Product Details

• Actors: Dante Basco, Jayson Schaal, Brian Card, Mindy Spence, Nicole Hawkyard
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Tagalog, Chinese
• 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 here.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: September 9, 2003
• Run Time: 88 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000AGQ6W
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #91,209 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Debut" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Must See!, March 26, 2002

By 

Edwin Tumlos (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

Kudos to a terrific first film for Gene Cajayong, to the writers who captured the essence of Filipino-American life, and to the excellent cast who brought out the sub-textual subtleties of the story line. Although I had to wait nearly two years to finally view "the Debut" (thanks to Hollywood's lack of support), it was certainly well worth the wait. Rarely is a film created, acted, and about Filipino-Americans. So for those uninitiated to the culture and its people, this is a great "primer". For the Filipino-American community, this is a film we should support, and definitely worthy of our pride. This is the first (as far as I know) commercial Fil-Am film released in Chicago, I hope it's not the last!

The plot is nothing new, but the message and its delivery are pure "pinoy". The mix of fresh and seasoned talent keeps the energy going throughout the entire film. But what stood out to me the most are the scenes showcasing Filipino food, music, dance, and (I'm almost ashamed to admit) the fresh-off-the-boat (fob) humor. So to the general public, "This film is in English, has mass market appeal (i.e. very entertaining), and it doesn't hurt that it broadens one's horizon." To my fellow Filipino-Americans, "Welcome to our "debut"!" Go out to see it now because if we don't watch it in the theaters, it may never reach your local video store!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great movie!, October 29, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Debut (DVD)

I am African-American, but have many Filipino friends. Iwas very impressed by this movie. It had a little bit of everything for everyone. The movie was done with great class and good detail. Best of luck to all of the production crew and cast members for future projects. It would be nice to see sequel to this film. Maybe call it, "Debuted - All Grown Up! I would also like to see a PG or PG-13 movie by the same creators.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Debut, February 11, 2002

By 

Vani (Scottsdale, AZ) - See all my reviews

Coming from Arizona, where the Filipino population is miniscule compared to California, I was ecstatic when I heard about "Debut". I thought that it depicted life as a Filipino-American to perfection. It addressed such issues as alienation and acceptance from both cultures and the struggle in defining one's identity. From the cars and DJs to the lechon and barrel man, this movie calls attention to so many aspects of life as a Filipino-American. It also does well in portraying the traditional Filipino family structure. Great movie!