Product Details

• Actors: James Belushi, Louis Gossett Jr., Rae Dawn Chong, Michael Wright, J.J. Cohen
• Directors: Christopher Cain
• Writers: Frank Deese
• Producers: Thomas H. Brodek
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC, Subtitled
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish
• Dubbed: French
• Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired: English
• 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: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: July 30, 2002
• Run Time: 109 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000694WJ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #95,298 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "The Principal" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

HE'S TEACHING THE STUDENTS AT BRANDEL HIGH TWO WORDS... NO MORE.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Principal gets a bravo . . . a Rio Bravo! (me an idiot) July 28, 2002

By L. Stensland

Format:DVD

In this wonderful reworking of Hawks' Rio Bravo, Belushi takes on both the role of the sheriff and of the drunk. This is the best of all of the 1980s faculty vs. evil student movies. Belushi towers in this film, giving a wondeful leading man performance which should have forever brought him out from under his brother's shadow. The film, like a lot of Hawks films, has the main characters trapped in a building and having to fight their ways out. Morales, Gosset and Rae Dawn give strong support. Though director's Cain's Young Guns was his most popular film on the decade, this was clearly his best.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Belushi at his best October 13, 2010

By Missouri Eagle

Format:DVD

This is one of if not the best of James Belushi's movies. I love watching the 'teacher fix a school' kind of movie like The Substitute, Dangerous minds, Lean on Me because I relate to the difficult task a teacher or administrator is charged with in U.S. school systems. The Principal does utilize some of the typical cliche's such as the 'main man bad guy' or 'out of control students' but it's done in such a way it's fun to watch. Both Lou Gossett jr. and Rae Dawn Chong give excellent supporting roll performances. The Principal is about a teacher who goes and has gone through some tough personal battles (ex wife he still loves, turns to drink, etc) and it treats us to an inside look at a man who's just trying to get through and do his job. He's (belushi), offerred the job as Principal at a school (Surprise!) and the rest of the movie follows him through his, the school, the students, and faculty's learning process. In many ways The Principal is the best of the 4 or 5 good 'teacher movies' out there.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars James Belushi should have gotten an oscar for this... February 15, 2004

By Movie Dude

Format:DVD

So then why do I only give 3 stars? Well, for one the movie was not as long as I hoped it would be and I also didn't care too much for the abrupt ending. Despite all that The Principal is probably the most realistic story of a man who even though has serious difficulty turning a trashy high school into a somewhat safer learning environment, manages to slowly succeed while firmly enforcing his rules. I wouldn't be surprised if this movie was based on a true story. I've seen movies like this such as Lean on Me, Dangerous Minds, High School High, and the Substitute but The Principal is the most realistic (not to mention more entertaining) film of the "Teacher vs. dangerous schools" scenario and I never seem to tire of it.