Cinema Tuesdays Review

Hey! Ho! Let's Go Call Those Pinheads
By Nathan Cone

Before December, 2005, "Rock 'N' Roll High School" was one of the most traded and searched for DVDs on the eBay circuit, or so I've read. Lumivision, a small company that packaged their DVDs in jewel boxes (like compact discs) rather than larger DVD cases, had previously released the 1979 film in the early days of DVD. I was one of the few lucky ones to own a copy of this cult classic until last month, when the eagerly anticipated Special Edition DVD of the film was released. But the "Rock On Edition" of the DVD is only a slight improvement over its predecessor.

"Rock 'N' Roll High School" is a great anarchic comedy from director Alan Arkush and producer Roger Corman. The film stars P.J. Soles as Riff Randall, Vince Lombardi High School's resident rock chick and detention queen. As the movie opens, the evil Miss Togar (Mary Woronov) has just taken over as principal of the school, and she brings her authoritarian ways with her, which means no rock music, especially the Ramones, who will of course show up later in the film to help Riff and her bookish friend Kate (Dey Young) blow up the school. Meanwhile, the school's star quarterback Tom (Vincent Van Patten) is hopelessly trying to get a date, and enlists businessman Eaglebauer (Clint Howard) to help.

If this sounds like a silly B-movie to you, I would probably not disagree. But "Rock 'N' Roll High School" is filled with such manic glee you can't help but love it. How can you dislike a movie where the stuffy music teacher of the high school, played by the late Paul Bartel, finally embraces his inner rocker and delivers this line to the Ramones near the end of the movie: "You know, people say that your music is loud, and destructive, and lethal to mice, but I think you're the Beethovens of our time."

The DVD of "Rock 'N' Roll High School" includes many of the same special features that were on the previous edition, including audio outtakes of the Ramones in concert, a theatrical trailer and radio ads, and a terrific audio commentary with director Alan Arkush, producer Michael Finnell, and writer Richard Whitley. This is one of the most entertaining commentaries I've ever listened to, as the three discuss with good humor the homages to classic films included in "Rock 'N' Roll High School," the stories behind the film's production, and the ways they stretched the budget such as using their own albums for a record-burning scene near the end of the film. New features include a commentary from Roger Corman and star Dey Young that is not as much fun, as Roger spends a little too much time talking about a possible remake of the movie from Howard Stern. But the 20-plus minute "Back to School" retrospective is good, and features interviews with cast and crew, as well as Marky Ramone, the only one of the four band members still alive today.

This DVD is also one of the first to be released under executive producer Roger Corman's new deal with Buena Vista Home Entertainment. Corman has over 400 titles to his name as a director or producer, so that's a lot of product to keep track of, but certainly the consumer expects the product inside a package to match its description on the outside. On the back of the package it clearly states the film is "Enhanced for 16 x 9 Televisions," which was the major reason I acquired this new DVD. Instead, the DVD has been produced using the same old scratchy non-anamorphic transfer from the previous Lumivision disc. I called Buena Vista Home Entertainment to see if there would be a recall to fix this major problem, but the customer service representative said there would be no recall. So Ramones fans and movie fans, take this number down: 1-800-477-2811. Please call and demand a DVD that matches the content description on the box. To borrow a Ramones line, tell them not to be pinheads no more.

1/13/06

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