Product Details

• Actors: Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Judy Greer, Andy Serkis, Kathy Baker
• Directors: Gary Winick
• Writers: Cathy Yuspa, Josh Goldsmith
• Producers: Alan Baral, Allegra Clegg, Christina Hacopian, Dan Kolsrud, Desiree Van Til
• Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, French
• Dubbed: French
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click .
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• DVD Release Date: August 3, 2004
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (361 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002C4JI0
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,643 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "13 Going On 30 (Special Edition)" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Jennifer Garner glows like a rising star in 13 Going on 30, a girly version of the Tom Hanks classic Big. Jenna (Garner, Alias, Daredevil), a frustrated teenage girl, just wants to skip past all those annoying adolescent years and arrive at a glamorous adulthood--and thanks to some inexplicable wishing dust, she does. But once she reorients herself to a life as a high-end magazine editor with a sports-star boyfriend, she discovers that in the 17 years she skipped she became a not-so-nice person, including casting aside her best friend Matt (played as an adult by Mark Ruffalo, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). There's no question that Jenna will rediscover her lost innocence, but Garner rises above the lack of suspense. 13 Going on 30 floats along, buoyed by her goofy sweetness. Her lovely looks are made accessible by her unfettered silliness; it's a winning combination. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

DVD

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Stick with the Special Edition version! February 8, 2006

By Cubist

Format:DVD

Despite the unoriginal premise (the movie Big recast with a woman), 13 Going on 30 is a very entertaining movie and this is due in large part to its star, Jennifer Garner, who brings to her role loads of charm. This movie is the perfect vehicle for the actress because it allows her to break away from the action hero persona that she cultivated with the T.V. show Alias and Daredevil and prove that she can do a romantic comedy.

Garner, with her warm, disarming smile has a wholesome, girl-next-door quality that is quite endearing. She's beautiful but not in an unattainable way. She also has natural comedic ability, for example, in one scene, Jenna livens up her magazine's boring party with an impromptu dance to Michael Jackson's "Thriller," inspiring others to get up and dance as well. Garner also has a very expressive face that is perfect for the broad comedy of this movie. She is willing to take risks and make fun of herself. She is also willing to put herself out there and is not afraid to appear goofy and this only makes her that much more appealing.

13 Going On 30 is the victim of the dreaded double dip. If you already own the Special Edition version of the movie, the two new extras hardly warrant a re-purchase. Also, if you already own the previous edition you might want to hold onto it as the audio commentary by director Gary Winick and the commentary by producers Gina Matthews, Donna Arkoff-Roth, and Susan Arnold is not on this edition.

New to this edition is "Fashion Flashback: Into the 1980s" that features teen models gushing about how much they love the "retro" look of the `80s. It tells you what to look for and where to track down "authentic" clothes of that era.

"Making of a Teen Dream" takes us through the making of the movie in a fun, breezy way that is customary of most press kit type featurettes. The cast speak admiringly about each other in this self-congratulatory extra.

There is a "Bloopers" reel, a collection of blown lines and other assorted goofs that are quite cute.

Also included are two music videos, one for Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield" and another for "Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield that allows you to immerse yourself in pure `80s cheese.

The most enjoyable extra is "I Was A Teenage Geek." The cast talk about what they were like in the `80s. Everyone tells amusing stories of what they were doing in high school with photos of what they looked like at the time.

There is also an "Alternate Beginning and Ending" that features different actors playing Jenna and Matt when they were kids. The scene is about the same length as what is in the movie but is edited differently. We get more detail on Jenna's desire to be one of the popular girls. Thankfully, these were not used.

Finally, there are 15 deleted scenes with more footage of Jenna and Matt at the magazine party and so on. These scenes flesh out the relationships between the characters.

37 of 42 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Garner shines in her first major movie leading role July 30, 2004

By Darren Harrison VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Although this movie is often inaccurately referred to as a girly version of Tom Hanks BIG the movie is actually so much more and so much better. Whewreas in the previous movie Hanks character stays in the 1980s when he receives instant adulthood, in this movie an element of time travel is involved when 13 year-old Jenna goes to sleep in 1987 and wakes up all grown up in 2004.

The movie is all the better for this plot device, we get to see where most of the characters from 1987 are now, and the implications of the decision Jenna makes at the beginning of the movie. Its both piognant, romantic and funny in its execution and you would be pressed to find a truly more involving comedy drama in recent years.

Carrying the movie is star of television show ALIAS, the impossibly beautiful and talented Jennifer Garner. She proves that her entertaining turn as Sydney Bristow was no fluke by ably showing of her comic timing and delivery. Not a slam-bang comedy of the Ben Stiller or Adam Sandler vein this movie is more subtle and less in your-face.

As a 32-year old who remembers 1987 well the pop culture references to that era in the initial scenes were drenched in nostalgia and as someone who has chosen a similar career path as Garner's character it is even more involving and interesting. Without giving too much of the well crafted story away, this movie makes you reflect on the decisions you make and the impilcations each decision makes. In this sense it is like the recent Kutcher movie THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT although far more entertaining and light hearted.

This movie is well recommended.

64 of 77 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A surprisingly delightful, feel-good comedy November 29, 2004

By Daniel Jolley HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

I was rather pleasantly surprised by this film. Obviously, the storyline is by no means unique, and I've seen too many films featuring kids and adults miraculously switching places to feel all that confident about going once more into a similar breach, but 13 Going on 30 is actually, well, delightful. I'm a big Jennifer Garner fan going all the way back to her role in the short-lived Time of Your Life; by and large, I think she did a wonderful job in this role. It is certainly a different Jennifer Garner than we see on Alias, and it certainly appears as if she relished a role in which she got to be silly and whimsical. I would have to credit Mark Ruffalo with an even more impressive performance, though, as his was the subtle glue that held the fantastical elements of the plot together.

Young Jenna has just turned 13; already unhappy with the way she looks and anxious to be popular, she suffers an embarrassing indignation which has her fervently wishing to be 30. Thanks to some wishing dust on the model dream home her obviously infatuated by "not cool" friend Matt built for her, she gets her wish. I thought the early scenes featuring 13-year-old Jenna reacting to the instant passing of 17 years and adjusting to her new, uh, accessories was a little awkward, and a certain lack of continuity in regard to her reactions to new stimuli popped up sporadically as the film progressed. One minute she's acting like a young teenager, and then she will suddenly seem to have grown up into her new age to a significant degree. Anyway, she discovers that all of her dreams have come true: she was popular, and she has become mighty successful in life - actually sitting atop the fashion magazine she was addicted to as a kid. Before long, though, she begins to see that having it all isn't all it is cracked up to be. This grown-up body she inhabits is actually a rather empty shell of a not so nice person. She learns that she has done some rather nasty things over the course of the missing 17 years. The only person she can turn to is her friend Matt (Mark Ruffalo), but the two have gone in very different directions over the years. In the process of trying to save her magazine, Jenna learns that the dreams of childhood don't turn out the way you thought they would and other obvious life lessons, etc., etc. You can probably guess what happens at the end.

The film does succeed rather well as a comedy; the Thriller dance scene, while uncomfortable to watch, is indeed quite silly, and some of adult Jenna's interactions with young teens also play well. I also loved the fact that the movie helped take me back to the 1980s, to some degree. There are some classic 80s tunes on the soundtrack, and beginning the film with the sound of the Go-Go's definitely qualifies for a star in my book. That being said, I have to say that I don't remember some of the awful hair-dos of the film actually existing in the late 80s - certainly not among the girls my eyes gravitated toward in those halcyon days of youth.

In the end, this is basically your silly, entertaining, feel-good comedy, and it stars one of Hollywood's most attractive, talented actresses. It doesn't try to be anything more than what it is, and that is a big reason why it works as well as it does. It is by no means a must-see, but I do believe it is a film you cannot help but enjoy.