The Outsiders - The Complete Novel DVD reviews
Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of S.E. Hinton's classic young adult novel "The Outsiders" was a modest success -- mostly notable for an ensemble that included a young Tom Cruise, Diane Lane and Matt Dillon -- but Coppola received years of letters asking why so much of the book had been cut. Those omissions obviously bothered the director, too, because an expanded version of the film, along with plenty of extras, has now been released as a DVD package dubbed "The Outsiders: The Complete Novel."
Staying Gold is one of the best making-of documentaries I have ever seen. What gives it an extra punch is the fact that the first half takes place in the early '80s, during the production of the film, and the second half jumps forward to 2003 when Coppola flew most of the main cast down to his home where they all saw the new version for the first time. In terms of scope, I can't think of a single thing that they didn't cover. You've got old footage of Coppola directing, comments on the ideas Coppola was pioneering (he was the first to employ pre-visualization), the cast reminiscing on the film, and much more. This truly is a fantastic feature - I watched it twice... I can't think of anything else they could have added to this list of features that would not have simply been padding. Every question I had about the movie was answered, and then some. Bravo Warner Bros. and Zoetrope, bravo. Score: 10 out of 10.
"This new extended edition of the film, combined with the entertaining supplements on both discs, make for an excellent overall package. Aubry has done justice to another Coppola forgotten classic, and should be commended for the work that was put into it.""...These are both remarkably able commentaries, among the best of their kind, and, frankly, they were more interesting to me than the movie."www.dvdauthority.com
"...the disc transfer has better audiovisual qualities and a better soundtrack...."
www.videobusiness.com
"... Staying Gold: A look at ‘The Outsiders’ is a very comprehensive documentary that covers all of the bases. It contains new interviews with cast and crew and is far better made than most of those “Behind the Scenes…” features that we’re all very sick of" What I found most interesting was the casting tapes. Fred Roos was the casting director for the movie and we’re treated to footage that’s over twenty years old with some very familiar faces reading for parts. Adam Baldwin, Anthony Michael Hall, Helen Slater and Kate Capshaw are all people who went up for the movie that didn’t get parts in it! All in all, this is the most definitive version of “The Outsiders” to date and any fan of the movie will love having this disc in their collection.
..."the key bonus is Kim Aubry's featurette "Staying Gold," which contains reflections by Coppola as well as most of the cast members (missing are Tom Cruise and Emilio Estevez) whose careers were kick-started by the film back in 1983. The fact that the cast formed a tight-knit community and that Coppola shot an initial, practice version of the film on videotape are the initial focuses of Aubry's doc, but the whole thing soon gives way to a Coppola dinner party, as the director wines and dines four of the actors (Diane Lane, C. Thomas Howell, Patrick Swayze and Ralph Macchio) at his Napa Valley estate in preparation for their supplying audio commentary for the film's restored cut of the film. Matt Dillon and Rob Lowe also participate in the featurette and are seamlessly interwoven onto the cast commentary track. In his own director's commentary, Coppola is emphatic about how much better the film is with 22 minutes of "lost" sequences and a new vintage rock 'n' roll soundtrack."
Working with producer Kim Aubry, Coppola began re-assembling The Outsiders in 1999 – revising entire sequences, shuffling events on film that happened at different points in the novel and eventually re-incorporating 22 minutes of additional footage to create The Outsiders: The Complete Novel. Dispensing with the overwrought score composed by his father, Carmine, Coppola juiced his soundtrack with a selection of period-appropriate rock songs from the likes of Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. While the new soundtrack adds considerable zest to the proceedings, it too is overdone in some scenes where it feels as though Coppola was keen on eradicating as much of his father's sappy instrumentals as possible. Fret not, however, the Stevie Wonder chestnut "Stay Gold" is intact.
The DVD
The Video:
The Outsiders: The Complete Novel is presented in a gorgeous, nearly flawless 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that suffers from slight grain (more noticeably in the restored scenes) and occasional flecks but otherwise looks absolutely sterling, betraying its age. An excellent visual presentation.
The Audio:
As with the visuals, The Outsiders: The Complete Novel has been aurally spruced up to great effect – the remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack fairly pops out of the speakers, particularly when the well-chosen rock songs kick in. There's no discernible distortion or drop-out; English, French and Spanish subtitles are also available.
The Extras:
"Watch 'The Outsiders' with the Greasers and a Soc") includes a three minute intro where the four cast members (Macchio, Howell, Swayze and Lane) who viewed the film together are spliced in with Dillon and Lowe, who viewed the film separately. It's a great track, loaded with reminisces and perspectives gained from maturing and continuing to work as actors.""...the terrific retrospective 26-minute fullscreen documentary "Staying Gold: A Look Back at 'The Outsiders'" includes new interviews conducted with most of the cast and crew."
DVD SCANS
'Outsiders' fans will dig raw cut
BY RENE RODRIGUEZ
rrodriguez@herald.com
Although it was, at best, a modest box office hit when first released in 1983, Francis Ford Coppola's The Outsiders has, over the years, become one of those movies that worms its way into the collective pop culture. Part of the reason the film has endured is its impossibly starry cast, some of whom, like Tom Cruise, were just starting their careers.
And part of the reason is that S.E. Hinton's source novel remains as popular today among the junior-high set as when it was first published in 1966. After receiving ''countless letters'' over the years asking him why parts of the book were missing from the film, Coppola went back into the editing room and emerged with The Outsiders: The Complete Novel (Warner Home Entertainment, $27), a new cut of the film that restores 22 minutes of footage previously deleted at the behest of studio executives, who deemed the film too long.
For fans of the book, the new version of the film is a revelation, restoring the novel's opening and closing bookend sequences (``When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house . . . ''), using voice-over narration to introduce all of the major characters, and bringing added attention to the tight-knit bond between the Curtis brothers -- Ponyboy (C. Thomas Howell), Sodapop (Rob Lowe) and Darrel (Patrick Swayze) -- an element of the story sacrificed in the theatrical cut.
None of the new footage, which effectively slows down the movie, is essential (you can see why the studio asked Coppola to remove it), and some of it pushes what was already a dangerously melodramatic picture to the edge of risibility. But Hinton fans will nonetheless be delighted by the material, which really does render the movie as a near cover-to-cover adaptation of the book.
Coppola has also replaced much of Carmine Coppola's original score with vintage tunes by Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins, with dubious results. Purposely larger-than-life and romanticized, Coppola has often described The Outsiders as a Gone With the Wind for children, a quality his father Carmine's lush, orchestral score captured beautifully. Unfortunately, the new music makes the film feel smaller and more trivial, undermining Coppola's epic aspirations.
The two-disc set presents the movie in a gorgeous wide-screen transfer and comes outfitted with a slew of excellent extras, including an informative commentary track by Coppola and another track by some of the cast members, including Howell, Ralph Macchio, Diane Lane and Matt Dillon. Other extras include an excellent retrospective documentary featuring much of the cast in which Lowe expresses delight at finally being able to see his performance (his character was whittled down to practically nothing in the original cut).
There is also a fascinating featurette on the unusual audition process Coppola used when casting the film (including lots of original audition tapes; see Anthony Michael Hall read for Ponyboy); a segment in which the publicity-shy Hinton revisits several of the shooting locations; a 1983 Today show segment about the making of the film, and an assortment of readings from the novel by several of the actors, who choose passages related to their characters.
`RUMBLE FISH'
Shooting The Outsiders in Tulsa was such an invigorating experience for Coppola, he decided on the spur of the moment to extend his stay and adapt another S.E. Hinton novel there, using much of the same cast and crew. Released later that same year, Rumble Fish used a markedly different, almost experimental approach, shot in stark black-and-white, replete with visual symbolism and sporting a well-deserved R-rating.
Although the film was critically maligned upon its original release, Coppola expresses a great sense of pride toward the movie on a commentary track included on the Rumble Fish: Special Edition DVD (Universal Home Entertainment, $20), ranking it among his favorites of the movies he's made. Although not quite as lavish as the Outsiders disc, the DVD has a nice selection of extras, including a collection of rough-looking deleted scenes (many centering on Vincent Spano's character), a too-short documentary about the making of the film, and a featurette on Stewart Copeland's memorable, percussion-heavy score.
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Herald Movie Critic Rene Rodriguez will answer your questions online. Go to www.herald.com and click on Q&A.
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