Films like Risky Business risk becoming trapped in amber over the years. Known for its iconic sequence of then-budding superstar Tom Cruise bopping around an empty suburban house to the strains of Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock and Roll," writer/director Paul Brickman's darkly funny coming-of-age drama is so much more than the few minutes that define it to so many people.

Cruise stars as Joel Goodsen, a Chicago teen on the cusp of graduating high school and facing an uncertain future. After his parents leave him alone for the weekend, Joel finds himself in the thick of every horny teenage male's dream: a sudden relationship with a drop-dead-gorgeous call girl (Lana, played by Rebecca de Mornay in her cinematic debut) and temporarily running a brothel out of his home, with some help from his goggle-eyed pals. (Hey, sometimes you've just gotta say "What the fuck" and allow prostitution under your own roof.)

Of course, all good things must come to an end and Joel soon crosses paths with the menacing "killer pimp" Guido (Joe Pantoliano). Can he put his picture perfect suburban life back together again, before the 'rents get home? Will he get into a prestigious college? Is his relationship with the impetuous Lana the real thing?

Particularly viewed in 2008, as Wall Street implodes and the American government scrambles to secure the few financial institutions that are still standing, Risky Business takes on an even more cynical tone than it had in 1983, at the dawn of the "greed is good" decade. In a very real way, the fictional character of Joel Goodsen feels as though it could've existed on Wall Street, indulging in sub-prime mortgages and pumping up hedge funds with shaky investments.

Writer/director Brickman has, thankfully, more grand ambitions than simply another T&A teen comedy; he explores the idea of ruthless, ambitious capitalism (framed in the film by Joel's interest in pursuing a business degree, but also the humorous way he must deal with competition, supply and demand, etc.) and potentially corrosive effects of getting exactly what you want -- you get the girl, the car, the clothes and the cash, but you lose a little of yourself, your innocence. It's a subtle message and one that Brickman doesn't force, but its presence does provide a wholly welcome subtext that has helped Risky Business age well over the years.

The cast is very solid from top to bottom -- Bronson Pinchot and Curtis Armstrong, in early appearances, do amusing work as Joel's buddies -- but the film belongs to Cruise and de Mornay, who conjure low-key magic as Joel and Lana. Their sex scenes still sizzle (between this and "Miami Vice," it's a wonder any child of the '80s can listen to Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight" without a flood of media-oriented memories) and the pair's chemistry is the other, essential piece of what makes Risky Business so much fun to watch 25 years after its initial release.

This 25th anniversary edition of Risky Business marks the second release of the film on DVD in region one; none of the original supplements -- some cast and crew biographies, an "On Location" featurette and three other behind-the-scenes featurettes -- save for the theatrical trailer. More information about the differences between this edition and the original 1997 version below.

The Video:

Presented in its original 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio, this anamorphic widescreen transfer looks, as most Warner Brothers catalog titles do, very solid given its age. (Not having the 1997 disc available for comparison, I cannot speak as to whether there's a significant improvement; I do know that the '97 version was anamorphic as well.) There's a fair bit of grain, but nothing too distracting and the transfer doesn't suffer during the numerous nighttime and dimly lit scenes. The colors are vivid throughout, blacks are inky without becoming noisy and the level of detail is acceptably crisp.

The press materials for this 25th anniversary edition of Risky Business say the soundtrack has been remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 and while it's a bit more immersive and robust, it still has the unmistakable feel of a Dolby 2.0 track spread out a bit too thin across the soundfield. (Again, not having the 1997 version, which only had Dolby 2.0 tracks, I can't speak to the pluses/minuses of the 5.1 track.) Nevertheless, dialogue is heard clearly and the Tangerine Dream-orchestrated score has some satisfying heft. Optional French and Spanish Dolby 2.0 stereo tracks are included as are optional English, French and Spanish subtitles.

The big draw, supplementally speaking, is the commentary track which features producer Jon Avnet, Brickman and Cruise, in a rare yack-track appearance. There's plenty of back-patting, but there are nuggets of revealing info as to the film's creation, its influences and the experiences of these three men as they worked together on Risky Business. The 29 minute, 26 second retrospective featurette "The Dream Is Always the Same: The Story of Risky Business" (presented in anamorphic widescreen) includes brand-new interviews with Avnet, Cruise, Brickman, de Mornay, Bronson Pinchot, Cameron Crowe, Curtis Armstrong, Amy Heckerling, Peter Travers, Joe Pantoliano, producer Steve Tisch and author Stephen Tropiano. The original screen tests for Cruise and de Mornay, running 14 minutes, 31 seconds, are presented in fullscreen (although movie clips are shown in anamorphic widescreen). Brickman's "director's cut" of the final scene is included, which runs seven minutes, 23 seconds and dramatically alters the tone of the ending (includes a brief Brickman audio introduction; presented in restored anamorphic widescreen) with the theatrical trailer (presented in anamorphic widescreen) completing the disc.

Films like Risky Business risk becoming trapped in amber over the years. Known for its iconic sequence of then-budding superstar Tom Cruise bopping around an empty suburban house to the strains of Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock and Roll," writer/director Paul Brickman's darkly funny coming-of-age drama is so much more than the few minutes that define it to so many people. While most of the bonus features from the 1997 disc are MIA here, there's enough new material -- including rare appearances by Cruise -- to warrant an upgrade for serious fans of the film. Recommended.