Alex Liberto
The Outsiders (1983) takes place in a Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1965, the town is split between the rich teens in the southern part of Tulsa that formed their own gang known as " The Socials" aka Soc's and the poorer teens in the north that also have their own gang called " The Greasers". The main characters of the film are Sodapop, Ponyboy, Dallas, Johnny, and Darry just to name a few. Well one day Dallas, the leader of The Greasers and to be honest a little psychotic, Ponyboy and Johnny go to the drive-ins and meet the rich Cherry Valance and Marcia. Ponyboy and Cherry hit it off and that doesn't sit well with Cherry's boyfriend Bob so the Socs decide to go looking for Ponyboy and Johnny. They find them at a park and when they tried to drown Ponyboy, Johnny stabbed Bob to keep him from killing his friend in the fountain. From there the boys go on the run from the cops while the two rival gangs prepare to fight it out. The Outsiders was adapted from the book with the same name written by S.E. Hinton, which was a complete hit with young adult readers, and was directed by the Francis Coppola who is best known for The Godfather series. Francis Coppola had this Apocalypse Now vibe going on during this time in his career, his adaption was a little mystical and darker than the novel. He used sudden thunderstorms, less lighting, and sunsets all of which can disappear just as quickly as they arrived which can be symbolic of the chaotic times of the characters themselves. Coppola does something really interesting, he basically eliminates the adults from the film allowing the viewers to focus that much more on the teenagers. Coppola used various editing techniques and angles, one of the more prominent uses of editing in the movie is the use of fading between scenes for a smooth transition. Also used was a type of montage when Ponyboy and Johnny were on the run so we saw quickly exactly how they got from point A to point B. Coppola also liked to layer the shots at times such as the ending when ponyboy is reading the letter from Johnny, whose face is transparent speaking the words as Ponyboy reads it. At times it seemed to me that something was off about the movie as I re-watched it for the first time in years and I pinpointed it to few things. One would be that at times the movie seemed to be dragging along and some of the characters do not have a lot of depth to them being very one dimensional, like Dallas for example being the bad boy exemplified. Another is that Coppola ended the movie in a very strange, some would say horrible way with no real sense of closure since it ends abruptly without Johnny going to trial so we the audience have no idea what happened to him. A small complaint that I have noticed from when I watched this with friends that did not read the book is that they found it very hard to keep up with the relationships of the many characters in the movie. This movie was the start of many actors careers who would go on to dominate Hollywood. C. Thomas Howell played Ponyboy and won the Young Artist Award in 1984. Matt Dillon who played Dallas went on to star in many movies and was nominated for an award for his portrayal of a racist cop in Crash(2004). Rob Lowe who played Sodapop who is Ponyboy and Darrell's brother went on to star in one of my favorite TV shows Parks and Recreation. Tom Cruise plays Rob Lowes best friend Steve who's obsessed with cars and of course we all know him from such movies as Mission Impossible(1996 ). Ralph Macchio played Johnny and also one of my all time favorite characters Daniel in Karate Kid (1984). Many other actors also rose to fame after this movie, it was completely action packed.The reviews for The Outsiders were largely not so good such as Richard Corliss from Times wrote "Alas, The Outsiders is not quite a good one. Because it falls in with the undulating rhythm of the life of its heroes, for whom a fatal fight and a quiet night have almost equal importance, the picture never manages to reach the peaks of satisfying Hollywood melodrama." I fully believe that this is because at the time when S.E Hinton wrote the novel she was only 15 years old and of course the content is not going to be very deep but it was a huge success because teenagers could relate to the characters.In conclusion I believe that it is very easy to be hard on the movie for what it could have been, but Coppola expertly made do with what he had plot wise keeping as close to the original content as he could. That is with the exception of the ending, but it was a very powerful movie that evoked a sense of what it was like to be a teenager that resonates with many people who watch it. Even if you do not like the movie it is undeniable that the movie gave rise to so many actors that went on the dominate Hollywood in both their young adult lives and all the way up until the present. Perhaps we would not have seen Patrick Swayze inspire us to dance in Dirty Dancing or watch as Ralph Macchio teach us Karate in Karate Kid with The Outsiders. With that being said The Outsiders although having mixed reviews was and continues to be talked about and watched even today.
Irishchatter
This movie is really part of the "Jocks Vs Greasers" franchise. It clearly states us on what it was like during the 1960s when poverty and rich didn't get on with each other. It reminds me of how Catholics and protestants didn't come to agreement with each other during the troubles in Northern Ireland. All of this fighting was just completely nonsense and pointless.I think it wasn't Johnny's fault for killing one of the socs because they really were crazy for trying to drown him. Jesus, all they cared about was the looks and not the personality! I would worry more of the personality then the looks.It was too bad Johnny died from burns trying to save the children in the old church building which was himself and ponies hideout. Why the hell were people there especially children? That gave me goosebumps and confusion! It didn't give us a chance to know what really happened! It was also too bad Dallas had to die from the police as he was going mental! It was pretty much the loss of Johnny that triggered him to become angry. I really thought Matt Dillon looked gorgeous during his youth, he looks so much like James Franco! Cherry probably should've taken him regardless if he was acting like a dope. However, he still was a cutie back then regardless hahaha! Good film but some scenes are tear jerking!
brookesebranek
I had to watch this movie for an English class. It was hard to follow the story-line and take notes at the same time. The movie differs a lot from the book. It was hard to watch and understand the movie considering it is 2015 and the movie was made in the 80's. They also appear to be older than the book says they are. In the book Pony is 13, but in the movie he's like in his 30's. The movie is also very short and leaves out key points from the book. The movie was much worse than the book, in my opinion. It does have a good life lesson that people can learn and use in life. I suggest age 13 plus for this movie. This movie was a good lesson, but hard to watch and understand.
