Over the Edge (1979) on Netflix
Carl, Richie, and Claude are bored teenagers in New Granada, Colorado. Sergeant Doberman questions Carl and Richie about a freeway sniping, and Carl meets Cory, a new arrival.
- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb7.2/109,459 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes83%
Trailer
Plot summary
New Granada is a planned community in Colorado. Its teenagers have little to occupy them. Carl, Richie, and Claude spend time at The Rec, a supervised spot for young people. Sergeant Doberman questions Carl and Richie about a freeway sniping. The next day Carl meets Cory, a new arrival, and she declines his suggestion of a date. His father tells him the community will not build an amusement center. That evening Carl goes to a house party, where police enforce a new curfew.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Over the Edge (1979)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The film was inspired by a 1973 San Francisco Examiner article, "Mousepacks: Kids on a Crime Spree" by Bruce Koon and James A. Finefrock, about young kids vandalizing property in Foster City, California. Screenwriters Charles S. Haas and Tim Hunter did field research in the town, interviewing some of the kids.
- Van Halen opted not to give their song to the film: as the band put it in an interview, "We went and saw a screening of the flick...and it ain't gonna win no Academy Award or nothing." The song was included on the album Van Halen II instead.
- Matt Dillon, then aged 14, was discovered by the filmmakers in a middle school in Westchester County, New York, and Over the Edge became his feature film debut.
- The film is loosely based on the Foster City incident: in that California city, children and adolescents ranging in age from 8 to 18 were responsible for tens of thousands of dollars in damage to public buildings and infrastructure during a short period in 1972.
- Director Richard Linklater has said Over the Edge influenced his 1993 film Dazed and Confused, and the film also partly inspired the music videos for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana and "Evil Eye" by Fu Manchu.
- Filmmaker Harmony Korine has said Over the Edge was one of the teen film influences for when he wrote Kids for Larry Clark to direct.
