This is interesting..

http://blogs.tampabay.com/80s/john_hughes/index.html

Review: Pretty in Pink special edition

May I admire "Pretty in Pink" again today? John Hughes fans ... the official Stuck in the 80s verdict is in: The new "Everything's Duckie Edition" DVD is definitely worth your time.

This new edition DVD-only version of Pretty in Pink was released on the film's 20th anniversary and it contains several gems, including an audio commentary by director Howard Deutch (remember, Hughes only wrote and produced it) and a half dozen featurettes about the making of the film. Most of the stars are shown in interviews from 1986 and today. (They've all aged remarkably gracefully.)

The real treasure though is a feature on the original ending of the flick. And here's the controversy too. The movie was supposed to end with Andie (Molly Ringwald) and Duckie (Jon Cryer) together at the dance, dancing alone in a spotlight dance -- with no reconciliation with Blane (Andrew McCarthy). Test audiences though objected, so the ending was rewritten and re-shot to show Andie and Blane together.

No, the entire original ending isn't included on the DVD -- mainly because it's still sorta there ... in pieces. The new ending is more "addition" than subtraction. Are you confused? Then go rent or buy the movie. What's amusing is that only Andrew McCarthy thought the original ending was stupid. Most hardcore Hughes fans I know would prefer the original ending.

Other factoids you'll learn in this edition:

• John Hughes invents his own "teen language" for his movies, so that they don't appear dated when people watch them 20 years later.
  
• Deutch disagreed with Hughes on much of the music for Pretty in Pink (though he later admits Hughes was right all along).
  
• Everyone thought James Spader ("Steff") was an obnoxious jerk during his audition. No one wanted him to get the part until they realized -- hey, that's exactly the kind of person who should play Steff.
  
• Andrew and Molly had a date arranged during the making of the movie, but Andrew stood her up.

He stood her up? I nearly fell off the couch when I heard that. But I ran over and rubbed my Molly Ringwald action figure instead for good mojo.

If you already own the movie on DVD, is it worth buying the new one? I'm going to go out on a limb and say yes. (Just give the old version to a younger sibling.) The Duckman would approve.