The Corner Penthouse

The Legend of Billie Jean arrives on Blu-ray as part of Mill Creek Entertainment's Retro VHS Look Series, part of a growing trend of physical media releases with packaging designed to look like the VHS videocassettes of the 1980s and 1990s. I have reviewed several other titles in the series here on The Corner Penthouse.


The Legend of Billie Jean (1985) is the story of Billie Jean Davy (Helen Slater) and her younger brother Binx (Christian Slater), who live in a Texas trailer park. When rich kid Hubie Pyatt (Barry Tubb) wrecks Binx's motorscooter, Billie and Binx go to local police Lieutenant Larry Ringwald (Peter Coyote) for help. After he brushes them off, they go to Hubie's father, Mr. Pyatt (Richard Bradford), to get the $608 needed for repairs. The sleazeball attempts to rape her, which leads to Binx non-fatally shooting him with a gun he found in the cash register at Mr. Pyatt's store. The kids flee the scene and are soon on the lam with their friends Ophelia (Martha Gehman) and Putter (Yeardley Smith) in tow. Things escalate when they pick up a very willing hostage, Lloyd (Keith Gordon), the son of a local politician (Dean Stockwell). Billie Jean becomes a legend in her own time, a symbol of freedom to teenagers everywhere.


It's an enjoyable film, but you have to overlook its many problems. The major issue is that its extremely unbelievable, even for 1985. Billie Jean and her "gang" ride around in a bright blue station wagon with the name of the trailer park written on the side, and it isn't until late in the film that they decide to ditch it. The teens don't do a very good job of hiding themselves, and the local population recognizes them very easily every place they go, yet they're never spotted by the cops.


Lieutenant Ringwald and his team visit the teens at their hideout, and instead of arresting them, he just talks to them and walks away. Never once did Ringwald do anything about the real crime that started this whole affair: Hubie destroying Binx's motorscooter and beating him up. He never even brought Hubie in for questioning, or forced his father to pay the measly $608 needed for repairs. Instead, Ringwald was willing to give Billie Jean the money from his own pocket! The fact that Mr. Pyatt attempted to rape Billie Jean is never mentioned throughout the film, and is only brought into play in the final confrontation between Billie Jean and Mr. Pyatt. You'd think that would be a crime that the cops would be interested in.


Mr. Pyatt is allowed to profit off of Billie Jean by selling merchandise with her name and picture on it, including a rather sexy photo of Billie Jean in her skimpy swim panties. Shouldn't her mother, or even the cops, stop him from profiting off of his victim? There's also an issue of likeness rights, for sure. I'm also sure that it's illegal to sell sexy images of a (presumably) underage teenager. Even more shocking, HUNDREDS of the local population buy his Billie Jean wares, even though they know that he's the one who did her wrong, thanks to all of the local press coverage.


Billie Jean is made into an "outlaw" by the youth, who instantly recognize her, even though there was no mass public internet or social media at the time. It's incredibly unbelievable how fast word of Billie Jean's escapades is spread in what seems to be the course of a mere few days in a small area of Corpus Christi, Texas. There is no way that many teenagers would not only know who she is, but would go all "superfan" on her so quickly. There's a very short epilogue, which actually kind of ruins the movie, as it ends mid-scene on a shot that has nothing to do with Billie.  It would have been better left out, with the movie ending at the Billie Jean Day fair instead.


I'm not sure what the point of the movie is supposed to be. Not only does the bad guy profit off the victim, but he gets away with his crimes, and gets to keep all of his money. Billie Jean and her gang aren't even held accountable for their crimes, either. Everyone involved just simply walks away. Writers Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner obviously intended for the film to create a feminist rebel youth icon, and didn't care if nothing that "created" that icon was believable in any way, shape, or form. The film plays out like a teenage version of Thelma & Louise, only made six years earlier, and without that later film's enduring legacy. For what it's worth, I'm kind of surprised that Sony hasn't tried to remake this movie. Female-centric films are still a big trend, and the film has themes of instant social media stardom (before there was social media), so it shouldn't be too hard to remake it today. That said, it might be even more unbelievable today than it was back in 1985 with the prevalence of cameras everywhere.

There are some positives to the film. It has an awesomely '80s soundtrack, featuring a score by Craig Safan and pop songs such as the theme "Invincible" by Pat Benatar, "Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol, and "It's My Life" by Wendy O. Williams. As someone who has an interest in filming locations, it was a joy to see all of the practical Corpus Christi, Texas filming locations - even though I've never been to Texas. The mall scene was filmed in the Sunrise Mall in Corpus Christi. Overall, the movie is watchable and fun, as long as you shut off your brain and just roll with it.


Proving that Ghostbusters is everywhere, it even pops up in The Legend of Billie Jean. About 31 minutes into the film, as Mr. Pyatt and Lieutenant Larry Ringwald are talking in the shopping mall, a pair of No Ghost Logo mylar balloons can be seen in the background.


The Legend of Billie Jean is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio with a runtime of 1:35:13. On the audio side, there is only an English Dolby Digital 2.0 track. There are no subtitles. Also, there are only four chapters for the entire movie. Most Mill Creek releases don't have special features, so it's quite the treat that one is included here, though it's been ported over from Sony's 2011 manufacture-on-demand DVD release. It's the only known bonus feature that the movie has ever gotten on DVD or Blu-Ray, so at least we can't say that something is missing here.

• Audio Commentary with Helen Slater and Yeardley Smith

The other "bonus feature" here is the vintage-looking VHS-inspired slipsleeve, with faux wear and tear, and fake "rental stickers" on it, while giving the appearance of a videocassette being pulled out from the right side (though the original VHS may have been in a bottom-loading box), complete with tape label side on the right spine. Here's a complete look at this special slipsleeve. Click on it to get a better look.


The front artwork is based on the original U.S. VHS box art, as seen below. The back of the slipsleeve bears a similarity to the original VHS box art, using near-identical photos.


The case artwork underneath is of a modern style, which means that the VHS-style slipsleeve may only be available for a limited time. In the photo below, the slipsleeve cover is on the left and the case artwork underneath is on the right.


If you're not already aware of Mill Creek Entertainment, they are a budget company, which results in their products having a lower cost than the big studios. Right now, The Legend of Billie Jean is listed on Amazon for less than $10.


The Retro VHS Look Series includes the following Blu-ray releases. Do note that there is a new 1990s-centric Retro VHS Look Series from Mill Creek. That is a separate series from this one.





Images used come from the Internet Movie Database gallery of the film. The Blu-ray has been provided by Mill Creek Entertainment for review on this site.