Truly a sight to behold; John Cusack’s quirky, off-beat ’80s comedy, Better Off Dead, gets a 40th anniversary 4K Blu-ray release

Two! Dollars! While the most regarded of John Cusack‘s films with audiences usually gravitates towards Say Anything, 1985’s Better Off Dead has been steadily growing its cult status and seems to be referenced and quoted more often. Despite both movies having Cusack as a lovelorn teenager, Better Off Dead‘s broader, Naked Gun-style of humor certainly has it stand out amongst the many teen comedies of the era.

Blu-ray.com has now reported on the new 40th anniversary edition 4K Blu-ray of Better Off Dead that’s set to release in early August from Paramount Home Media Distribution. While there haven’t been announcements regarding special features, the specs can be seen below. The description reads, “After his girlfriend (Amanda Wyss, NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET) ditches him for a boorish ski jock, Lane (John Cusack, HIGH FIDELITY) decides that suicide is the answer. However, his increasingly inept attempts bring him only more agony, not to mention embarrassment. Filled with the wildest teen nightmares, a family you can’t help but identify with, and a host of extremely comic characters, BETTER OFF DEAD is an essential 80s classic, and a painfully funny teenage tale.”

The specs read,
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Audio
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS 2.0
French: DTS 2.0
Spanish: DTS 2.0

Subtitles
English, English SDH, French, Spanish

Discs
4K Ultra HD
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD-66, 1 BD-25, 1 BD-50)

Digital
Digital 4K
iTunes, Vudu

Packaging
Slipcover in original pressing

Playback
4K Blu-ray: Region free
2K Blu-ray: Region A (B, C untested)

Better Off Dead is one of two 1985 movies that marked John Cusack’s debut as a leading man. After small roles in Sixteen Candles and Class, Cusack, at only eighteen, nabbed the lead in Rob Reiner’s The Sure Thing, and Savage Steve Holland’s Better Off Dead followed immediately afterward. While Cusack has often praised The Sure Thing and Reiner’s direction, his feelings on Better Off Dead have always been controversial. Holland says that while Cusack attended the dailies, when he saw the cut-together version, he felt humiliated and told him that he would never trust him again as a director. This was problematic as they were in the middle of shooting a follow-up, One Crazy Summer, whose shoot would be more fraught than the collegial Better Off Dead.

So what made Cusack so angry? Better Off Dead is an absurdist comedy that, among other things, includes a Korean drag racer who sounds exactly like Howard Cosell, a claymation interlude, and a plot that treats suicide as “wacky.” It’s strange, but it’s also much loved by fans of eighties cinema, and indeed Cusack has mellowed on it in recent years, trying to downplay his attitude to Holland and appreciating its cult status.

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