The Outsiders

First let me say that this will not be a comment where the author will be gushing about how "hot" the cast is! Like a lot of people who have commented on this film I, too, read the book first in school and then proceeded to seek out the film to see how the story translated to the screen. I thought esteemed director Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now) did a fairly competent job of adapting the book (there will always be somerevisions and omissions in such an enterprise). He preserved the essence of the class struggle: the eternal conflict between those who were better favored by birth and station (Socs) with those less favored (Greasers). Coppola elicited more than competent performances from the young up-and-coming cast he assembled. All in all, a very good coming of age film.

A terrific tweener for kids of any era. Serious but sweet, and refreshingly free of cynicism.

Godfather Coppola has a real way with family, go figure. But here he keeps the themes and emotions simple. One of the reasons for this story's lasting power is that it was written by a teenager, and so accurately reflects kids' perspective. It would have been very tempting to try and infuse an adaptation with "layers," to comment on the action and show yourself superior, but Coppola exercises great restraint and appropriate respect for the material. He knows it isn't profound stuff, but he understands that it *feels* profound to kids who identify with it. In walking this tightrope, he creates a rare thing: a movie that's for kids but neither talks down to or indulges them.

Lowe, Dillon, Estevez, Howell, Macchio, Garrett, Swayze. Only Cruise and Lane (and Sofia!) seem bigger now than they are here. That, and the 20-some years since, makes The Outsiders all the more poignant.

So I hadn't seen this in years since watching it in 8th grade during a study of the book, and from my memory, I thought this was like an 8, but on rewatch, I didn't like it as much as I remembered? Like the story feels meandering in a way that I'm sure works better in the original book (also need to give that a reread, man), and I feel like only some scenes work and have the impact they are supposed to.

BUT the film is very well cast, with a lot of actors who mostly embody the characters really well; I personally think Tom Cruise is the exception, he's kind of distracting in how over the top he is compared to the others, but everyone else is great, especially Matt Dillon and Ralph Macchio, like...damn, Johnny's whole storyline hits hard just by the way Macchio plays it.

Also a fan of the heavy stylization here, I do kind of wish it was a bit more consistently stylized? But certain scenes just have this artificial sheen to them that kinda adds to them, like the use of rear projection and overly stylized camera angles and backgrounds. I need to watch more of Coppola's work because, from what I have seen, his work, especially the stuff from this period, has a very idiosyncratic, consistent stylization to it that's always really cool to see, I like it a lot.

Overall, not a bad film at all! It's a flawed but fascinating and accurate adaptation of a classic book, one that maybe doesn't work the best as a film, but I admire the chutzpah of Coppola to at least try and make it work, and it does more often than it doesn't.

A gem from Francis Ford Coppola based on S.E. Hinton's novel. Teenage gang members in a mid 60's Oklahoma town become involved in murder, leading to tragic consequences for all concerned. Filmed mostly in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with a very impressive list of young actors on their way to stardom.

The cast includes Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe and Tom Cruise. Also featured are Emilio Estevez, Diane Lane, C. Thomas Howell, Gailard Sartain and Ralph Macchio.

A coming of age movie that packs a punch. Very much worth your time.

This lovely film was universally trashed and smashed by all the critics. FF Coppola directed it, but they still smashed it. I don't get that.

The then unknown cast was: Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon, C. Thomas Howell, Rob Lowe, Ralph Macchio, Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, Diane Lane, and Leif Garrett. All these actors went on to fame, but the whole movie, the performances, the writing, were trashed.

I thought the cinematography was exceptionally lovely. The "Nothing Gold Can Stay" sunrise scene was gorgeous. The camera angles during the hair cutting scenes were creative and intimate. The music was "epic" sounding, yeah, but this film had a huge tie in with Gone With The Wind, remember. I thought the soft lighting and the creamy edging made the film look very much like IT was filmed in 1939!!!

I don't know. I thought the chracters were very engaging and the performances excellent. Lots of people loved this film, regular people like myself, that is.