Private Benjamin, 1980.
Directed by Howard Zieff.
Starring Goldie Hawn, Eileen Brennan, Armand Assante, Robert Webber, Sam Wanamaker, Barbara Barrie, Mary Kay Place, Harry Dean Stanton, and Albert Brooks.
SYNOPSIS:
Private Benjamin makes its Blu-ray debut with an excellent print that’s been restored in 4K. The bonus features are sparse, but if you’re a fan, this new Warner Archive release is worth picking up.
It occurred to me while watching Private Benjamin that movies like it don’t exist anymore. By “like it,” I mean movies that make light of the military, such as this one and Stripes, which came out the following year. Then again, both of those films seem to occupy a very specific sub-niche in which the protagonist(s) join the military under duress but end up proving their mettle.
The main character of this one is Judy Benjamin (Goldie Hawn), whose poor husband, played by Albert Brooks, dies of a heart attack on their wedding night. A distraught Judy ends up running off to stay in a motel room for a while, and when she calls into a talk radio show to air her grief, another caller recommends he meet her the next day so he can help her.
He turns out to be an army recruiter played by Harry Dean Stanton, and he paints a picture of army life that convinces Judy to sign up, despite the fact that she’s been living the life of a pampered socialite. Of course, she soon learns that army life isn’t what she expected, and she earns the ire of Captain Doreen Lewis (Eileen Brennan) before eventually proving herself during a traing exercise.
The story takes an interesting turn toward the end, when she leaves the military to marry a Frenchman who turns out to not be what he originally seemed. In the end, I’m not sure what her character’s goal really was, and what kind of arc she experienced, but Private Benjamin is still a likable movie, thanks, of course, to Goldie Hawn’s exuberant charm.
This new Blu-ray from Warner Archive, which I’m pretty sure is the movie’s debut on the format, features a 4K scan that restores the movie as close as possible to the way it looked in theaters in 1980 (anyone who swears they can compare this presentation to what they saw in a theater 36 years ago must own a time machine). There’s one scene where the film grain is very noticeable, but otherwise, it’s a nice presentation (I don’t think film grain is bad; I just think it should look consistent, if possible).
On the bonus features front, you get the theatrical trailer and two episodes of the Private Benjamin TV series that totaled 39 episodes from 1981 to 1983. Only Brennan reprised her character from the movie, winning an Emmy and a Golden Globe along the way, with Lorna Patterson taking on the title role.
Unsurprisingly, the show stuck to Judy’s experiences in the army, playing up her frustration with military life after growing up in a pampered household and her ongoing conflict with Captain Lewis. It wasn’t a bad show, at least based on the two episodes included here, but it only aired for one full season on CBS, along with two partial seasons.
The episodes included here are the first and fourth ones from the inaugural season. The video quality isn’t great, but a disclaimer notes that they were pulled from the best video masters that are available for the show. I can understand why there wasn’t budget for restoring a show like that one.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
