FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA’S
THE OUTSIDERS: THE COMPLETE NOVEL (1983)
Label: WBHE
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: PG-13
Duration: The Complete Novel (105 min), Theatrical (92 min)
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 2160p UHD Widescreen (2.40:1)
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze, Diane Lane
Francis Ford Coppola The Outsiders (1981) is based on the S.E. Hinton’s celebrated 1967 novel of the same name which most of us of a certain age read in high school English class. It's set in '50s Tulsa, Oklahoma, where we have two rival teen gangs warring with each other; there's the low-income East-side “Greasers,” and the preppy West-side “Socs,” short for Socials, who are the rich kids that have a real dissdain for greasers.
Our main entry point into this angsty teen world is Ponyboy (C. Thomas Howell, E.T.), a kind teenager whose life is changed when a scuffle with his friend Johnny (Ralph Macchio, Karate Kid) inadvertently leads to the death of a "Soc", and the boys are forced to go into hiding to avoid arrest. Soon Ponyboy and Johnny, along with Dallas (Matt Dillon, Drugstore Cowboy) and their other Greaser buddies, who must contend with the consequences of their violent lifestyles.
It's a solid if slightly schmaltzy, coming-of-age story and a very faithful adaptation of the source, especially The Complete Novel cut. Looking back at it the film it starred a veritable who's who of soon-to-be future stars of the 80's. We have Patrick Swayze (Dirty Dancing) as Ponyboy's hard-nosed older brother Darrell, Rob Lowe as the conflicted middle brother Sodapop, as well as his fellow greasers Two-Bit (Emilio Estevez, Repo Man), Johnny (Tom Cruise, Top Gun), and the very attractive Cherry Valance, played by Diane Lane (The Smithereens) as a kind-hearted "Soc" who fraternizing with Ponyboy sort of becomes the catalyst for gang tension that erupts into violence. While some Greasers try to achieve redemption after a killing a "soc" (Lief Garret) during a fight others are unable to cope and meet tragic ends.
This was actually my first time ever watching The Complete Novel version and I think I preferred it, with the rock n' roll music and previously excised scenes cut back in, it was certainly more faithful to the book - which I remember more than the one time I watched the theatrical version. I don't think all the performances are equal here, I think some of the young actors were out of their depth in this dramatic material, and some of it comes across a bit schmaltzy, but I still found it quite a captivating watch all these years later.
Audio/Video: Both the theatrical and The Complete Novel versions of The Outsiders arrives on 2-disc 4K UHD from WBHE with new 4K scans of the original camera negatives, including rescanning film elements and recreating the photochemical optical dissolves and transitions digitally. This is the first time that a new scan has been struck from the OCN for home video as the previous 2024 Blu-ray was struck from an interpositive, and you can see the benefits of a fresh 4k scan and restoration right away. The grain levels are finely resolved and look outstanding with minute detail and texture also looking quite glorious. I do know there is some chatter on the internet about the new color-grading being significantly different from the theatrical and even the 2014 Blu-ray versions, but the last time I saw it was on a tube TV in the 90s so I won't have any insight about the comparison, other than to say it appeared even these two cuts have some color temperature differences. That said, with fresh eyes just taking it in on its own merits as a UHD of a 50 year-old movie shot on film I thought the transfers were pretty keen with rich color saturation and deep blacks. The show detail was quite nice and those Gone with the Wind referencing sunsets were gorgeous.
Audio on both cuts come by way of uncompressed English DTS-HD MA audio; the theatrical gets a 5.1 mix while the extended 2005 cut gets 5.0, both with optional subtitles. Each cut features a different soundtrack with the theatrical version having the original Carmine Coppola score while The Complete Novel version replaces the orchestration with choice cuts of 50's rock n' roll from Elvis, Link Wray, Carl Perkins and others era appropriate tunes, which certainly gives the film a punchier vibe. The songs can at times threaten to drown out dialogue in a few scenes, the same can be said of the Carmine Coppola (Apocalypse Now) score on the theatrical cut, so it seems to be a choice made during the mix.
Onto the extras, we get a bunch, beginning with a new 12-min Introduction by director Francis Ford Coppola who talks about the how was inspired to make the film because of a letter he received, which he reads during the intro. We also get a pair of archival audio commentaries, the first with Francis Ford Coppola, and a second with Matt Dillon, C. Thomas Howell, Diane Lane, Rob Lowe, Ralph Macchio and Patrick Swayze.
One of my favorite extras is the 19-min Restoration Interview with Cinematographer Stephen Burum, Zoetrope Head of Archives and Restorations James Mockoski and Colorist Gregg Garvin who get into the process of restoring the film, rescanning the negatives and getting pretty in-depth into it. I wish more restorations offered this sort of behind-the-scenes peek at the process.
Outsider Looking is another 8-min chat with Coppola who examines two specific scenes in the film, the gang fight and the church burning, getting i to how he shot the scenes and the challenges her faced. We also get the 21-min Old House New Home featurette with S.E. Hinton and a guy who bought the Outsiders home seen in the film, saving it from being destroyed, turning it into a museum and preserving it for fans of the movie.
In the 13-min Stephen H. Burum on The Outsiders the cinematographer, a USC classmate of Coppola, l reflects on this film and other films he made with Coppola. Staying Gold: A look Back at "The Outsiders"is an archival 2005 look back with the cast that's pretty great, including the late Patrick Swayze that's runs 26-minutes. Extras are buttoned-up with 7-min Cast Readings, an 8-min S.E. Hinton on Location in Tulsa, and 14-min Screen Tests and Auditions: Fred Roos and the Casting of The Outsiders, plus 4-minutes of Trailers.
The 2-disc UHD release arrives in a dual-hub black keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork that's fantastic, I lot it, and its a shame we didn't get a slipcover with it. Inside the two cuts of the film are presented on separate UHD discs, and you will find a redemption code for a digital copy of both versions of the film.
Special Features:
- NEW Restoration Interview with Cinematographer Stephen Burum, Zoetrope Head of Archives and Restorations James Mockoski and Colourist Gregg Garvin (19 min)
- NEW 8 Deleted Scenes (15 min)
- NEW Francis Ford Coppola Introduction to The Complete Novel Version (12 min)
- NEW Outsider Looking In (8 min)
- NEW Old House New Home featurette (11 min)
- NEW Stephen H. Burum on The Outsiders (13 min)
- Audio Commentary with Francis Ford Coppola
- Audio Commentary with Matt Dillon, C. Thomas Howell, Diane Lane, Rob Lowe, Ralph Macchio and Patrick Swayze.
- Staying Gold: A look Back at "The Outsiders" (26 min,)
- Cast Members Read excerpts from the Novel (7 min)
- S.E. Hinton on Location in Tulsa (8 min)
- Screen Tests and Auditions: Fred Roos and the Casting of The Outsiders (14 min)
- 1983 Theatrical Trailer (1 min)
- 2005 Re-Release Trailer (2 min) )
- 2021 Re-Release Trailer (1 min)
