Rock 'N' Roll High School

Hey Ho! Let's Go! Listen up, kids. Rock 'n' Roll High School may have been released way back in 1979 but it still kicks the ass of any of those square MTV movies. Forget about Britney Spears and Mandy Moore's brand of bubblegum pop music and their equally bland movies they don't hold a candle to the unbridled power of those punk rockers from New York City, the Ramones!

From B-movie veterans like Paul (Eating Raoul) Bartel and Mary (Death Race 2000) Woronov to newcomers (at the time), P.J. (Halloween) Soles and Dey (Strange Invaders) Young, the entire cast has a lot of fun spouting the film's wonderfully inspired cornball dialogue ("If you don't like it, you can put it where the monkey puts the nuts."). The Ramones are good sports and mumble their way through the film and truly coming alive during the music sequences. The movie rightfully cements their reputation as legends.

Rock 'n' Roll High School embodies the essence of the punk rock music that made the Ramones famous. The film is bursting with youthful energy, a dose of good ol' fashion anarchy and is loads of fun to watch. These are also the ingredients that made Rock 'n' Roll High School a cult film. It was a commercial and critical failure upon its initial release but repeated midnight screenings, coupled with steady appearances on TV, have helped the film endure over the years.

New to this edition is a "Back to School: A Retrospective" that takes a look back at this cult film with new interviews with producer Roger Corman, Alan Arkush and cast members Clint Howard, Dey Young, Mary Woronov and Loren Lester and the surviving Ramone from that time, Marky. This is an affectionate, fun look at this movie with everyone reminiscing fondly about their experiences.

Producer Michael Finnell, screenwriter Richard Whitley and director Alan Arkush deliver an engaging and rather chatty audio commentary. The three men laugh and joke about working on Rock 'n' Roll High School. They clearly have fond memories of their experiences on the movie.

Another new addition is an audio commentary by Corman and Young. She admits that in reality she was more like Riff Randell than her character. There are several lulls but it is nice to hear these two reminisce about their experiences on the movie.

Also included is a dynamic theatrical trailer that gives away the ending! Definitely watch this last if you haven't seen the movie.

Gone is the Leonard Maltin interview with Roger Corman.

A real treat for fans of the Ramones are several audio outtakes during the filming of the concert sequence. These are the original audio tracks of the band in action.

While Rock 'n' Roll High School will appeal predominantly to fans of the Ramones (duh!), it is also one of those fun, goofy movies to invite friends over and watch with copious amounts of junk food on hand. Despite a lackluster transfer, the audio commentary and audio outtakes are worth the price of purchase for this fantastic cinematic oddity.

Being a Ramones fan, this movie has a special place in my heart. The commentary by the director , screenwriter, and producer is a real treat to liten to; you can feel their passion for film making and rock and roll. Most humorous is how they convinced Roger Corman to change the film from DISCO HIGH to ROCK AND ROLL HIGH SCHOOL. Just a fun, fun movie. The DVD presentation is wonderful, though there are a few scratches from the transfer (What do you expect? It's Roger Corman!). And the audio outtakes are a must for Ramones fans. And with Clint Howard, Paul Bartel, and Dick Miller in the same movie, how can you go wrong?

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Rock, Rock, Rock, Rock, Rock and Roll High School.

That's how the song begins for one of the best Ramones songs and surely the most unique event in their history, a starring role in a feature film! I love movies with rock bands. A Hard Days Night, Head, and this film are probably my all time favorite "Band" films. When I was in high school and college, we had a ritual of going to see the midnight movies on most weekends. Usually they featured such "gems" as H.O.T.S. and Flesh Gordan, but occasionally you would come across a real sleeper. In 1979 I walked into Eastland mall to see a film I had never heard of and walked out a Ramones fan forever. It was still early in this films release, but it had already skipped most of the big theatres and gone straight to midnight showings. I guess a movie about a punk band (actually a straight up rock band) and a bunch 0f kids who blow up their school was never going to cross the 100 million mark. Made with virtually no budget and featuring PJ Soles, Clint Howard and Vincent Van Patten, along with the Ramones this movie is funny, has great tunes (Rundgren, McCartney, Alice Cooper etc), cute girls, and features a great scene where they blow the school up while the Ramones play the theme.

This movie came out right after PJ Soles had made her screen debut in Halloween and just before she played Bill Murrays girlfriend in Stripes. She was perfect for the role of the Ramones fanatic and she can sing too. She does a great version of Rock and Roll High School, upstaging the preppy cheerleaders in the gym. Clint Howard (Rons brother) actually has something to do in this film. He plays the school "dealer". Not in drugs mind you, he is the guys that sells you hall passes and gets you the makeout van for your hot dates. A very different role from all his walkon roles in Ron Howard films. The rest of the cast is well chosen and we even have a great villain in the evil principal Miss Togar. Someone you love to hate. Don't worry, she gets hers. This is just a great cult movie.

It was followed with a sequel, minus the Ramones and starring Corey Feldman. I don't think anyone ever saw that one. What was the point?

Highly recommended if you love rock band films. Get it while you can, it was out of print and was brought back after Joey died. It most likely will go out of print again.

Read Best Reviews of Rock 'N' Roll High School Here

Fantastic late '70s B-movie, a true cult classic. The music is top-notch -both the live Ramones material and the soundtrack artists. If the visual gags and silly jokes don't get you laughing, P.J. Soles' outfits will. You gotta admire P.J. for her acting skills. She actually makes us believe that her character has a crush on Joey Ramone, who definitely does *not* fit the stereotype of a good-looking teen idol.

This DVD edition is a bit disappointing. First, the audio mastering isn't up to snuff. There are several spots when the sound is clipped or distorted, usually when there is a loud and sudden noise. Those problems weren't in the VHS version that I saw. Second, you can sometimes see scratches on the image, which is really lame for a DVD. Third, for some strange reason, this version cuts the final line of Tom's early scene in the school corridor, where he says, "I need to get laid".

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Rock `n' Roll high school is what a musical should be. The Ramones are one of the greatest bands of all time. No wonder this film is a classic, how can it not be a classic. It's got everything a classic needs. Dancing, great music, great story, and of course the Ramones. Riff Randle (P.J. Stoles) loves Rock `n' Roll and the Ramones. But as the schools new principle Ms. Togar tries to destroy Rock `n' Roll and make more strict rules, Riff has to save Rock `n' Roll and the school. The kids decide they have had enough. So they go to a Ramones concert and try to get them to make a song for the school called "Rock `n' Roll high school". Now in a all new remastered DVD with special features Rock `n' Roll High School is the ultimate musical to get. The commentary in this DVD was surprisingly not boring. Allan Arkush, Richard Whitley, and Michael Finnell discuss stories of the Ramones and the hard process of making this film. Lenard Maltin interviews Roger Corman (there's only 2 minutes of this) Roger discusses that if they didn't do Rock `n' Roll High School they would have done "Disco High". What I really loved was the outtake concert of the Ramones for the concert scene. They play two extra songs "I wanna be sedated" and Sheena is a Punk Rocker". If you love the Ramones, you got to see this film and you'll love them even more. In addition to this film you should also get Ramones Raw DVD.

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