Word arrived this past week from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment that a new 4K film restoration of director Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 film adaptation of the S.E. Hinton novel, The Outsiders, will be heading home on Nov. 9.
The Outsiders: The Complete Novel will be arriving as a 4K Ultra HD/Three Blu-ray Combo Pack, which clocks in at 24 minutes longer than the original theatrical cut.
After the disaster of One from the Heart, Coppola needed to recover, to find his footing again. He had received a letter from a librarian, signed by students, requesting that he adapt Hinton’s book two years earlier and turned to that as the vehicle that might get him back on track.
The film was shot over a seven-week period in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which kept production costs down. But the key to the film was the “dream” cast that Coppola was able to assemble.
Let’s go down the list … C. Thomas Howell as Ponyboy. His only other screen credit was a small part in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. This was his story, he had to shine; he did. Next, we have Patrick Swayze and Rob Lowe, who were cast as his brothers … previously, Swayze was in Skatetown U.S.A. (and a few made-for-TV movies) and this was Lowe’s theatrical debut. WOW.
And then you have the tough-guy “Greaser,” Dallas, played by Matt Dillon. He probably had the most screen experience with My Bodyguard, Liar’s Moon and Tex.
The rest of the “Greasers” were played by Ralph Macchio, Emilio Estevez and Tom Cruise. Seriously, Macchio (before The Karate Kid), Estevez (he had just finished Tex with Matt Dillon and Meg Tilly) and Cruise (two years earlier he had appeared in Taps).
The opposition, the “Socs,” the rich kids … the nice kids, the kids with a future. We have Leif Garrett as “Bob,” he’s a bully. Darren Dalton in his screen debut (he would team up with Swayze, and others, the following year in Red Dawn), Diane Lane as Cherry and Michelle Meyrink as Marcia, in her film debut (also Valley Girl the same year).
A magnificent cast …
The theatrical cut was for running time … The Outsiders: The Complete Novel has these scenes restored.
Bonus features include the Theatrical Cut of the film, a newly-prepared introduction by Coppola, two new featurettes — “Francis Ford Coppola Anatomy of a Scene” and “Old House New Home” — new video session with cinematography Stephen Burum and the restoration team (James Mockoski and Gregg Garvin) and deleted scenes.
On the vintage side, there are two commentary options. One featuring Coppola and the second with cast members Matt Dillon, C. Thomas Howell, Diane Lane, Rob Lowe, Ralph Macchio and Patrick Swayze. There are vintage featurettes, deleted and extended scenes and a clip from the Today Show (1983).
No comments:
Post a Comment