Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #185925 in DVD
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English, German
• Subtitled in: German, Danish, English, Finnish, French, Greek, Hebrew, Dutch, Icelandic, Italian, Croatian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, Spanish, Czech, Turkish, Hungarian

Amazon.com essential video
Little did Tom Cruise know that he would become a box-office superstar after he cranked up some Bob Seeger and played air guitar in his underwear. But there's more to this 1983 hit than the arrival of a hot young star. Making a stylish debut, writer-director Paul Brickman crafted a subtle satire of crass materialism wrapped in an irresistible plot about a crafty high schooler named Joel (Cruise) who goes into risky business with the beguiling prostitute Lana (Rebecca De Mornay) while his parents are out of town. Joel turns his affluent Chicago-suburb home into a lucrative bordello and forms a steamy personal and professional partnership with Lana, but only as long as the two can avoid the vengeful pimp Guido (Joe Pantoliano) and keep their customers happy. A signature film of the 1980s, Risky Business still holds up thanks to Cruise's effortless charm and the movie's timeless appeal as an adolescent male fantasy. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Great movie - Poor DVD
I think most people who buy/rent this DVD have already seen the movie and know what they're getting. There are a lot of good reviews on this movie here at amazon.com but I only saw one that mentioned the quality of the DVD. It is absolutely horrible. The companies who produce these dark, grainy DVDs need to know that the consumers aren't going to accept this type of low-quality transfer. I'd gladly pay a bit more money for a DVD that's viewable. We know how good movies can look on DVD. So why release a disc that looks as poor as this one? As consumers we need to demand better! Just as VHS movies recorded in SLP or EP were unacceptable, so are DVDs that look as bad as this Risky Business disc.

Risky Business Rocks!
On paper,a movie about an entrepreneurial high school senior turning his parents' suburban Chicago home into a brothel while they're out of town sounds rather broad,but this early Tom Cruise vehicle pushes beyond the typical Teen Virgin Comedy by cleverly tapping into the "greed is good" zeitgeist of the ultra-yuppiefied 80's."Risky Business" also presages films like "The Ice Storm" and "American Beauty" with its similar "Sodom in Suburbia" setting. The film benefits from an intelligent(and frequently hilarious) script and skillful visual style that separates it from the(brat)pack of John Hughes films that seem to hog most of the "80's movie" spotlight. While the oft-shown "underwear karaoke" is quite amusing, the most memorable moment occurs between Cruise and co-star Rebecca DeMornay during a late night subway ride that remains, to this day, one of the most artfully erotic love scenes in modern cinema (and no one takes thier clothes off!!)"Risky Business" was also one of the first MTV-influenced movies,and makes excellent use of its soundtrack music. A gross of $6,000 would make any boy happy, except when he has to give it all away to Guido the killer pimp.

Still loads of fun!
This 1983 film that launched the career of Tom Cruise proves its relative timelessness by entertaining audiences even today. Mediocre student and always-obedient son Joel (Cruise) is left alone in his upscale suburban house when his parents take a vacation. It's Joel's senior year in high school and it appears that the only highlight is going to be a boring project for the Young Enterpriser Club contest. When his friend Miles (Curtis Armstong) forces his hand to take a chance, Joel is thrown into an out-of-control scenario involving the charming prostitute Lana (Rebecca de Mornay), her enterprising friends, an irate pimp named Guido (Joe Pantoliano), and a high school full of unfilled but hormonally charged teenage boys. Throw in Joel's father's Porsche, an application to Princeton, and the all-important midterms that Joel is in danger of failing - and you've got a fast-paced, hilarious flick of adolescence out of control.

Unlike today's teen movies, "Risky Business" is not preoccupied with sophomoric humor and gratuitous foul language. It's too smart a screenplay for that. Instead, it focuses on the humor of a good boy gone temporarily bad, and how one small act of rebellion changes everything. At times, the film tries to be artsy with its gimmicky camera shots, direction, and editing, thus dating the film more than the costumes and screenplay do, but overall it succeeds. The music is great, particularly for those who remember the times.

Dust off your memories and revisit this fun flick. If you've never seen it, you should, if for no other reason than for seeing why Tom Cruise and Rebecca de Mornay rocketed to fame following its release.