mark.waltz Badly acted, cheaply made, insipidly written. Those are just a few comments which I could make about this wretched good teen turned hood exploitation mess made primarily for the drive-in crowd, and even the worst of those was a step above this. It doesn't even have the good taste to be bad taste, just duller than the long- haired music teens were rebelling against. A down on his luck good kid turns to crime to make ends meet. Typical teen romantic issues attempt to add a human element to the story but the actors all seem far older than High School kids of the time. At only an hour, this was torture to get through. So there I must place the blame on myself. Others have different options, so if you are for warned, consider yourself lucky.

MartinHafer It's funny, but I can't believe this film has an overall score below 2.0!! That would seem to indicate that this is a truly awful film...yet I liked it despite its limitations and actually recommend you see it.The film is about a bright and seemingly nice young man named Marv. However, despite having excellent grades and a possible future in college, he is a lonely nerd---but the actor playing Marv is 27 years old--far too old to be playing a character who is supposed to be 17! If you can ignore this, what happens next is pretty interesting--even if his character occasionally acts too dumb--showing the writers really weren't that good despite some good story ideas. You see, Marv is supposed to be a genius--yet he also does MANY stupid things...too stupid! When Marv is inexplicably approached by a pretty classmate (Betty), he falls head over heels---as it's the first girl to take notice of him AND she's a hottie. However, Marv isn't aware that this girl is a devil! She really is NOT interested in him but wants to use him to help her to graduate--as without some help (or cheating) she won't graduate. Poor Marv--you really have to feel sorry for the schmuck. Well, at least that is until you see just how dopey this guy gets. You see, when he learns that Betty is using him, instead of getting angry, the sap wants to impress her--even though she obviously isn't worth it! Now despite how dumb his motivation is, I did like Marv's plan to win her back. When Marv accidentally learns that his boss is involved with buying and selling drugs, he also learns that there will be $1,000,000 in the company safe--and it's ripe for the picking. So, this teen(!) organizes a mini-gang and sets out to rip off the drug dealer. The rest of the film plays a lot like the merging of film noir AND a teenage romance! I loved how black the ending was--so violent and fatalistic...so gritty! It sure ended well and never bored me.

Thanos6 While I, like my fellow commentators, enjoyed the MST3K send-up of this flick, I also agree with them that "High School Big Shot" definitely had some redeeming values.The biggest value: the acting. For such a low-budget movie, the actors did a very good job. Tom Pittman pulled off the difficult task of making the audience sympathize with Marvin Grant, but not excuse his behavior. As his world goes to hell, destroyed by petty greed (both his own and others), the pain is evident on his face. His father, played by Malcolm Atterbury, comes off as a mainly honest, good guy who's made a few mistakes that have continually haunted him. As Betty Alexander, Virginia Aldridge plays the perfect conniving ice queen, and Howard Veit breathes convincing life into brainless jock Vince Rumbo (now THERE'S a name!).But the true standouts are Stanley Adams and Louis Quinn as Harry March and Samuel Tallman, respectively. Although they have limited screentime, they effortlessly make you believe that here are lawbreakers with honor. As Harry says, "I am a thief, not a crook." You know that if you hire these two as part of your caper, they won't doublecross you and will stay with you until the bitter end. To once again quote Harry, they are the "last of the gentlemen;" criminals with hearts of slightly tarnished gold. Adams and Quinn truly shine in the roles.The writing and directing by Joel M. Rapp is serviceable, and Carlo Lodato's editing works fine. Gerald Fried contributes a very nice score to this picture.Overall, I'd have to recommend checking out this picture, whether the original or the MSTreatment.

icehole4 This movie reminded me a lot of a song by the Dead Kennedys called "Straight A's." However, unlike this film, the hero of the DK's song turns to suicide. You'll wish this bozo had resorted to killing himself instead of doing the crime he did. The whole thing was convoluted and in the beginning, you sympathize with the hero of the film, then he quickly betrays your sympathies. The long sequences of just showing the hero's face while he delivers a monologue drag the film down quite a bit. Avoid this if possible.