The Outsiders (1983)

It's a nice little movie. Comes off more dated with the musical score but the talent discovered for this flick alone is worth the watch. Swayze, Lowe, Howell, Cruise, Estevez, Macchio, Lane and Dillon. All young. All green. Sometimes dialogue is hard to follow and I found myself backtracking a few times to catch lines the 2nd time around. Young actors in a story by a young writer. Guilty pleasure. Glad I watched it.

Many characters from beginning of the movie and there's no proper introduction to them. I think book readers should enjoy this movie, but if you didn't read the book then there's just no proper familiarization with the events. Also Tom Cruise does not have a big role here and is just like 5 minutes throughout this 2 hour movie. This movie is about 2 gangs who are rivals and looks quite realistic. There are a few interesting moments here - 1 - first fight between gangs, where one of the main characters kills an enemy, 2 - fire in the church, 3 - big fight between gangs. **Spoilers** There are also different scenes, which show that some of the gang members don't really want to fight and are against violence, while others are hyped by the upcoming fight, which is interesting. Also it shows 3 brothers who love and protect each other. **However, it is interesting that this movie has a really good video quality for 1983 movie. Almost like 2018 movies, so don't worry about that.

Francis Ford Coppola is widely known as the mastermind behind some of the most influential films in the history of cinema including 'Apocalypse Now', 'The Godfather', and its sequel. With such significantly outstanding works like these on his resume, it can be difficult to believe he stepped into the coming-of-age drama. But his attempts at working with the genre were proved with positivity when he came to directed this coming-of-age drama based on the classic novel by S.E Hinton. Set in 1966 Tulsa, Oklahoma, this film tells the story of two rivaling social groups: The Socs, the rich people who live in nice houses and drive fancy cars, and the greasers, the poor ones with greasy hair, growing up in lower class families. Ponyboy Curtis (played by C. Thomas Howell), a greaser living with his older brother Sodapop (played by Rob Lowe) and his uptight older brother Daryl (played by Patrick Swayze). Along his side is his best friend Johnny (played by Ralph Macchio), and his two friends Steve (played by Tom Cruise), Two-Bit (played by Emilio Estevez), and the toughest guy in the gang Dallas (played by Matt Dillon). These teenagers have been at odds against the Socs, and have engaged in violent confrontations between each other, particularly Johnny was once jumped by a group of Socs. However, one night when Johnny murders a Soc who tries to kill Ponyboy, the tensions between the two groups reach a boiling point.This film based on the novel of the same name provides plenty of commentary to the 50s and 60s social subculture through the story of two rivaling groups in a crime-ridden town. With a moody blues rock soundtrack including the song 'Gloria' by Them and the old classic custom-built cars, the film captures a nostalgic resemblance of the 1960s southern environment. But most importantly, director Francis Ford Coppola manages to capture the powerful portrayal of teen angst and the feeling of not being able to fit in. With the brilliantly written story and characters, the film transcends through an emotional powerhouse that both touches the hearts of audiences and provides a sense of hope. The characters come on screen so beautifully and the audience can engage with just about every one, they are so difficult not to care, especially Johnny and Ponyboy who are pummeled many challenges including domestic disputes and tragedy. The film remains mostly faithful to S.E Hinton's novel while taking just a minimal amount of liberties, but the biggest flaw comes from the exclusion of some the novel's key scenes and the results is some scenes that feel somewhat short of significance. Fortunately, this fault is made up in the Complete Novel Edition on DVD which includes the rest of the important scenes left out from the original. The cast is pretty solid, the performances are great; especially Matt Dillon who plays Dallas with sheer conviction. The Outsiders is well worth achievement by Francis Ford Coppola and the great adaption to S.E Hinton's novel. Definitely one of the best coming-of-age films Hollywood has to offer. Although the original version is good, I strongly recommend watching the Complete Novel Edition set with additional scenes and alternate soundtrack as it stays more true to the novel.

I found this movie was very boring. The acting was not the greatest and it did not follow the book very well. I did not enjoy the book either so the movie was just not exciting for me to watch. The characters were very well chosen and did a good job of portraying their characters. Personally I was not fond of the characters even though it was based off of a book. I found the gang fights really the only exciting part which is quite sad. When pony boy and Johnny ran away to the church, I found that part not too terrible but over all I disliked the movie a lot. I just found that it was a waste of time to sit and watch the whole movie. So many people say it is a very good movie but as someone from a younger generation I do not find it very good.