Over the Edge (1979) Online

Over the Edge (1979) Online

A group of bored teenagers rebel against authority in the community of New Granada after the death of one of their own.

Was one of the main inspirations for Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' music video.

Matt Dillon didn't actually want or expect to be cast in the movie. He went to the audition just so he could skip school.

Debut film of actor Matt Dillon.

Charles S. Haas based his story on true events which occurred in the planned community of Foster City, California in the early 1970s. In fact, a California headline about the incident, "Mouse Packs: Kids On A Crime Spree", was authored by Haas when he was a reporter with the San Francisco Examiner.

According to sources Kurt Cobain said that "(Over the Edge) pretty much defined my whole personality. It was really cool. Total anarchy."

Originally completed in 1979, the movie was first shown in late 1979, but was not released wide in the USA until two years later. At the time, the studio thought the movie was too controversial and feared that it would spark attacks after several violent incidents had occurred at various showings during screenings of number of 1979 gang movies such as The Warriors (1979), The Wanderers (1979) and Boulevard Nights (1979).

Director Jonathan Kaplan wanted to use "Baba O'Riley" by The Who as the ending credits song, but ultimately couldn't do so because the licensing rights to the song were too expensive.

Pamela Ludwig suggested to the filmmakers that they use songs by Cheap Trick on the soundtrack.

This film was shot in 36 days.

In the movie, New Grenada is in the desert. The city that this story is based on, Foster City, is next to San Francisco Bay and has canals and waterways throughout the city.

This movie was filmed in the Suburbs of greater Denver Colorado near a community that was co-developed alongside the infamous Columbine community.The social similarities of the troubled youth in the movie, and those of the youth of that period in the Columbine community are uncanny and not by chance. Personnel associated with the movie production spent time with a group of truant youths that they had met outside of a Columbine Strip Mall across from a local Jr. High located down the street from where the Columbine tragedy was to occur years later. The social implications of the story underscore the serious problems of troubled youth being discarded by the community at large.

Tip and his mother are played by Eric Lalich and Irene Lalich, who are mother and son in real life.

The movie was loosely based on a true story. This was an incident that had occurred in Foster City in California during the early 1970s and reported in the 11th November 1973 edition of the San Francisco Examiner in an article by Bruce Koon and James Finefrock entitled "Mousepacks: Kids on a Crime Spree".

The film featured the debut of two actors who would become teen heartthrobs during the 1980s: Matt Dillon and Vincent Spano.

After the film's successful run on HBO in 1981, it was selected for a special two-week engagement at Joseph Papp's Public Theater in New York in December 1981. The response was so positive that the film was booked for regular engagements in several New York theaters the following February.

Andy Romano would later go on to play Murdock in Pump Up the Volume (1990), a movie about repressed teens who rebel at the school.

The film's opening prologue states: "In 1978 110,000 kids under 18 were arrested for crimes of vandalism in the United States. This story is based on true incidents occurring during the 70's in a planned suburban community of condominiums and townhomes, where city planners ignored the fact that a quarter of the population was 15 years old or younger".

When Carl and Richie bike towards Cory and Abby, a sign ahead of them reads, "Strawberry Fields Never", a play on the Beatles' song "Strawberry Fields Forever".

One of the producers of the film was actor and Minnesota Vikings quarterback legend, Joe Kapp. It was his only film credit as a producer.

The promotional slogan for the New Granada planned community was "Tomorrow's City . . . Today".

Debut produced screenplay for both of the films two screenwriters Tim Hunter and Charles S. Haas.

One of a number of 1979 "gang movies" which were first released in that year. The pictures included Walk Proud (1979), The Warriors (1979), Boulevard Nights (1979), Over the Edge (1979) and The Wanderers (1979). Then in 1980 came another New York gang movie, John Carpenter's Escape from New York (1981).

Matt Dillon, Tom Fergus, Michael Eric Kramer, Pamela Ludwig, Kim Kliner, Tiger Thompson and Vincent Spano all received an 'introducing' credit.

The only Matt Dillon movie of the 1970s.

Actress Julia Pomeroy played a character, Julia, who had the same first name as her own.

Matt Dillon did not want to miss out on the fun at the end of the movie when the kids revolted, so he is allowed to appear briefly in the riot scene.

The prison bus seen at the end was regularly used to transport the kid actors to set and was simply disguised for the final scene.