By
The Editor
June 14, 2005 - 08:35
The Outsiders: The Complete Novel" -- Francis Ford Coppola's 1983 film adaptation of the renowned S.E. Hinton best seller -- arrives September 20 from Warner Home Video (WHV) as a restored Two-Disc DVD available in widescreen for $26.99 SRP. It will be filled with previously unavailable bonus content, including new commentaries by the director and several of the actors, three new documentaries, three featurettes, deleted scenes and more.
Coppola, a five-time Academy Award(R) winner, has added 22 minutes to "The Outsiders," including a new beginning and an ending which is more true to the book and enriches the characters' relationships.
Said Coppola, "`The Outsiders' is a teenage epic, beloved by so many young people -- junior high school students especially -- and it's often their first important experience with literature. It's always bothered me that, in the rush to distribution, so much of the novel was edited out. Once, after showing the original version to my granddaughter's high school class, where so many kids asked `but what about the other parts of the story?' -- I resolved I would restore it to be the complete novel. I just felt the film would be better if it played much longer. Warner Bros. agreed with this thought, and we both became excited to bring the entire story to the screen."
Coppola has also added a brand new rock 'n' roll soundtrack, with six songs from Elvis Presley and from Van Morrison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, The Marketts, Sandy Nelson and others. "I had always hoped the film could have an all Elvis Presley score," noted Coppola, "which turned out not to be possible at the time. Now we have reconceived the score, based on what these characters would be listening to, while still retaining the movie's great original song, `Stay Gold' by Carmine Coppola and Stevie Wonder."
The impressive array of young actors who starred in "The Outsiders" include C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Diane Lane, Ralph Macchio, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, Tom Cruise and Leif Garrett. "So many of the young and talented cast have gone on to great success that I think the new length will be that much more fascinating to audiences," Coppola added.
The idea for "The Outsiders" began with a letter to Francis Ford Coppola from a school librarian in Fresno, Calif., stating that the faculty and students had nominated the director to make a movie of their favorite novel; the letter was personally signed by 110 students. "What I am most proud of in this new release is that the film is now the truest expression of the novel. And of course, that I was able to be responsive to these kids' letter," said Coppola.
The movie version of "The Outsiders" -- like the book -- struck a powerful chord with audiences, capturing the intense feelings of being caught between childhood and adulthood, and not belonging anywhere. A classic coming-of-age story, "The Outsiders" is set in gritty Tulsa, Okla., during the early 1960s and centers on a teen rivalry between two opposing groups: the Greasers (poor kids) and the Socs (socials, the rich kids).
Limited theatrical engagements will begin September 9 in New York; Los Angeles; San Francisco; San Diego; Washington, D.C.; Boston; Dallas; Chicago; and Minneapolis.
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