The Oscar-nominated and WGA Awards-winning Private Benjamin is now available for fans to bring home on Blu-ray by way of the Warner Archive Collection. The new 1080p HD master is sourced from a 4K scan of the original camera negative.

To say that this Blu-ray is long overdue is not an understatement. We’re talking about a film that was one of the biggest box office hits of 1980. Private Benjamin should have been on Blu-ray as soon as it became clear that Blu-ray was winning the wars with HD DVD. But hey, at least we’re finally getting a version of the film on home video in widescreen!

As the film begins, Judy Benjamin (Goldie Hawn) was having her life’s desire come true. As an eight-year-old girl, she confessed to her best friend that she wanted was “a big house, nice clothes, two closets, a live-in maid, and a professional man for a husband.” Unfortunately, it was not meant to last long.

A pampered Jewish-American woman, Judy Benjamin, is devastated when her husband Yale Goodman (Albert Brooks) suddenly dies on their wedding night. Struggling with grief and uncertainty, she is persuaded to enlist in the Women’s Army Corps by recruiter SFC James Ballard (Harry Dean Stanton). Expecting military life to feel like a carefree break from her privileged upbringing, Judy instead encounters the harsh realities of basic training under the strict Captain Doreen Lewis (Eileen Brennan). As she adapts to Army life alongside her fellow recruits, Judy gradually proves herself capable, gains confidence, and discovers a new sense of independence and self-esteem.

Private Benjamin joins Airplane!, Caddyshack, and 9 to 5 as being the only films released in 1980 to be honored in the AFI 100 Years…100 Laughs list. The fish-out-of-water comedy is listed at #82. One could make an argument about The Blues Brothers being just as worthy, but today is not the day. Anyway, as far as the Oscars, the film earned nominations for Best Actress (Goldie Hawn), Supporting Actress (Eileen Brennan), and Original Screenplay (Nancy Meyers, Charles Shyer, and Harvey Miller). The screenwriters received a WGA Award for their script.

For a film that earned multiple Oscar nominations, bonus features are rather lacking on the new Blu-ray. There’s a pair of Private Benjamin episodes form the short-lived TV series, but that’s about it. I don’t know if efforts were made to get any audio commentaries recorded on previous DVD releases, but they should have made an effort to film featurettes with filmmakers and talent at the time. But even now, Nancy Meyers is the only surviving screenwriter and of the billed cast in the opening credits, Goldie Hawn, Armand Assante, Barbara Barrie, Mary Kay Place, and Albert Brooks are still living.

A remake was first announced in March 2010 with Anna Faris set to star. Four years later, Amy Talkington was in talks to write a script for a remake set to star Rebel Wilson. I’m going to be honest—unless the film were to be completely renamed, I don’t know how one could remake Private Benjamin and remove the Jewishness from the film. You’d have to have a Jewish woman in the role for any remake to work. Otherwise, you may as well forget remaking the film and just write an original film instead. Judaism is ingrained into the DNA of the film to the point that remaking the film is honestly pointless.

Ultimately, Private Benjamin remains a sharp fish-out-of-water comedy that still holds up as both a star vehicle for Goldie Hawn and a snapshot of early 1980s studio comedy. The Warner Archive Blu-ray may not be loaded with bonus features, but it finally gives the film a proper presentation in high definition and in widescreen, which is long overdue for a release of this scale.

Bonus Features

• Two episodes of the Private Benjamin TV series with Lorna Patterson and Eileen Brennan
• Original Theatrical Trailer

DIRECTOR: Howard Zieff
SCREENWRITERS: Nancy Meyers & Charles Shyer & Harvey Miller
CAST: Goldie Hawn, Eileen Brennan, Armand Assante, Robert Webber, Sam Wanamaker, Barbara Barrie, Mary Kay Place, Harry Dean Stanton, and Albert Brooks

Warner Bros. Pictures released Private Benjamin in theaters on October 10, 1980. Grade: 

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