3/31/18. While this film didn't get a lot of press when it first came out (1979) because there were similar type movies at the time, it eventually got rediscovered and is now considered a cult classic. As a cult classic you really can appreciate the social commentary this movie provides about how planned communities failed to meet the needs of their residents, namely, the tween population. And, tweens need guidance more than anything else. Eventually, an all out rebellion explodes when one of their own is shot by a cop. Today you can watch this as a cautionary tale about how tweens and teens do need parental guidance and cannot be left to their own devices (now with an added meaning in our technological addicted society). Worth watching as it has stood the test of time and still remains relevant because it still says something about what it means to be in middle school and trying to grow up without being ostracized by one's peers. By the way, the soundtrack was totally fantastic!

Over The Edge is a classic film about teen angst that is very powerful, well done and authentic. While my junior high years were a decade later, these are the type of kids that I could hang with and relate to. This is pretty on point and truthful perspectives to the crowd that uptight adults refer to as "juvenile delinquents". The kids in this film aren't given much to do in the placid, condominium community of New Grenada. So when they are pushed to the boiling point, they push back hard and truly raise hell in this great film. This is taken from the point of view of the disenfranchised youth and the adult and authoritative figures are treated accordingly. This is all to the kick ass 70's sound track that includes Cheap Trick, Van Halen, The Cars and The Ramones. This is also the film debut of actor Matt Dillon, who gives a powerful performance as rebel youth Richie. Over The Edge is my kind of movie and reminds me of a lot of my own experiences as a bored and frustrated teenager living in the suburbs.

I guess i'm getting old, I found the kids really irritating in this kids vs.adults movie. Kids in a planned community slowly start to go wild after they feel like the adults are ruining their town by attracting new business and paying little attention to their needs (were the kids communist? HOHOHO!). The acting by the teenage actors are terrible except for Matt Dillon who is hilarious as a tough kid. Dillon mouths some really cheesy dialog like "A kid who tells on another kid is a dead kid!!!".Michael Kramer who plays the leader of the kids made me sick, what a little chump, I felt like he needed a nice beating :). The hard rock and punk rock soundtrack do liven things up a little bit. But overall, this film is just dire. Apparently this is Kurt Cobain's favorite movie. Unlike nirvana's music this film does not even amount to a slap on the face of the establishment. It is just weak.

Did the film makers depict a place, time, and sociological phenomenon accurately? Yes. But it wasn't balanced. You don't meet any good kids, and you don't meet any fully engaged parents. Yet in any town, there will be plenty of kids who use their time constructively, and parents who love them and teach them good values. Surely some of those families would have been involved with church, youth sports, scouting, or 4H, etc.Shooting a police car's front window while it's on the highway is not an act of heroism. Yet the whole movie essentially revolves around covering up this act, and glorifying it all. Yes the absentee parents are partially to blame for their kids' nihilistic attitudes. But are we really sure that the kids would have listened to them, even if they were more engaged? Some people are just evil, and Junior High is the time when it first comes out most profoundly. There is nothing inherently wrong with fresh 1970's planned suburban communities. They are what you make of them. These kids seem to have no sense of connection to their country, their state, their town, their school, their families, or their God. Again, the parents are to blame for some of that. However, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.But this is a movie, not a doctoral thesis. The location choice, the soundtrack usage, particularly the final "Ooh Child" song, and the line about the irony of escaping the city so that the kids wouldn't go bad, and then having them go bad anyways, were quite effective. But when people say they loved this "cult classic," is it because it was well made, or because they identify with the kids? I do not identify with them, and I was there. I despised them when I was there. I've also noticed that to some degree, the rest of life is just a reenactment of the teen years. There are the adults that have affairs, bully employees, abuse substances, and cheat on their taxes, and those who pursue a more wholemome track. In popular culture, we still admire the amoral rebel, or even the savage. Be it in Fast and Furious, rap music, or Ultimate Fighting.The real lesson of the film is what happens when the evil inclination of a human dominates their soul, and is allowed to run amok.