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Gregory’s Girl is one of the all-time ’80s classic movies which I watched when growing up and this new Blu-ray released, restored by Pinewood, even starts with the BBFC “A” certificate board which would’ve been shown on its original 1981 cinema release!
This is the perfect movie about growing up and falling in love when you’re at school, although the difference is that Gregory eventually pulls Clare Grogan, whereas the rest of the adolescent male population could only DREAM of doing that!
That said, Gregory (John Gordon Sinclair, albeit with the original positioning of his forenames, Gordon John Sinclair), first fancies Dorothy (Dee Hepburn) because she’s trying out for the school football team, a position which is likely to get him kicked out, not that he cares. Naturally, the sexist football coach, Phil Menzies (Jake D’Arcy), says he doesn’t want women on the team, but Dorothy reacts to prove that equal opportunities was already doing the rounds after the country burst out of the sexist ’70s.
Gregory’s Girl was first released with an “A” certificate, which later became PG. The film remained at that certificate for many years, and according to the BBFC website, was changed to a 12-cert in 1999. The Blu-ray release has the most recent info about why it has been rated as it has. I’ll surround the following info from their site with a spoiler tag, but I’d imagine it’s the initial uses of language, listed below, which tipped the scales, as the first one was cut from the PG-rated 1997 movie Men in Black, upon its cinema release, and has never been restored back into the film.
There are so many classic moments about this film, some of which, even today, pop into my head on an occasional basis, such as on the rare occasion I go on a date, will it result in her passing me onto her mate, who then passes me on to someone else with whom it actually works out?
There’s Gregory practicisng Italian, beginning with “Bella! Bella!”; the penguin that’s forever trying to find the right room; the soundtrack which sounds like it’s come from a Charlie Brown cartoon, Charlie and Andy trying to hitch-hike to Caracas and, of course, the “dancing while lying down” scene. Always worth trying out… However, I haven’t ever tried putting a slice of pineapple in a juice drink.
Also, as Carol turns up to be Gregory’s first date, the sound effect as she walks down the stairs, is one which I still hear in videogames today. And I’m sure I heard it in The Last Of Us, when I played through that again recently.
Oh, and when the date comes to an end, it’s clearly not 11pm as Gregory’s indicating, unless they’ve teleported to Alaska when the sun’s out(!)
There’s also a zillion quoteable one-liners, including “If women were meant to play football, they’d have their tits somewhere else.”
Scenes like Gregory’s date with Susan, and the penguin walking about, seem to last longer in the memory than in the film, as if you’re continuing/extending them in your head.
Note that Bill Forsyth tried to repeat the magic with 1999’s Gregory’s Two Girls, but it’s best forgotten as it was terrible. In fact, I thought Second Sight might’ve put this film together with its sequel, rather like Ghostbusters 1 & 2 did when they were released on laserdisc in the mid-90s, although like those two films, you’ll watch the sequel because it’s there… but you’ll wish you hadn’t bothered.
If you’re looking for more Clare Grogan comedy, I’d recommend the 2007 BBC Scotland comedy Legit. Sadly, it was scrapped after one series, in favour of a second series of Dear Green Place. That comedy was also superb, but oddly, the BBC decided they couldn’t have both. And we didn’t even get a third of that one either.
The film is presented in the original 1.85:1 widescreen ratio, and the transfer on this disc is simply stunning. Quite frankly, if Blu-rays had been around in 1981, this is how it would’ve looked. That’s the best way I can describe it. For the record, I’m watching on a Panasonic 50″ Plasma TV with a Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray player.
There’s only one bit which isn’t up to scratch – the opening credits. Oddly, despite the initial segment, and everything afterwards, looking brilliantly defined, with the filmilng process clearly defining this as being an early 80s movie, the credits look grainy, undefined and slightly blurry, like they’ve been shot on a different source. That said, it does transport you back to the time you first watched it, so that’s not a major issue.
The sound is in the original mono, and the incidental soundtrack and the theme bring back many happy memories of watching this the first time.
The extras are:
- Bill Forsyth: Early Years (20:08): The director takes us through the basics of how he first thought of the idea for the film, about a girl wanting to get involved with the school football team, the filming and the casting, including the fact that Dee Hepburn wasn’t cast until 2-3 weeks before filming began.
- Gregory’s Girl memories (11:06): Clare Grogan talks about how she came to be in the film, the promotional tour of the USA and how everything clashed with her being signed to CBS Records at the time when she fronted pop band Altered Images.
- U.S. remixed soundtrack: Before this release, I didn’t even know one existed! It’s weird as hell because all the voices have been dubbed over by actors doing less strong Scottish accents. It’s incredibly unwatchable and just looks so out of place to the point where it’s disturbing.
- Audio commentary: with Bill Forsyth and Mark Kermode
As you put the disc in, the menu appears with clips from the film and a piece of the incidental music. There are subtitles in English and slightly more chapters from Second Sight than the average distributor, this film getting an odd number (literally) of 17 throughout the 92-minute running time.
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FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS |
10 10 7 4 |
| OVERALL | 8 |
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 92 minutes
Year: 1981
Released: May 5th 2014
Chapters: 17
Cat.no: 2NDBR4026
Picture: 1080p High Definition
Sound: Mono
Languages: English
Subtitles: English
Widescreen: 1.85:1
Disc Format: BD50
Director: Bill Forsyth
Producers: Davina Belling and Clive Parsons
Screenplay: Bill Forsyth
Music: Colin Tully
Cast:
Gregory: John Gordon Sinclair
Susan: Clare Grogan
Dorothy: Dee Hepburn
Phil Menzies: Jake D’Arcy
Andy: Robert Buchanan
Steve: Billy Greenlees
Eric: Allan Love
Carol: Caroline Guthrie
Margo: Carol Macartney
Billy: Douglas Sannachan
Madeline: Allison Forster
Headmaster: Chic Murray
Alec: Alex Norton
Alistair: John Bett
Gregory’s Dad: Dave Anderson
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.