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The Outsiders Customer Reviews (22 - 24 of 85 Reviews)

Great DVD, but I loved the old soundtrack
This is a great DVD. I own both the earlier DVD and this special edition. Its a great movie. I did not like the new soundtrack. With that exception, this is still a great buy.

What's up with the music?
There are many, many other more thorough reviews of this two-disk special edition of one of the movies that defines my adolescence. I'll just add that while I love the additional scenes and the special features, I DETEST THE NEW SCORE. It's just too upbeat for many scenes in the movie. Who wants "Beach Blanket Bingo"-type music during the struggle at the fountain, or accompanying Dally's death throes? Just doesn't work for me. Would've been better to be able to choose a score (hey, if DVDs can have more than one commentary, and more than one language available, they should have more than one score choice).

A Timeless Story
It has become increasingly popular in recent years for directors to revisit their earlier films and make revisions. This can range from the minor tinkering for the DVD editions of Star Trek: The Motion Picture or the first Superman movie, to radical rethinkings such as the directors edition of Dances With Wolves. Francis Ford Coppola, following the latter course, has now released a dramatically different version of his 1983 film The Outsiders.

I missed the film in its original release, and first saw it on video. I hadn't yet read the novel, so I had no preconceptions about the faithfullness of the adaptation. Later, I read the book and wondered why certain scenes were deleted, since the original cut of the film was rather short. Yet even the theatrical version was a very moving experience.

In his commentery, Coppola states that he removed about 20 minutes of footage under pressure from studio execs who wanted to tighten the film. He has gone back and restored pretty much every scene he shot. Most of the restored footage, some of which has been seen on TV presentations, greatly adds to the characters and the story. It should never have been excised. This is especially true of about ten minutes of footage at the beginning of the film, which gives the background for the Curtis brothers.

Carmine Coppola, the director's father, wrote a symphonic score for the original version. The score for the new version consists mostly of popular tunes, which serves to date the movie--which has timeless themes. Worse, by deleting most of his father's score, Coppola dilutes the impact of numerous scenes, particularly the Socs' attempt to drown Ponyboy, the Sunrise scene, and the death of Dallas. It would have been preferable if the director had made available an expanded version of the film with the original score. Coppola, for a reason I can't fathom, has also changed the visuals for the opening credits--although thankfully he's kept Stay Gold as sung by Stevie Wonder.

The cast without exception give committed performances--there's not one moment of bad acting in the entire film. The DVD transfer is immaculate, pefectly capturing Coppola's Gone With the Wind inspired cinematography. The bonus features are outstanding, including audition and rehearsal tapes, a making of featurette, and author S. E. Hinton hosting a present-day tour of several of the locations used during filming.

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