10 Things I Hate About You 10th Anniversary Blu-ray review |

Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger in 10 Things I Hate About You

10 Things I Hate About You is a clever and funny teen comedy, that doesn’t take many traditional routes in it’s storytelling, thanks to the film’s first-time director Gil Junger, and co-writers Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith. While the well-worn story elements of “boy meets girl…”, have been told time and again, 10 Things I Hate About You is a refreshing and well thought out tale, loaded with memorable scenes and original dialogue.

Adapted from William Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew, ‘10 Things‘ begins with Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a new student at Padua High School, sitting in the office of quirky guidance counselor Ms. Perky (Allison Janney), who leaves it up to Michael (David Krumholtz) to show the newbie around, leading to a friendship between the two boys.

During his tour of the school, Cameron first sees Bianca Stratford (Larisa Oleynik), a beautiful sophomore with one problem – she isn’t allowed to date. Neither is her “shrew” sister, Katarina (Julia Stiles), a senior who loves indie rock and feminist prose, and hates the idea of conformity. Soon Kat and Bianca’s father alter’s his house rule, allowing both sisters to date, provided they both have dates and go out together.

Now, in order for Cameron to date Bianca, he has to find someone to date Kat. So Michael helps him enlist the assistance of Joey Donner (Andrew Keegan), tricking Donner into thinking that he will get to take Bianca out if he pays someone to take out Kat. Donner’s choice: Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger), a bad-boy with a mysterious reputation. A heartwarming story ensues in this coming of age story that takes Shakespeare’s classic tale, and introduces it to a new generation that deals with love and life’s issues in ways that Shakespeare never imagined.

Special Features

Audio Commentary features co-writers Karen Lutz and Kirsten Smith, along with stars Andrew Keegan, David Krumholtz, Larisa Oleynik and Susan May Pratt, discussing their experiences on the project, and working with each other.
10 Things I Love About 10 Things I Hate About You 10 Years Later centers on how this high school teenage romance film turned into a cult hit. The featurette discusses the literary references from the film, the young actors who played the main roles, and how music was integrated into the film. Included are interview segments with director Gil Junger, along with writers Kirsten Smith and Karen Lutz who reflect on how this teen comedy came to be. Also included is never-before-seen behind the scenes footage, original cast interviews, deleted scenes, and personal photos from the writers’ scrap books.
I Want You To Want Me: The 10 Things I Hate About You Screen Tests takes viewers into the casting office for an insiders look at the screen tests that won actors Heath Ledger, Julia Styles, Larisa Oleynik and Susan May Pratt their roles. This segment also includes an introduction by director Gil Junger, and writers Kirsten Smith and Karen Lutz.

Video: Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC, resolution 1080p, aspect ratio 1.85:1, from an original aspect ratio of 1.85:1

Audio: English recorded at DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, and French, Spanish at Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles: English SDH, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese

Director: Gil Junger
Writers: Karen McCullah Lutz, Kirsten Smith, based on William Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew
Cast: Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik, David Krumholtz, Andrew Keegan, Susan May Pratt, Gabrielle Union, Larry Miller, Daryl Mitchell, Allison Janney, David Leisure

Original U.S. Release Date: March 31, 1999
Blu-ray Release Date: January 5, 2010

Film