The Outsiders. . . redux
First, the good news. The new DVD of The Outsiders, known as The Complete Novel, finally gives the cinematic end of that wonderful sentence that opens the book: “As I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie, I only had two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home.”
The bad news… Well, that’s more complicated. I never thought that I’d say this, but I miss the Carmine Coppola score. The new edition has a lot of added music, mostly Elvis songs that fit the period. But then there is a bunch of surf guitar licks and clips. Now that I’m writing this, I can even accept the Presley, since they are at least period-specific (the book/film is set in 1960 Tulsa, OK). But the surf sound?
I’m pretty sure (I’ll have to go to the Beta tape) the original only had Van Morrison’s version of “Gloria” as the only scene setting credit (this was during the opening, with Matt Dillon’s psychotic “52 Pick-up.”
The big let-down is that the surf-guitar sound replaces the score even when a cinematic (stringy) score is called for: during the rumble. As a kid I remember reacting to this scene. No, I didn’t go out and stomp some Soc’s face into gorilla cookies. My reaction was to how the moodiness of the score as the Soc’s arrive for the rumble changes, almost imperceptably, during the fight to the dynamic sweep of a “we-win” feel; then followed quickly by a sad tone as Dally takes Ponyboy to the hospital.
I’ve seen this revisionism before, and not only with Greedo. You can’t get a copy on DVD, but John Sayles’ Baby, It's You had a terrific soundtrack when shown on TV, but the release on video (VHS) chose to take advantage of “nostalgia nation” by changing the songs to give more breadth to Oldies stations.
But what about the movie, itself?
It’s still terrific, and still difficult. Macchio is tough to watch as a face (Karate). But it’s been so long, and my view has been so let down by the dopey-ness as depth look of Tobey Macguire and the muppets Hobbits, – Johnny and the rest of these characters are fully fleshed. Not that I now have any greater understanding of a minimalist gang in the 1960s midwest. But the concept of character portrayal has taken such a beating by Extreme close-ups that it was relaxing to just watch a Macchio and C. Thomas Howell just walk to show how they feel.
Again, the opening is the best addition. Each of the characters gets their own bit of introduction. After the church burning, Sodapop (Rob Lowe) gets an extended scene of real pathos as the brother between the fighting brothers.
Unfortunately, there’s not more than a few seconds added to Matt Dillon’s part, including just how close Cherry Valance (Diane Lane) would come to “falling in love with him.” there’s no additional views of Tom Waits at the roadhouse. There is no elaboration of Two-Bit’s (Estevez) love of Mickey Mouse, nor of chocolate cake and beer for breakfast.
I have to review the old version to have more to say about the score. For someone who finds it impossible to listen to new music anywhere but in a car, I understand and enjoy how songs move story along. But this is one case where the manipulation of swelling strings is missed.
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