Rusty James, an absent-minded street thug struggles to live up to his legendary older brother's reputation, and longs for the days when gang warfare was going on.
It is the dawn of World War III. In mid-western America, a group of teenagers band together to defend their town, and their country, from invading Soviet forces.
Director:
John Milius
Stars:
Patrick Swayze,
C. Thomas Howell,
Lea Thompson
Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1965. Fourteen-year-old Ponyboy Curtis is the youngest of three orphaned brothers who live on the north side of town, the "wrong side" of the tracks. Sensitive Ponyboy used to have a good relationship with his oldest brother Darrel, but since Darrel became the household caregiver, he is always on Ponyboy's case. Caught in the middle is third brother Sodapop, who dropped out of school to work full time. They all belong to The Greasers, a gang of boys from the north side also from working class families, often broken. Ponyboy's main concern is that any problem they may encounter, especially in their Greaser activities, will lead to the authorities splitting up their family. He also believes Darrel would have outgrown them and become something in his life if it wasn't for his loyalty to the gang, and the need to take care of the family. The rest of the world sees the Greasers as all the same, the face being Dallas Winston, the most volatile one who has just been released...Written by
Huggo
Timothy Hutton was considered for the role of Ponyboy Curtis and Scott Baio was considered for the role of Johnny Cade. See more »
Goofs
Just before the rumble, Darry says to Ponyboy and Johnny, "You two will get the boys' home, you know what I'm saying?" The subtitle reads, "You two will get the boys' home, understand?" See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Ponyboy:
[voicecover]
When I stepped out into the bright sunlight, from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman, and a ride home.
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Crazy Credits
Closing dedication: This film is dedicated to the people who first suggested that it be made... Librarian Jo Ellen Misakian and the students of the Lone Star School in Fresno, California. See more »
Alternate Versions
The 2005 special edition contains a re-edited cut of the film, a new soundtrack and 22 minutes of additional footage, including:
an extended opening scene where Ponyboy is attacked by the Socs when walking home from a Paul Newman movie. The principle Greasers are also introduced. Later, Ponyboy and Sodapop talk to each other in their bedroom.
a scene where Ponyboy asks some farmers how to reach Jay Mountain. He claims that he's playing "army" and "needs to report to base."
an alternate scene in the church where Ponyboy imagines that both Sodapop and Darry are present.
a short scene where Ponyboy splashes some water on his face outside the church while Johnny is out buying supplies.
a scene in the church where Ponyboy and Johnny become emotional over the events of the past 24 hours.
extended reading of "Gone With the Wind" in the church.
a short scene where Ponyboy finds Tim sitting on his couch in the morning.
a small extension to Ponyboy and Two-Bit at the hospital where a doctor allows them access to Johnny's room after being denied entrance by a nurse.
a short scene where Two-Bit and Ponyboy encounter Johnny's mother at the hospital.
Following the death of Dally, Darry lashes out at the cops while Ponyboy faints. Later, we see Sodapop and Darry caring for him in bed while Ponyboy asks if someone is sick, not realizing that he is.
A courtroom scene where Cherry, Randy, and Ponyboy all make statements. In the end, Ponyboy is acquitted and left in the custody of Darry.
A scene where Ponyboy runs into Cherry at school, but she walks away from him. Ponyboy's teacher also informs him that he is flunking, but allows him to write a paper on a personal experience in order to raise his grade.
A dinner scene where Sodapop becomes angry that he's always stuck in the middle between Ponyboy and Darry's tug of war and runs away. When they eventually catch him, they agree to stop fighting all the time.
I studied the 1967 novel, "The Outsiders", by S.E. Hinton, back in middle school. It has been years since then, but it's a very powerful story, and rather hard to forget! I was shown this movie a couple years later, in my first high school English class. I can't remember exactly what I thought at the time (I guess I thought it was so-so), but I have seen it twice since then, and can't say it reached its full potential, but overall, it's still a reasonable adaptation.
Ponyboy Curtis and Johnny Cade are two teenagers who are members of the "greaser" gang. Their rivals are the "socs". One night, Ponyboy and Johnny fall asleep in a vacant lot. When they wake up, it is still dark, and they are clueless as to what time it is. Ponyboy goes home, where his eldest brother, Darry (who has looked after his two younger brothers, Ponyboy and Sodapop, since their parents' tragic death), has been worrying about his absence. Darry ends up hitting Ponyboy, and although he then says he didn't mean it, Ponyboy runs away. Pony wakes up Johnny, who is still in the lot, and they go to the park. Unfortunately, they are attacked by a group of Socs, who nearly drown Ponyboy, but Johnny comes to the rescue by killing one of them, and causing the others to run off! To try and avoid arrest, the two leave town, after getting directions from fellow greaser Dallas "Dally" Winston, who tells them to go to an abandoned church in Windrixville. What does the future hold for these two?!
One problem with this movie is that some scenes seem a bit rushed, such as the scene where Darry hits Ponyboy and he runs away. Also, the acting isn't that great, at least not from C. Thomas Howell (who plays Ponyboy) and Ralph Macchio (who plays Johnny). Mainly for those two reasons, some parts of the film are not as gripping as they should be. Fortunately, this adaptation of "The Outsiders" also has its merits. It's a faithful adaptation (it probably helped that S.E. Hinton was a consultant), despite not including certain parts of the book, which some would be disappointed by. It also includes at least some of the tension and poignancy from the book, and gets more gripping towards the end.
Overall, Francis Ford Coppola and Kathleen Rowell did a good job bringing S.E. Hinton's highly acclaimed story to the motion picture format. Far from a perfect job, but a good one nonetheless. For those who have been blown away by the book, I wouldn't expect this movie to be all you could possibly hope for, or else you could easily end up sorely disappointed. However, if you watch the film with moderate expectations, it will probably have a better chance of pleasing you, at least to a certain extent.
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I studied the 1967 novel, "The Outsiders", by S.E. Hinton, back in middle school. It has been years since then, but it's a very powerful story, and rather hard to forget! I was shown this movie a couple years later, in my first high school English class. I can't remember exactly what I thought at the time (I guess I thought it was so-so), but I have seen it twice since then, and can't say it reached its full potential, but overall, it's still a reasonable adaptation.
Ponyboy Curtis and Johnny Cade are two teenagers who are members of the "greaser" gang. Their rivals are the "socs". One night, Ponyboy and Johnny fall asleep in a vacant lot. When they wake up, it is still dark, and they are clueless as to what time it is. Ponyboy goes home, where his eldest brother, Darry (who has looked after his two younger brothers, Ponyboy and Sodapop, since their parents' tragic death), has been worrying about his absence. Darry ends up hitting Ponyboy, and although he then says he didn't mean it, Ponyboy runs away. Pony wakes up Johnny, who is still in the lot, and they go to the park. Unfortunately, they are attacked by a group of Socs, who nearly drown Ponyboy, but Johnny comes to the rescue by killing one of them, and causing the others to run off! To try and avoid arrest, the two leave town, after getting directions from fellow greaser Dallas "Dally" Winston, who tells them to go to an abandoned church in Windrixville. What does the future hold for these two?!
One problem with this movie is that some scenes seem a bit rushed, such as the scene where Darry hits Ponyboy and he runs away. Also, the acting isn't that great, at least not from C. Thomas Howell (who plays Ponyboy) and Ralph Macchio (who plays Johnny). Mainly for those two reasons, some parts of the film are not as gripping as they should be. Fortunately, this adaptation of "The Outsiders" also has its merits. It's a faithful adaptation (it probably helped that S.E. Hinton was a consultant), despite not including certain parts of the book, which some would be disappointed by. It also includes at least some of the tension and poignancy from the book, and gets more gripping towards the end.
Overall, Francis Ford Coppola and Kathleen Rowell did a good job bringing S.E. Hinton's highly acclaimed story to the motion picture format. Far from a perfect job, but a good one nonetheless. For those who have been blown away by the book, I wouldn't expect this movie to be all you could possibly hope for, or else you could easily end up sorely disappointed. However, if you watch the film with moderate expectations, it will probably have a better chance of pleasing you, at least to a certain extent.