Side Out (1990) {Mill Creek Entertainment Retro VHS Blu-ray Review}

Reviewed by Jason Lockard

Mill Creek Entertainment have been bringing a collection of film on Blu-ray as a part of their Retro VHS Style collection. The latest we have reviewed here on Classic Cinema Plus was Renegade, Splitting Heirs, No Mercy and Kull the Conqueror.

Now the latest film to get the Retro VHS Style Blu-ray treatment is 1990's comedy/romance/sports film Side Out starring Peter Horton and C. Thomas Howell. 

When Milwaukee college law student Monroe Clark (C. Thomas Howell) arrives in Southern California, he takes a summer job evicting people from his wealthy uncle's Los Angeles tenants. When he serves eviction papers to Zack Barnes (Peter Horton), a former volleyball star, little did he realize that he would soon team up with him to compete in a volleyball match. 

Now many that are not familiar with volleyball may wonder why the title "Side Out"? The term “side-out” used to for scoring rule called "side-out scoring" under which the winning point could only be scored by the serving team. A side-out is now simply defined as when the receiving team earns the right to serve by winning a point.

Side Out was a Box Office bomb to say the least. It had a budget of $6 Million and only received $450,000 at the Box Office. It would prove to be the last film from Aurora Productions due to many flops.

Side Out is an entertaining film with a lot volleyball sports action. It will appeal to sports fans most of all. C. Thomas Howell and Peter Horton are pretty good duo. The supporting cast includes Courtney Thorne-Smith (Alley McBeal), Harley Jane Kozak (House on Sorority Row), Christopher Rydell (Trauma), Terry Kiser (Weekend at Bernies). Also look out for Volleyball stars Randy Stoklos and Sinjin Smith as Billy as well as model Kathy Ireland. 

Now for the Blu-ray release Side Out has been transferred in 1080p in the original 1.85:1 presentation the soundtrack is a 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio. There is also English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing. Now the transfer is not a new restoration, so it it not pristine it doesn't look amazing, but it does look and sound pretty good on Blu-ray.

For bonus feature there are none! But what makes this release so cool is the slipcover. It is the Retro VHS Style Blu-ray slipcover. This is a great collector's item for people who remember collecting VHS Tapes or renting them at the Blockbuster or the mom and pop's rental stores.

  

I own so many of these Retro VHS Style Blu-ray and enjoy having them in my collection. Out of all the retro VHS Style Blu-rays I have to say Mill Creek Entertainment does the best job with these slipcovers. They truly are the best feature of these releases.

Watch The Trailer Below:



If you love sports movies or beach movies I think Side Out might be just what you are looking for. You can head over to Amazon and get your copy of the Retro VHS Style Blu-ray today.

Out of 4 Film Reels (4 Being the Best) Mill Creek Entertainment's Retro VHS Style Blu-ray of Side Out receives...