"An Officer and a Gentleman" has one thing in common with "Natural Born Killers": both movies inspired dumb people to do dumb things. "NBK" obviously influenced a few misguided individuals to emulate serial killers Micky & Mallory, while "Officer" encouraged other misguided souls (namely me) to join the military. It didn't help that I was egged on by my wife at the time, who went gaga over Richard Gere in a uniform. In reality, all that awaited those "NBK"-inspired idiots was either death or prison. I, on the other hand, did NOT look like Richard Gere in a uniform (in fact, with my newly shaved head, I resembled Charlie Brown), and was unceremoniously kicked out after six weeks because I couldn't fold my socks right. So much for life imitating art. At least no one died over my personal lack of judgment. But the comparison is still powerful evidence of the power a piece of entertainment can have over its audience if done right. "An Officer and a Gentleman" will never win points for originality, but even today, it's a classic example of audience manipulation. And I gotta say, even though it conjures up memories of what a gullible loser I once was, I still like this movie a lot.

Despite the frankly-depicted sex & language, at its heart, "An Officer and a Gentleman" is an old-fashioned date movie that pushes all the right buttons. Sure, you've seen practically every scene before, and sure, its depiction of Officer Training is probably as realistic as "Star Wars." But despite all that, the movie works, and more importantly, it's aged pretty well for a 25 year old movie (only the cornball music score really dates it much). Richard Gere ain't what anyone would call a great actor, but every now and then, he picks roles that suit him so well that we're tricked into thinking he's more talented than he really is. As Zack Mayo, he's perfect, and the on-screen chemistry he shares with love interest Debra Winger feels pretty genuine (though, in reality, that was apparently not the case). But as with so many other movies, the supporting cast often steals the show. Louis Gossett Jr's Oscar-winning portrayal as Gunnery Sargent Foley is still the best part of the film, but too-often overlooked is David Keith as a hopelessly naive trainee whose heart is ultimately broken by a conniving local girl, played by an equally underappreciated Lisa Blount (whatever happened to her?). Director Taylor Hackford has yet to make a better movie (or at least, a better audience picture), and his handling of Douglas Day Stewart's by-the-numbers script is exemplary, making old cliches seem fresh, and allowing his cast (mostly little-known at the time) to make these characters feel like real people. The training scenes are suspenseful and exciting, and the love scenes are often quite erotic without being overly explicit; this is arguably one of the few mainstream films where the viewer never feels like a voyeur.

The film is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Although there's some softness in some scenes, it's an overall improvement over recent home video versions. It still isn't perfect, but this edition features what's likely to be the best video transfer you're ever gonna get. In addition to the original mono track, this disc also sports a new 5.1 Dolby Surround audio track, which sounds pretty good (though, as a purist, I prefer the old mono track).

This disc features the same audio commentary by Hackford as the previous DVD release, which is quite good and very informative. New features consist mostly of interviews and comments by cast & crew members in the form of short featurettes. "'An Officer and a Gentleman: 25 Years Later'" runs about 20 minutes, and is the usual fond look back at the film by most of the cast, as well as Hackford & Stewart. "True Stories of Military Romance" focuses on writer Stewart, whose real-life experiences in officer training inspired the movie. Also included are featurettes about the film's music (which, at the time, played a big part of the movie's success), the fight scene between Gossett & Gere, and a recent visit to Port Townsend (where most of the movie was shot), which is hosted by Gossett.

Unlike a lot of so-called "date movies" of the 80s, "An Officer and a Gentleman" still holds up pretty well, thanks to considerable onscreen chemistry among the lead actors, great direction by Hackford, and a willingness to make a truly adult film without ever becoming dirty. If you haven't seen it in a while, it's well-worth checking out again, uncut, with a lot of good extras. Despite all its well-worn cliches, some of which inspired later movies to revisit ("Top Gun" anyone?), you still can't help but get swept up by it all. Just don't let some tart encourage you to enlist afterwards. Highly recommended.