good but could be so much better. They say the grain effect on Blu-Ray’s sharpens the picture and whilst I do not fully disagree with that it also takes a little something away from the film. My best suggestion is try not to be too close to the TV as that will only go and spoil it. The artwork is delicious, the most positive aspect of the whole release so if like me you love your original cover art without any review quote in sight this is the one for you.Overall a fine release but could be so much more if given half the chance.

This is a classic 80's film. I used to watch it a lot on VHS as a kid entering my teens, I guess in 89,90? I can't remember. Elisabeth Shue was an early crush of mine: the doe eyes; that wide smile that reveals her teeth on the edges; the perm; the personality ... she was lovely. Still is. The film is funny too; lots of personality. For nostalgia it's an absolute must, for people wanting a slice of the late 80's zeitgeist it's also an absolute must. I can't tell you how well it's aged as I was of the time so have a lot of memories attached to it. I loved re watching it after all these years. You just have to see for yourself I guess.

Guess it is a bit dated by today's standards but that is why we chose to rewatch the original movie with our young grandchildren. One comment: in the train sequence, I seem to recollect the phrase ... Don't mess with the Babysitter ... which seems to have morphed slightly (??) or I might have forgotten the swearing?! Still fun though.

Ludicrous story, ridiculous series of coincidences and confluence of events. Loved every minute of it. Elisabeth Shue glows in the lead role of Chris, saddled with a babysitting chore when she's stood up by her slimy no-good boyfriend (a young Bradley Whitford, pre West Wing and Lemon-Lyman dot com). To say much more spoils the surprise, but there's lots of great gags, visual and verbal, and when the gang have to sing the blues to get out of a nightclub while being chased by the bad guys, I defy you not to have a smile on your face. Okay, depending on your tolerance for silliness, you might not, but if you surrender to it, it's a fun ride.

This is one of the few classic 80s films that somehow managed to evade me at the time and I was apprehensive about it but it turned out to be very funny and really rather risqué (actually quite shocking to be reminded of life pre-political correctness!).WARNINGS:1) If you are scared of heights there's a sequence near the end that will have you screaming into a pillow but so worth watching!2) There is a 'homo' comment and a 'rape' comment which may upset some.Would definitely recommend to anyone with a sense of humour and especially those who, like me, were kids in the 80s 😀

If you remember this film, the you know it’s just a fabulous adventure for a bunch of kids, I bought this because I just wanted to relive the joy of sitting with the family, watching the film and reciting allllll the lines.And remember “none leaves without signing the blues”

Funny dialogue, engaging characters, a chance to sing the blues and a Thor obsessed little girl.The baby sitter of the title has to save her short sighted (in more ways than one) friend. Circumstances, and a little blackmail, mean she has to bring along her young charge and the girls older brother, as well as the brothers friend.Their car breaks down, is damaged on route to being repaired and an unplanned trip to a criminal hideout (thanks to a charming rogue car thief) leads to their lives being endangered and a spontaneous blues performance.Several adventures later, including being caught in the middle of a gang fight (one of the movies few weak scenes) the erstwhile heroes manage to rescue distressed damsel, recover car from 'Thors' garage and get home safely before the parents get back.

This story about a high school babysitter on saturday night when everything went wrong is by turns funny and tense. Appealed to me very much as a child of the 50s. Elisabeth Shuh is great in the lead role.