The Bottom Line: This cult classic is highly recommended for the societal issues it raises, and it is also a compelling drama. An incendiary film with great nostalgia for late era baby boomers.
While pay cable channels often seem only to have provided another medium for direct-to-video soft porn and action flicks, they have also helped to give cult status for deserving movies that stiffed at the box office. Granted, more people have seen Titanic than Over the Edge, but the latter film will linger longer in the collective memory. Anyone who has seen it is unlikely to forget it.
Over the Edge has an insistent message to the suburban planners. It's not all about real estate values and growth. Teenagers exist, and they can't all be treated as criminals. They need activity, jobs, and places to hang out. Claude (Tom Fergus) apparently spends hours every day watching patterns on his television set; it's little wonder that boredom has led to recreational drug use.
Ironically, even the kids see the ultimate emptiness of their vandalism. Carl (Michael Kramer) states that he's "had enough," and Cory (Pamela Ludwig) whines "I just want to go home." Over the Edge also implies out of control, and the violence and murder that follows demonstrates that defying authority is not really a conflict between justice and oppression, after all.
Nobody wins. The parents essentially lose their children, and the youth trade their innocence for a stint in teen jail. Of course, the film is exaggerated. The school seems to have no honor students, jocks, or princesses, as if the entire student body is comprised of the malcontents and druggies that unquestionably were a part of every middle school then, and perhaps now. I was fifteen years old in 1978, and while I am no longer the same age as the cast of this film, I can still identify with these troubled kids today.
The adults are also stereotyped, much as they were in the more famous teen rebellion films from earlier decades, Rebel Without a Cause and West Side Story. If Over the Edge is more authentic, it is because the budget is smaller and the actors are the same age as their characters. With the exception of Matt Dillon, they don't look like teen models either.
Although contemporary rock songs from Cheap Trick, The Cars, The Ramones, and Van Halen dominate, there is another soundtrack. Sol Kaplan has composed an eclectic and rather tragic classical score, which sharply contrasts with the upbeat rock songs.
Today, the film is far more obscure than Grease, the stupid and idealized 'high school' blockbuster released the same year. But in terms of quality, Over the Edge has much more in common with Best Picture winners from the decade such as Chinatown and the first two Godfather films. Important social issues are discussed at length in credible fashion, with deeply drawn characters and an insightful script.
Over the Edge was the first feature film for both Matt Dillon and Vincent Spano. It is doubtful that either actor has or ever will be in a better film. Dillon has had the more lucrative career, but Spano fans can relish his many supporting roles in ignored classics such as Alive! and Blood Ties. (94/100)
A brilliant commentary on the restlessness of America's youth. By trying to keep the "fun" out of New Grenada the parents are only adding fuel to the ...More at Family Video
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