The Outsiders: The Complete Novel

For this two-disc DVD deluxe edition, director Francis Ford Coppola has added 22 minutes of deleted footage and an entirely new soundtrack to his 1983 adaptation of S.E. Hinton's classic YA novel about troubled teenagers growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma during the early 1960s. It's a memorable movie, not so much for Coppola's stylized treatment of the story, but for a cast that includes so many movie stars of the future, among them Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Diane Lane, and, seen here as a toothy young lad, Tom Cruise. Although The Outsiders is very much an ensemble piece, top billing here goes to C. Thomas Howell (who also provides the narrative viewpoint), playing one of three orphaned brothers from the wrong side of the tracks. He and buddy Ralph Macchio (pre-The Karate Kid) belong to the Greasers, a gang of tough but poor kids headed by Dillon. Their enemies are the Socs, arrogant boys from the richer part of town. Ambushed by the Socs one night, Howell and Macchio fight back and the latter ends up killing one of the attackers, after which the lads take refuge in an abandoned rural church, where they ponder the tough decisions that lay ahead. Coppola's restoration of scenes cut prior to the film's theatrical release helps flesh out some of the characters and interrelationships, strengthening the movie overall, as does the new rock ‘n' roll soundtrack—consisting of period songs by Elvis Presley, Van Morrison, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins, among others—which replaces Carmine Coppola's overwrought musical score. Very much in the mold of the “troubled teens” movies of the ‘50s and early ‘60s, The Outsiders may never achieve “classic” status, but this version reflects Coppola's original vision, and represents a considerable improvement over the theatrical release. Boasting an excellent DVD transfer, extras on this two-disc set include two new introductions and commentary tracks (one by Coppola, the other by most of the major cast—excepting Cruise), a retrospective “making-of” documentary, featurettes on Hinton and the casting, readings from the novel by cast members, and a vintage segment from NBC's Today Show featuring school librarian Jo Ellen Misakian and students who petitioned Coppola to make The Outsiders. Recommended. (E. Hulse)