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I'm sure this looked like a sure thing on paper. Reteaming director James Bridges, writer Aaron Latham and star John Travolta, who hit big only a few years before with the smash Urban Cowboy, Latham once again bases his script on a story he wrote for Rolling Stone magazine, only this time the target isn't cowboy culture, but "the singles bars of the 80's," health clubs. Rolling Stone reporter Adam Lawrence (Travolta) is working on a political hot potato, trying to snag an interview with fictional senator Joseph McKenzie, currently busted on drug possession charges. Working another angle (ahem), he decides to take aim at the burgeoning health club scene, and soon becomes romantically entangled with the potential star of his story, "the aerobics pied piper" Jessie Wilson (Jamie Lee Curtis). But Wilson has been burned by reporters before, and just what kind of story is Lawrence going to write, anyway? Soon these two worlds collide, and Lawrence may be the only reporter in history who would rather boogie with his tape recorder than Jamie Lee Curtis.

Okay, I'll admit it, Perfect is, well, perfect 80's cheese. Bad clothes, bad hair, and a "hit filled" song score by Jermaine Jackson (what, was Tito busy?) all add up to high camp. But the flick remains compulsively watchable, and the world of these beauty-obsessed, health club disciples can be fascinating. Saturday Night Live's Laraine Newman and Taxi star Marilu Henner turn in surprising effective performances (especially Newman, playing a thankless character) and Curtis certainly has the bod and the moves. But a tired Travolta barely registers, displaying none of the charm that catapulted him to stardom in such megahits as Cowboy and Saturday Night Fever, and the Rolling Stone milieu rings surprisingly false.

Sure, fine, so Perfect is hardly a classic, and I can't think of anything in particular to recommend it. But remember this: any movie that features a cameo by 500 Boy George impersonators can't be all bad.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

I know some out there will think I shouldn't even be reviewing this disc because Columbia has elected to release it in pan & scan only, but I'm not sure if I subscribe to the theory that the only thing worse than bad publicity is no publicity. I'd much rather trash a poor effort such as this than let some unsuspecting consumer wander into their local Best Buy and say, "Oh, Perfect, gotta have that!" and then they take it home and end up disappointed...

Originally shot in 2.35:1, this is hacked badly on the sides, which just about destroys the film's effectiveness, especially those wanting to oogle all the hot bodies. The print looks like it has been stuck in a closet on the Sony lot for about fifteen years, with plenty of blemishes, dirt and anomalies, and detail is pretty awful. Colors are dull, the picture is soft, and compression artifacts are noticeable throughout. While do studios bother releasing stuff like this at all on DVD? The lyrics to the Jermaine Jackson title song intone, "The closest thing to perfect that you'll ever see," but all I could think of is that this transfer is about the farthest thing from perfect that I've ever seen.

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

Just about as bad as the video is the audio. Presented in English 2.0 Dolby surround, there is nothing to distinguish this soundtrack. It sounds flat, dull and lifeless, with no noticeable surround use and little in the way of fidelity. Certainly, it is adequate, with clear dialogue and adequate dynamic range, but just... boring.

Also included are English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Korean subtitles and English Closed Captions.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Unless you count yet another Columbia TriStar cover art abomination as an extra, all that's included here are a couple of full frame theatrical trailers for Perfect and a seemingly unrelated comedy, Blake Edwards' Blind Date.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

No surprise here... no ROM extras have been included.

Parting Thoughts