BA_Harrison Like Marshal Will Kane (Gary Cooper) in classic western High Noon, meek high school student Jerry Mitchell (Casey Siemaszko) finds himself nervously watching time tick by after he angers psychotic school 'touch-freak' Buddy Revell (Richard Tyson) by innocently patting him on the arm. Challenged to a fight in the school parking lot at three o'clock, Jerry tries desperately to find a way out of his predicament, but everything he does only seems to make matters worse.Three O'Clock High is one of those films that, more often than not, elicits a blank stare when I mention it to casual film fans, but which, in my humble opinion, deserves to share the same kind of popularity and recognition as much-loved '80s hits Risky Business and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.I suspect that its current anonymity is largely due to the lack of a future A-list star, Casey Siemaszko never achieving the fame of Cruise or Broderick, a crying shame because the film is every bit as worthy of admiration as the aforementioned better known teen classics. The smart script, while not laugh-out-loud funny, is consistently amusing throughout, director Phil Joanou's direction is stylish and suspenseful, the performances are excellent, and although the outcome is predictable (and highly improbable), the film's finale delivers that all important feel-good factor.

Mr-Fusion The idea behind "Three O'Clock High" is an amusing one: "High Noon" in high school. And for the first 30 minutes or so, it has the makings of a great '80s teen movie. The character archetypes are there, there's a great score, and the lead actor is up to the task. But eventually, the humor in Jerry's attempts to get out of the fight (making out with the teacher to get detention, trying to break open the cash register to steal a payoff) wears off. By the time he's caught cheating on a test, the attempts become self-destructive to the point that I just wanted Jerry to flat-out tell someone there's a fight at three. Any adult that happens upon this melee on school grounds won't believe for a second that Jerry egged the hulking bully into a fistfight, and he'll finally get an adult to listen to him.There is a climactic fight, and it's surprising that it actually goes down, given the tone of the preceding 90 minutes. But the unlikely happy ending for Jerry comes off extremely far-fetched, which honestly spoiled the entire thing for me. When that fight happens, the tone changes and it feels like a completely different movie. It's such a disjointed shift, that it runs counter to the movie that was the lead-up to afternoon throwdown. The main character goes through such hell all day, that you're constantly trying to figure out how he'll think his way out of this (or fate will deal him some kind of forfeit with a lesson involved). But he winds up chancing into a set of brass knuckles and magically wins the fight and the (entire) school's adoration. Seriously, it's like the ending to a different movie. To Siemaszko's credit, he wears the look of tortured desperation well. And the movie features a terrifically atmospheric score by Tangerine Dream that's still in my head. But "Three O'Clock High" just has "what could've been" written all over it.5/10

Diego_rjc There are a lot of movies from the 1980's that we grew up watching it. At the movies, at the afternoon screenings on TV, movies like 'Back to the Future' or 'The Goonies'. We all remember those movies with great enthusiasm and nostalgia. Who doesn't like 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' or 'License to Drive'? But there is one particular movie from this period that is easily overlooked because of all those classics. Well, it shouldn't, because 'Three O'clock High' is probably one of the best teen comedy of all time and one of the most beloved movies from the 80's.'Three O'clock High' is set on your regular high school. Rumor has it that the new student, Buddy Revell (Richard Tyson) is a very dangerous guy that doesn't like to be touched. And the rumors are proved to be true when one of the the school's nerds, Jerry Mitchell (Casey Siemaszko), touches Buddy. Now, Buddy challenges Jerry to a fight at the school's parking lot when the classes are over - at three o'clock high. Then Jerry gets evolved in all kinds of strange situations to try to avoid the confrontation. The movie's script seems to have a rather silly and cliché argument like any other teen comedy. It may have, but the way the story develops is great. Near the end, the movie even gets to raise a few moral questions. The dialogs are surprisingly well- written, and you get lots of funny jokes that haven't lost its touch. And that's another great aspect from 'Three O'clock High'. Except for a few clothes and haircuts, the movie doesn't seem to have aged at all. This is mostly for the already-mentioned great dialog, but partly for the characters. Jerry Mitchell's growing during the movie is incredible, and Buddy Revell must be one of the best villains of all time. And that's mostly because of Richard Tyson's wonderful acting as Buddy. He is quiet, yet quite frightening. But Buddy is a character that even when you fear him, you don't dislike him. You're always there, trying to dislike him, but you can't. And aside from Tyson's performance, which was the best of the movie, the rest of the acting is also nice. All the supporting cast do their jobs very well, with Annie Ryan standing out as a girl who wants to be jerry Mitchell's girlfriend. You even get a cameo from Mitch Pillegi here (the Assistant Director Walter Skinner of the famous TV series 'The X-Files') Casey Siemaszko, just like Tyson, delivers a top-notch performance as Jerry Mitchell. He changes perfectly with the pace of his character, with really great body and facial expressions While watching 'Three O'clock High', the movie surprised me in many ways. But what mostly surprised me here was Phil Joanou's work as the director of the picture. Joanou is commonly known to get this directing job because he was Steven Spielberg's protégé at the time. and since Spielberg is one of the Executive Producers for the movie (even though, god-knows-why, Spielberg had his name removed from the credits)... -- Joanou directing started to surprise me right into the starting credits, with nice camera angles as Jerry was getting ready for school, and a great 80's-like song playing in the back. but Joanou caught me with my pants down in the end of the starting credits, with a really beautiful tracking shot as kids were getting into school and each group was talking different rumors about Buddy Revell. The passage of time is also perfectly portrayed here. The lots of shots showing a clock with the hours only served to increase the audience's anxiety and Jerry Mitchell's fear for the fight. In my opinion, Phil Joanou portrayed the passage of time as good as Fred Zinnemann did in the classic western 'High Noon'. It's also real pleasant to see that Joanou was able to apply every directing technique into a teen comedy (!).The movie's budget wasn't exactly big, and we can see this with lots of technical mistakes- in both sound and image. But this doesn't spoil the overall experience- it's incredibly fun to watch this movie. 'Three O'clock High' has an excellent script, that created unforgettable characters and haven't aged at all; the movie's acting is superb, specially because of the work of the two leads (Casey Siemaszko and Richard Tyson); and Phil Joanou's directing was a pleasant surprise, 'cause he was able to apply lots of directing techniques into a teen comedy. This proves why 'Three O'clock High' is one of the best of the 80's comedy classics. It's not a masterpiece, but it's really fun and it shouldn't be overlooked (but it is, unfortunately).9/10

Jakemcclake This movie had all of what makes a movie entertaining and I highly recommend it, for its entertainment value. If you enjoy some comedy mixed in with a the story of someone with no chance of winning (like Rocky), you'll love this one.The surprise twists and turns bring the main character to the inevitable ending, which may be a bit of a surprise. After rewatching, My Bodyguard, I recognized a similarity. This one is a tad less realistic than My Bodyguard, but still hits a very good note with the viewer. It is a great story of an underdog. Be prepared for surprises throughout the story and take the ending for what it is worth.