Over the Edge (DVD)

I first saw Over the Edge (1979) on cable way back in the early 80s, and it really spoke to me as a mischevious young punk...years passed and I subsequently forgot the name of the film (for some reason, I kept thinking it was called The Kids are Alright), but managed to find it again on a fluke in a video store about ten years ago...now, after years of waiting, someone finally got it together and released it to DVD. Co-written by Charles S. Haas (Tex, Gremlins 2: The New Batch) and Tim Hunter (River's Edge), and directed by Jonathan Kaplan (Truck Turner, White Line Fever), the film features Michael Eric Kramer (Return to Horror High, Project X) and the silver screen debut of a young Matt Dillon (My Bodyguard, The Outsiders, Rumble Fish). Also appearing is Pamela Ludwig (Dead Man Walking), Vincent Spano (Creator, Alive), Tom Fergus, Harry Northup (Used Cars, The Silence of the Lambs), Ellen Geer (Harold and Maude), daughter of legendary actor Will Geer, and Andy Romano (Pump Up the Volume, Under Siege).As the film begins we see a sign welcoming us to New Granada, "Tomorrow's City...Today"...it's one of those suburban communities made up of condos and town homes, created so that people could escape the city...and then some text comes on the screen informing us that in 1978, 110,000 kids under the age of 18 were arrested for crimes of vandalism in the United States...the more things change, the more they stay the same...I don't know what that means, but it sounded cool, didn't it? Anyway, we also learn the film is based on actual events, where those responsible for planning the community neglected the fact that nearly a quarter of the population was under the age of fifteen. After this we meet Carl (Kramer) and Richie (Dillon)...Carl's an intelligent kid, who shares a nice town home with his parents, Fred (Romano) and Sandra (Geer) Willat, his father owning the local Cadillac dealership. Richie, on the other hand, is somewhat of a punk, his parents split up, living with his mother and younger brother in low-income apartment housing, and it seems he's always in trouble with the local authorities. Anyway, the two boys are friends living in the city of New Granada, where there is practically nothing to do except hang out at the local teen recreational center and get annoy the adults. After the pair get picked up by the authorities, which mainly consists of a policeman named Sergeant Doberman (Northup), for a serious incident they weren't involved in, the school board initiates some stringent, new rules for the kids, including curfew. Also, we find out the local community planners (including Carl's father) are hoping to draw in outside investors to develop the land the recreational center is located on, into some kind of business park, which would essentially eliminate one of the last refuges for the kids, but the deal gets nixed after the investors realize the extent of the juvenile delinquency problem in New Granada. After a particularly serious incident between Doberman and a boy, the adults hold an emergency meeting within the school to point fingers at each other, and the disenfranchised youth come together, lock the grown-ups in the school, and mayhem ensues...I think one of the things I liked about this film is the fact the characters, dialog, and the performances by the actors all seem very genuine, like people you might know in real life. There's accessibility here, no matter which point of view you're coming from, whether it's the adults or the children, as the problems aren't really shown to be stemming from one side or another, but a combination of factors that continuously build up, eventually exploding, spewing forth a torrent of anger and resentment in the form of wanton destruction and unfettered violence. Films about juvenile delinquency (JD) are nothing new (High School Confidential! Was released in 1958), but where many are exploitive by nature, this one has a bit of a documentary feel, even though the trailer tries to push the exploitive aspects, including using the line "Old enough to know better, too young to care". It's funny, but after watching the film again last night after so many years, a part of me actually felt sympathetic towards the character of Officer Doberman...oh, I'll grant you he was a real tool, one prone to consistently abusing his authority, especially towards the kids, but if you take a deep, hard look you'll see he's a character completely out of his depth, lacking the necessary faculties to deal with the growing issues involving the kids. His `solutions' always consisted of tighter controls, more rules, and stricter enforcement, things that would only aggravate the problems he's trying to contend with...and Doberman may have been a tool, but he was an obvious one...unlike that of Jerry Cole, who seemed to be the main guy in charge for planning and development for New Granada. Check out the scene near the end when the adults are having the emergency meeting and Jerry proceeds to dole out the blame, with absolutely none reserved for himself despite the fact he's probably one of primary causes specifically due to his and his colleague's short-sightedness in developing the community with little, or no, consideration towards the youth population. Someone eventually calls him out on this, specifically when he's talking about poor growth within the community, and how the issues will affect property resale values, despite the fact the meeting was supposed to be about the problems in the community with the children, who they tend to view as a liability rather than a part of the community. The story is pretty serious, but it does feature some humor, one of the funniest parts for me being when Carl's classmate and friend Claude (Fergus) lets Carl know he took some speed prior to coming to school to prepare for a test. While in class, the kids find out the test involves looking at a projected slide of painting, and this is when Claude realizes that, instead of speed, he dropped acid and it's beginning to kick in...and get this, the painting on the slide is by Salvador Dali...the story moves along well, features a lot of interesting characters, is relatable and relevant (even after some 25 years), and includes exceptionally appropriate music from such bands as Cheap Trick, Van Halen, The Ramones, The Cars, and Jimi Hendrix, among others. It's really amazing how much a well thought out and chosen soundtrack can help drive a story as it does here (I loved the Jimi Hendrix tune blasting in the Bronco during the chase sequence)...and really, the original scoring, which was done by the director's father, Sol Kaplan, is pretty good, too...all in all this is a great little film, full of heart, and worth catching if you can...The picture quality on this DVD, presented in widescreen (1.85:1), enhanced for 16X9 TVs, looks very clean and sharp, and the Dolby Digital mono comes though most excellent. Special features are limited to a commentary track with the director Jonathan Kaplan, screenwriters Charles S. Haas and Tim Hunter, and producer George Litto, and a trailer for the film. Could they have done more? I suppose, but after waiting for as long as I have (this film has been out of print on VHS for awhile) for a DVD release, I'm just glad it finally got released, and more people will have an opportunity to see it...Cookieman108By the way, who knew Vincent Spano was such a punk in his youth?

I saw this movie on HBO in 1980 when I was 17 at my girlfriend's house - for bored and frustrated teen suburbanites this movie viscerally and scarily reflected so much of what we felt and were going through. Whether it was just boredom, teen angst, frustration with our parents, indifference from our parents, peer pressure, bullying, wanting to belong or any other "reason" or "excuse" - sometimes we just needed to act out. Some days it was simply because we needed "something to do". The actors in this movie were our age. They looked like us, they dressed like us, they talked like us, they carried around a cassette deck to play tapes of their favorite music like we did. They rode around on beat up bicycles like we did. They shot BB guns like we did. They got high secretively like we did. They had a recreation/youth center like we did. They wanted to hook up with girls like we did. They got pissed off at their parents like we did. They hung around with a like-minded crowd like we did. It was so real and it was the same every day. Maybe we just made up this angst and frustration to give us something to do. Maybe we wanted to make our parents, and those in charge "pay" for our boredom. For us growing up in those times, Over The Edge is like watching a home movie. It still resonates so deeply because its "our" past. We blew up garbage cans, we rolled tires off roofs of buildings, we beat people up and got beat up, we smoked weed and hash, we snuck in and out of houses, we didn't come home some nights, we sprayed painted sayings and our initials all over the place, we stole petty things. Think of the irony. Our parents are trying to raise us in the suburbs supposedly away from the crime and grit of the city centers and here we are (in my case Long Island, NY) just acting out being punks and teen-age thugs. But for us at that time we needed these forms of expression - good or bad - maybe these forms of expression allowed us to release just enough steam to keep us from doing worse. Also, who else was going to be blamed for our "boredom" - certainly not ourselves - no - it was parents, teachers, police, security personnel, people in charge. The craziest irony for me is that we lived at a time when you left your house in the morning and didn't come home till supper - we were gifted this incredible freedom and what did we do with some of that freedom - we used it to cause to cause trouble. Over The Edge brings me right back to 1979 - it looks like it, it smells like it, it sounds like it, it walks and talks like it. if you lived in the suburbs at this time, this movie feels like you just walked out your front door.

Well ahead of its time. The sound track was likely 50% of the film’s budget . First acting appearance by Matt Dillon. The film captured the growth of the late 70’s very well, the times, dress, atmosphere etc. worth a watch..

First off this Blu Ray plays on my US 4K LG player.I have this great classic movie on DVD & now Blu Ray. I played both right after one another & both look identical to me in the quality sense. Both have that grainy / scratchy look. I thought the Blu Ray version would have a cleaner look & sound. IMO, it looks like the DVD version was copied & sold as a Blu Ray.I gave it 5 stars for the movie itself. Save some money & buy the DVD version which plays in the same aspect ratio as the Blu Ray.

My wife loves this movie and is very happy to have this disk. This movie is pound as a Matt Dillon movie. I disagree, the main character is a much better actor. Either way, great movie, reminds me of my childhood.

Je l'avais capté sur la télé.Et je voulais absolument revoir ce film! Dommage qu'il n'y ai pas de supplements sur le dvd.Mais peu importe ,le film à lui seul vaut l'achat!Le premier role de Matt DILLON (14 ans)?..et Vincent SPANO(idem).Une comedie dramatique d'apres des faits réels de rebellion d'adolescents!Le film date de 1979 et les differentes musiques employées pour les fonds sonores rappellent des souvenirs d'adolescents;Un film émouvant qui nous rappel que l'on savait faire de bons films,avec de tous jeunes comediens qui sont devenus des stars par la suite.Les tubes de l'époque aussi rappellent des souvenirs.(tres bon film à voir).

I saw this movie a couple years after it first came out and thought it was so awesome. I've been wanting to own this movie for quite some time now, and so glad I found it here. It's a great cult classic with an outstanding plot and an amazing performance by Matt Dillon for his debut movie. The movie brings back a lot of memories for me also. Highly recommended!

I loved this movie when I was about 13 years old. I'm American and can really relate. I had to buy this when I found it on DVD - I have it in the US only on VHS though. This movie has the same feel to it as the Runaways - very 70's nostalgia. Matt Dillion's first film. Awesome movie! Highly recommend!

thank

Sortie en 1979 en France sous le titre "Violence sur la ville" ce film de Jonathan Kaplan fait partie de mes films cultes. Le réalisateur y dépeint une jeunesse qui s'ennuie dans une petite ville nouvelle américaine, planté au milieu de nul part. Des adolescents , livrées à eux même ,se construisent un univers en autarcie qui va venir percuter l'univers bien pépère de leurs parents.. Cette révolte de la jeunesse n'est pas sans rappeler celle des écoliers du "Zéro de conduite" de Jean Vigo.