Back in 1981, Endless Love earned a lot of press, largely because lead actress Brooke Shields was a big star at the time. The film did okay at the box office but remains remembered best due to the theme song from Lionel Richie and Diana Ross, an enormous chart-topping hit.

That’s more than the 2014 remake of Love can claim, as the movie flopped on all levels. It received weak reviews and took in a poor $23 million at the box office. Did it really deserve such a fate? I figured I’d give it a look to decide.

All throughout high school, David Elliot (Alex Pettyfer) maintained a crush on wealthy “ice queen” Jade Butterfield (Gabriella Wilde) but he never did anything about it. The situation changes after they graduate, when they encounter each other at the local country club. David works as a valet there, and he shares a brief connection with Jade when she and her family come for dinner.

This launches Jade and David into a summer romance, though not one without complications. The sheltered Jade comes out of her shell, a trend that displeases her overprotective father Hugh (Bruce Greenwood). We follow the Jade/David affair and its ramifications.

Normally I’d offer a comparison between the 1981 and 2014 versions of Endless Love, but I don’t think I ever saw the Brooke Shields one. Maybe that’s not a bad thing, as I never heard much positive about it. Back in the 1980s, Shields struck me as more of a celebrity than a real actress. She earned good notices as a pre-teen prostitute in 1978’s Pretty Baby but didn’t show much real talent in Blue Lagoon or her other films. I think people remember her more for her status as a controversial jailbait sex symbol than as an actor.

It’s too soon to know what’ll become of Wilde or Pettyfer, though I think they show reasonable talent here. Neither one leaps off the screen, but they demonstrate decent acting skills and share pretty good chemistry together. In particular, Pettyfer ably makes David more than just the Perfect Dream Boy he’s meant to be; it’s a one-dimensional fantasy part but Pettyfer manages to give him a little more personality.

But just a little, as neither he nor Wilde nor any of the others can elevate Love above its roots as a generic teen romance. Of course, it shows strong Romeo and Juliet roots, and it does little to distinguish itself from its peers. This feels like a story we’ve seen many times, and not simply because it remakes an earlier film.

Granted, I fall outside of the movie’s intended audience, as I suspect the filmmakers didn’t expect a lot of 47-year-old men to embrace it. That said, good films satisfy a broad mix of viewers and don’t rely solely on the target crowd to succeed.

I don’t see that here. I find it awfully hard to imagine many outside of the teen girl demo will enjoy Love - and I’m not particularly sure they’ll dig it, either. Obviously it did little to attract those girls – or anyone else – to theaters, and I doubt it’ll expand much now that it’s on home video.

None of this makes Love a bad movie – it’s simply a forgettable, mediocre one. The film does nothing to stand out from the crowd as it delivers a flat, ordinary experience.

Endless Love appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Across the board, the image looked strong.

Sharpness worked well. If any softness occurred, I didn’t see it, as the movie remained crisp and well-defined. I witnessed no issues with jagged edges or moiré effects, and the image lacked edge haloes. No print flaws appeared either.

In terms of palette, Love went with a moderate emphasis on teal and orange. These didn’t overwhelm, but they seemed more obvious than I’d expect from a romance. Within their design parameters, the tones seemed positive. Blacks seemed dark and dense, while shadows showed smooth, clear visuals. I found a lot to like about this satisfying presentation.

As for the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Love, it provided an experience typical for character pieces such as this. For the most part, the soundscape didn’t have much to do, as it tended toward general ambience. Scenes on the road and at parties opened up matters a bit, as they used the side and back speakers in a mildly engaging manner, and the track provided solid music from all the channels. Nonetheless, these components didn’t bring a whole lot to the package, so this remained a laid-back mix.

Audio quality was satisfactory. Music sounded peppy and full, while effects were reasonably accurate and concise. Speech sounded natural and easily intelligible. Though nothing here impressed, the track was appropriate for the material.

Only a few extras show up here. We get an Extended Ending (2:36) as well as 19 Deleted/Extended/Alternate Scenes (29:45). In the “Ending”, it just adds a few seconds of footage from the same shots; no new story/character material emerges.

As for the other scenes, they tend to expand on existing themes and characters. We get a bit more of supporting roles as well as additional romance between the leads – a lot of additional romance, in fact. On their own, the scenes seem fine, but I suspect they would’ve felt redundant and/or slowed down the final film.

The Making of Endless Love lasts 17 minutes, 59 seconds and features director/co-writer Shana Feste, production designer Clay Griffith, producers Stephanie Savage, Scott Stuber, Pamela Abdy and Josh Schwartz, executive producer J. Miles Dale, and actors Alex Pettyfer, Gabriella Wilde, Dayo Okeniyi, Joely Richardson, Anna Enger, Bruce Greenwood, Robert Patrick and Rhys Wakefield. The show looks at the movie’s themes and story, cast, characters and performances, and Feste’s approach to the material. The program tends toward a fluffy feel, but it still gives us enough useful details to merit a look.

The disc opens with ads for Non-Stop, 47 Ronin, Better Living Through Chemistry, Best Man Holiday, Lone Survivor and Ride Along. No trailer for Endless Love appears here.

A second disc provides a DVD copy of Endless Love. It includes the “Making of” featurette but lacks the other materials.

I hoped Endless Love might give us something other than a standard romance, but it doesn’t. It delivers a one-dimensional, bland love story without much to rise it above a level of mediocrity. The Blu-ray offers excellent visuals, suitable audio and a small set of bonus materials. Don’t expect much from this forgettable drama.