NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (December 2022): Criterion have transferred Michael Schultz's Cooley High to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Michael Schultz". Cooley High as released on bare-bones, single-layered, Blu-ray in 2015 by Olive films. We reviewed it HERE. There was a ratio issue with the Olive that we can really only identify in the side-by-side captures. Colors match up well - better skin tones and balance on the Criterion (a couple of instances of teal), but the dual-layered Criterion with a max'ed bitrate is smoother in-motion, has no artifacts and is a superior HD presentation. Visually the film is fairly modest but this new 1080P appears to be a strong replication of the theatrical. That's all we can ask.  

NOTE: We have added 36 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Criterion use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. Cooley High has few aggressive moments - but the music - we get Freddie Perren's (Hell Up in Harlem) score we get Diana Ross & the Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye plus Martha & the Vandellas, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, The Temptations, The Four Tops among others. It all sounds authentically flat, clean and consistent in the lossless transfer. Criterion offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Criterion Blu-ray offers supplements. There is a new 35-minute interview with Michael Schultz, produced by Criterion, conducted by film scholar Racquel J. Gates. In it, the director recounts the making of Cooley High. There is also a 10-minute program about the making of Cooley High was produced for Turner Classic Movies in 2017. It features commentary from filmmaker-actor Malcolm M. Mays, director Michael Schultz, casting director Gloria Schultz, and actor Glynn Turman, along with archival footage from an interview with writer Eric Monte. Running over an hour is a panel discussion, hosted by actor, writer, and filmmaker Robert Townsend, that was recorded at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles on July 8th, 2019, after a special screening of Cooley High. It features director Michael Schultz, casting director Gloria Schultz, actors Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs and Garrett Morris, and other members of the cast and crew talking about the making of the film and its influence on Black cinema and filmmakers. The package has a liner notes booklet with an essay by critic Craigh Barboza.

In 2015, via a 40th-year retrospective on National Public Radio, director Michael Schultz's Cooley High was described as a "classic of black cinema" as well as "a touchstone for filmmakers like Spike Lee".  Writer Eric Monte based the film on his experiences attending the real-life Cooley Vocational High School, which closed in 1979.  It had students from the Cabrini–Green public housing project on Chicago's north side. Cooley High was transformative in portraying black people in film and is often cited as "a black American Graffiti". The Criterion Blu-ray has their deft touch for the a/v and almost two hours of extras. It's a worthwhile and deserved physical media upgrade. Absolutely recommended!

Gary Tooze