When Harry Met Sally... might be the least anarchic film I've ever written about on these pages, but you know what, the movie is damn good, so I'm not even sorry. Directed by comedy legend Rob Reiner (This is Spinal Tap) and written by the inimitable Nora Ephron in her first feature writing credit, When Harry Met Sally... is a keenly observed romantic comedy that feels just a fresh and rings just as true today as it did thirty years ago when it was first released.

In the film, the title characters meet when they are hooked up by their Chicago friends to make a long drive to New York as college students in the '70s. On the journey they discover that they have very different views of love and sex, most famously, Harry's assertion that men and women cannot be friends because sex always gets in the way. This idea irks the young Sally, and when the journey ends, they are barely speaking and happy to be going their separate ways. In the subsequent years, they bump into each other from time to time, each time making an indelible - if not always positive - impression on one another, until the time comes that they fall into bed together, complicating both of their lives forever.

The confluence of sharp comedic and observational minds on the film makes for one hell of a fun ride. With Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan in the leads and strong supporting performances from the late Bruno Kirby and Carrie Fisher, When Harry Met Sally... has plenty of very capable vessels for its incredible writing. Ephron's script is magnificent, never going more than a few minutes without a laugh or something to emotionally connect with the audience. Far from a gag fest, the film manages to extract comedy from the everyday realities and challenges of romance and the hunt for lasting love. Everyone can see themselves somewhere in this script, and often in more than one character, even across genders from time to time.

I first saw When Harry Met Sally... when the film hit VHS in the late '80s. I was maybe ten years old, and was nowhere near mature enough to appreciate most of it, but having rewatched it again for the first time in at least twenty five years, I'm reminded why Hollywood filmmaking can be such a powerful cultural force. It can, in the best of circumstances, point a mirror at its audience and remind us of how silly we look and maybe, in rare cases, inspire us to empathy, even in the simplest of interactions.

The Disc

When Harry Met Sally... is one of those films that has been widely recognized as a classic and as such, previous home video editions, including those on Blu-ray, have included numerous reminiscences and documentaries. Shout! Factory includes all significant previously available material in their new 30th anniversary collector's edition, including a documentary, How Harry Met Sally directed by Jeffrey Schwarz (I Am Divine), audio commentaries, deleted scenes, and other vintage materials. However, the real winner here, apart from the new 4K transfer, is a forty five minute conversation between Reiner and Crystal about the film and its genesis and production. It's clear that the pair are close friends and have not only a fond memory of the film, but they also have plenty of positive thoughts of the others who made the magic happen. it's a great addition to an already great package that definitely makes this one worth the upgrade for fans of the film who already own the regular Blu-ray version.