Film After 11 Podcast | Dead Poets Society (1989)

Easily the most famous and perhaps the greatest “inspirational teacher” movie of all time, Dead Poets Society is a seminal piece of filmmaking that teenagers and young adults have strongly responded to for decades, and that those like myself in middle age still have great affection for. However, is 12-years-old too young to appreciate it? As I found out in this week’s Film After 11 podcast, that may be the case.

My son Joseph didn’t get this movie. At all. He seems to have missed the entire point of it. Perhaps he’ll feel differently if he gives it another try in a few years, or maybe not. Our first experience with a film is often what sticks with us the longest. I may have failed as a parent by trying this one too early. Or, I just need to accept that he’s allowed to have a different opinion than I do.

As I say in the podcast, I’ve heard criticisms at various times that Robin Williams’ character Mr. Keating is a hypocrite who tries to impose his own thinking onto his students just as much as the sterner teachers do. In this viewing, I believe the movie actually leaves room for that reading, likely deliberately so by director Peter Weir and screenwriter Tom Schulman. The studio marketing that has always played up Keating’s role as a great influence on the kids misleads from how much more nuanced the story really is.

Dead Poets Society (1989) - Robert Sean Leonard & Ethan Hawke
Title:Dead Poets Society
Year of Release: 1989
Director: Peter Weir
Watched On: Fandango at Home
Also Available On: 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
Blu-ray

Various VOD rental and purchase platforms

Video Streaming

Dead Poets Society was released on Blu-ray in 2012 and on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray in September 2026. For the purposes of this viewing, I streamed the move in 4K from Fandango at home.

The 4K transfer is generally excellent. The 1.85:1 image is very detailed with rich colors. The wider contrast range of HDR adds a pleasing sense of depth. Grain has some minor issues freezing in place at times. I’m not sure if that’s a fault in the source or just in the highly compressed streaming version. Unfortunately, a light application of edge enhancement is noticeable every once in a while, not enough to detract too much from the viewing, but disappointing all the same.

Dead Poets Society (1989) movie poster

The film’s soundtrack has been remixed into Dolby Atmos for reasons I’m perplexed to understand. Was something wrong with the 5.1 track on the earlier Blu-ray? I can’t fathom a need to give this movie an Atmos makeover. The content has nothing that calls for it. Frankly, the theatrical Dolby Stereo seems like it would be more than sufficient.

For what it is, the Atmos track has good fidelity and a subtle but effective sense of envelopment through the surround channels. I don’t have any objections to it. I just don’t see a purpose to it except to add a marketing bullet point. If height speakers were engaged at all at any time in the movie, I couldn’t tell.

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Note: Any screenshots on this page were grabbed off a web browser, and came out looking much softer than actually watching the movie on a streaming device. They are used for illustration purposes only.

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