High School U.S.A. (1983)

"High School USA" could have been a really good flick given the array of stars and up and coming talent, but that was not the case. Instead, it has a flawed script, awful direction, and a lame plot. This could have been a real classic but it ended up being a waste of time. Sad snap shot of the 80s!

This film is a blast. Because of such a stellar cast, it's far better than you'd expect nonsense like this to be. Michael J. Fox is charming and likable. And Crispin Glover (in ultimate nerd mode) has several memorable one liners. And to this day I'll never forget the character of Bandini. As he's shuffling along complaining about how his toes hurt. And Fox points out that he has his shoes on the wrong feet. To which Bandini replies, "No I don't. These are my feet." Classic!Don't miss Anthony Edwards doing his best Eddie Haskell impersonation - to Ken Osmond, the original Eddie Haskell himself.The cheap DVD is not the best quality. But hey, it should last forever. And it's pretty inexpensive at the moment. Definitely check it out!

what makes this movie so cool is the 2 generations of teen stars. the students are played by the teen stars of the day like Michael j fox, Nancy mckeon and Anthony Edwards, but cast of teachers and parents include Dwayne Hickman, bob Denver and tony Dow. it's a silly teen romp of cliques and car races, but it's funny and stars everyone. many people went on to be huge stars, so seeing them all here together is so much fun. i first saw this movie at my grandma's house when it ran on cable, and i loved it. i bought it on DVD the first day it came out! stealing the show of course are crispin glover and Michael zorek as girl crazy nerds Archie and chuckie. it's worth the movie just for them. and to watch the freaks triumph, of course.

update 12/2/2002: OK just watched High School USA again for the first time since my review 12 years ago. It's still not a great film,but it is fun and i'll give it a break since its a TV movie. It's actually neat to see so many 80's TV actors in one place (and no less than 4 from Leave it to Beaver!). Not much of a story: rich,preppy A-hole (Edwards) has sweet,cute girlfriend (McKeon) that nice,funny normal guy (Fox) likes. Fox and Edwards make a bet on a car race that will somehow determine who is the coolest guy in school and most likely win over sweet girl McKeon. whatever. Crispin Glover actually has more screen time than anyone but Michael J Fox. Crispin & Michael Zorek provide most of the comedy as Fox's loser friends. I'll raise my movie review to a 6 and add another point for Glover/Zorek to make my final grade a 7.Zep