LOVE STORY-
When PARAMOUNT first announced that "LOVE STORY" was coming out on dvd, our initial response was "so what?"  How many horrible "love stories" with a dying heroine did it spawn?  Too many!  Although, most of them weren't nearly as bad as the worst, "DYING YOUNG", there were enough that were predictable and that begged to be liked out of sympathy for ill characters.

To our surprise, "LOVE STORY" is actually a "good" film!  It's far superior to any of the crap that followed it!  To begin with, one can't deny the visible chemistry between its two stars, Ali McGraw and Ryan O' Neal!  While it's easy to grow tired of McGraw teasing her love interest by continually calling him "preppie", at least it's better than hearing "snookems".  The plot, focusing on a rich college boy falling for a poor, pretty girl, and defying his family's wishes to leave her, even as she ends up with cancer,  has more than its share of clichés, but it's well paced, acted, and written.

"LOVE STORY" was filmed at a time when the look of a stocking-covered lens was commonplace for "romance" themed films.  While it's not used for the entire film, cinematic techniques like this appear throughout and the transfer appears too soft in many spots.  By extension, the image doesn't have the same level of detail we're used to with many PARAMOUNT releases.
Colors appear muted and while contrast is fine, there are no deep blacks or grays.

PARAMOUNT has released "LOVE STORY" with a 2.0 monaural track.  Although we weren't expecting anything "big" from the mix, we were still surprised by its harshness.  Even the famous score sounds below par.   Director Arthur Hiller is featured on a commentary track and while he offers a great deal of background production information.  Even while enthusiastic about the film, he still lacks the energy necessary to make the commentary compelling.
There are long lulls throughout the commentary, making it more work than it's worth!   A new featurette is included, "LOVE STORY:A CLASSIC REMEMEMBERED", and even though it's "new", it appears similar to the fluff pieces so abundant at the time of the film's actual release. 

The film's original theatrical trailer is included with 16:9 enhancement.