I ragazzi della 56ª strada

A gem from Francis Ford Coppola based on S.E. Hinton's novel. Teenage gang members in a mid 60's Oklahoma town become involved in murder, leading to tragic consequences for all concerned. Filmed mostly in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with a very impressive list of young actors on their way to stardom.

The cast includes Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe and Tom Cruise. Also featured are Emilio Estevez, Diane Lane, C. Thomas Howell, Gailard Sartain and Ralph Macchio.

A coming of age movie that packs a punch. Very much worth your time.

I might have enjoyed this a bit more if I didn't know Coppola directed it. I mean the guy who already made the Godfather films and Apocalypse Now didn't know how to properly adapt a novel seems ridiculous. One of the main problems with the film is that every frame of it tells you that it's based on a book. There really doesn't seem to have been any effort in the script other than shooting the important part of the novel and without all the details in the novel that is a disastrous choice.

Still, even with all those problems, it does manage to be pretty decent. Even though a lot of stuff does seem stupid, it tries to explore a handful of themes in a way that is also appealing to teenagers without completely losing its footing. The ensemble teenage cast is such a wonder to look back now, who would've thought a lot of them would go on to become some of the biggest names in the industry, let alone the delinquent friend side character would go on to become one of the biggest stars in the whole world. The issues dealt with seems a bit heavy-handed and artificial which wouldn't have felt as problematic if the direction was a bit more cleaner and more importantly if the writing was better.

I might not get the highest possible rating for my comments on this movie but I'm going to be totally honest. First, I read the book and then shortly afterward saw the movie. In my opinion the movie did a good job of getting the whole story from book to screen. A lot of the scenes caught the mood I felt when I read the book, or even shed some light on them for me. C. Thomas Howell played his part very well and showed acting skill, but he just seemed too nice, too sensitive to enjoy fighting for its own sake the way his brothers did. I could believe Darry and Soda looking forward to a fight with the Socs but I just did not get the feeling from PonyBoy that he was a fighter. Even Johnny Cade seemed more on edge, more 'ready to fight' than PonyBoy, who played all his scenes really well - he just didn't convince me he was someone who enjoyed a fight.

Of all the actors cast for the film, and really all were done well, I think Ralph Macchio as Johnny Cade was the most perfectly cast based on how I perceived him to be from reading the book.

To be honest, when reading the book I could tell it was written by a woman. I enjoyed it very much, and would say if you have a few hours, the book is not too long to read and I'd recommend it even more highly than the film.

The Outsiders is a very good film in any case and worth watching.

I loved this book as a kid, and I work with troubled kids who still love the book. I've seen this film a number of times over the years, and am still disappointed that, with such a FABULOUS cast, that it misses the grit and passion of the story.

Ya know what did it? The score. I understand that FFCoppola wants to make his films a family affair, but did he actually LISTEN to what his dad wrote? Sappy strings and a STEVIE WONDER BALLAD???? (ok, that part isn't her fault - what was FFC thinking???). What about some of the early rock songs of the time? I know that's been done a lot, and maybe they didn't want to "date" the film, but the fashion and language and cars and dress date it already; honestly, I've never heard a musical score that was so badly matched to a story. Heh, might as well get Danny Elfman (great score composer, btw) to write the scores for Star Wars.

Now, if you want to hear a terrific score that actually becomes a character of a story, see "The Shawshank Redemption"... the music in that amazing film, to me, is Andy's voice... listen for it, it expresses what's going on inside of Andy, and occasionally the other characters. THAT is what a film score is supposed to do.

First let me say that this will not be a comment where the author will be gushing about how "hot" the cast is! Like a lot of people who have commented on this film I, too, read the book first in school and then proceeded to seek out the film to see how the story translated to the screen. I thought esteemed director Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now) did a fairly competent job of adapting the book (there will always be somerevisions and omissions in such an enterprise). He preserved the essence of the class struggle: the eternal conflict between those who were better favored by birth and station (Socs) with those less favored (Greasers). Coppola elicited more than competent performances from the young up-and-coming cast he assembled. All in all, a very good coming of age film.