Over the Edge (1979)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Jonathan Kaplan

Writers:

Charles S. Haas (written by)
Tim Hunter (written by)

Release Date:

2 November 1979 (Denmark)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Watch Out For Children

Plot:

New Grenada is a planned community set in the desert where there is nothing for the kids to do, save for a rec center - which closes at 6 PM...

Plot Keywords:

Vandalism | Teen Angst | Teen | Teenager | Anomie

Cast

Michael Eric Kramer	...	Carl (as Michael Kramer)
Pamela Ludwig	...	Cory
Matt Dillon	...	Richie
Vincent Spano	...	Mark
Tom Fergus	...	Claude
Harry Northup	...	Doberman
Andy Romano	...	Fred Willat
Ellen Geer	...	Sandra Willat
Richard Jamison	...	Cole
Julia Pomeroy	...	Julia
Tiger Thompson	...	Johnny
Eric Lalich	...	Tip
Kim Kliner	...	Abby
Frank Mugavero	...	Party Host
Kristina Hanson	...	Lisa

Also Known As:

On the Edge (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R | Canada:14A | Iceland:16 | Finland:(Banned) (1987) (video release) | Finland:(Banned) (1980) (theatrical release) | Finland:K-18 (2007) | New Zealand:R16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:16 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Aurora, Colorado, USA

Company:

Orion Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Matt Dillon's first movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: After the library is trashed, a boy is shown standing on top of a police car. At first he's swinging a pair of nunchaks, but in the very next scene he's holding a crowbar.

Quotes:

Abby: Eat it, you stinkin' pig!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Charlie Bartlett (2007)

Soundtrack:

All That You Dream

Still one of my favourite movies - where's the DVD?

I was 14 when I first saw this movie on HBO in 1980. It was so much like my life at that time, it's uncanny. Of course, I grew up in an industrial area in northern Indiana, not a "planned community", and my dad wasn't a Cadillac salesman (in fact my dad was a lot more sympathetic than Carl's dad), but a lot of the rest was very similar. Getting beaten up, having stoned/drunk people all around you, basically nothing to do except hang out and listen to music...kids today who feel alienated should see this. I also think social workers, etc, who work with troubled kids should see this.

The music is one thing that really, really makes this movie what it is. I had the soundtrack on vinyl LP and I wish it would be released on CD! Van Halen, Hendrix, The Cars...it's all good. To be more accurate (for me), though, there would have been heavy doses of Kiss, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Rush, Black Sabbath, etc.

Please bring on the DVD! For anyone around my age who was this frustrated, this is one of several indispensable movies that will bring back memories; the others being "The Outsiders" and, on a lighter note, "Detroit Rock City".