Featured Audience Ratings

• Kase V

  
  A fantastic film dealing with teenage angst, 'Rebel Without a Cause' is a classic film that finds James Dean in a superbly classic role.

• Daniel P

  
  A film that, in my opinion, has its reputation for a single scene, the one in which Jim Stark (James Dean) pleads with his hen-pecked father, "Stand up for me, Dad." Beautiful colour for its day, and well acted, for the most part, it's undeniably a classic, if… More
  A film that, in my opinion, has its reputation for a single scene, the one in which Jim Stark (James Dean) pleads with his hen-pecked father, "Stand up for me, Dad." Beautiful colour for its day, and well acted, for the most part, it's undeniably a classic, if unfortunately dated. To Truffaut, American cinema began and ended with Nicholas Ray, but for my money, Truffaut did it better. Kind of like On the Waterfront: subversive and aggressive in its day and a testament to a lot of great talents, but tame by the modern standard. Still, valuable for the way it cracked the veneer on the nuclear family, which was heavily idealized at the time. Watch it as a film history lesson.

• Chris W

  
  So, I finally saw this much beloved and highly regarded film and, you know what? It's overrated. Ans that's a bummer too, since I was really hoping this film truly stood the test of time like I was lead to believe. Don't get me wrong, this is a good film, just not a… More
  So, I finally saw this much beloved and highly regarded film and, you know what? It's overrated. Ans that's a bummer too, since I was really hoping this film truly stood the test of time like I was lead to believe. Don't get me wrong, this is a good film, just not a great one. Jimmy Stark is the new kid in town, and he's having a hard time fitting in, getting along with his parents, and struggling to find his place in the world. He falls in with some other misfits, but the pains of adolescence don't go away easy, and certainly not without leaving a mark first. Maybe had I seen this at a young age I'd be more enthusiastic, but seeing it now ,I must say I can't really relate too much anymore. Also, some of this is really dated and on the nose. Maybe it was more relevatory in the 1950s, but seeing it now it almost seems like melodramatic kitsch, and that's not necessarily a good thing either. It's funny, because I'll still defend Catcher in the Rye, but I have a hard time siding with those who call this a stone cold classic. Sure, James Dean does give one of the best and most iconic performances ever, and Wood, Mineo,Backus, and others all put in some terrific work as well, but this feels so warmed over in light of all that's come out since (and been influenced by it). This shouldn't be the case if it truly was something timeless. But, despite these issues, it does look good, I wasn't bored, and at least understand why this is so important, even if I don't totally agree with that assessment. I mean, this film did pretty much define the cultural landscape of the American teenager, even if more polished works have come out in its wake. Yes, it needs to be seen, but don't expect to see something you haven't already seen before. You know what? I just realized something: I think I feel about this film the way that many feel about Citizen Kane. I don't know the significance of that statement, but I feel it needed to be said. Take it easy, everyone.

• Reid V

  
  A bit melodramatic at times, but overall an effective and visually sharp glimpse at the post war American mindset.

• Tsubaki S

  
  It's the right movie for it's time, far more worried about being dramatic than anything else. Dean's performance is clearly the high note of the film, the rest is not very memorable.

• Jennifer X

  
  Though James Dean is kind of sexy, something seems off about his portrayal, and the entire film. Why do they all seem so old? Why is the metaphor for outsider status and sexuality used so obviously? Rebel Without a Cause is much, much campier than critics give it credit for.

• AJ V

  
  If you ask me, Dean's character does have a cause, so I don't understand the title, but that doesn't really affect how cool this movie is. This is the first great teen film, and I highly recommend it.

• Conner R

  
  Easily one of the most iconic movies of all time, James dean showed the world how utterly cool you can be. It's a great story, a great vision and high class acting. I think it's every bit as good as its reputation suggests, if not a little better. What appears to be a simple… More
  Easily one of the most iconic movies of all time, James dean showed the world how utterly cool you can be. It's a great story, a great vision and high class acting. I think it's every bit as good as its reputation suggests, if not a little better. What appears to be a simple forbidden love story becomes a lot more complex and revolutionary than it seems. Themes that had never been dealt with were appearing and showing a more true representation of society. It's beautifully shot and I think in a lot of ways it is the best representation of a teen drama, nothing else really comes that close.

• Anthony L

  
  Rebel without a cause is not the best film on the subject of 1950's post-war juvenile delinquency but it's certainly not the worst, it's just the most mainstream. It was an important movie of its time but its relevance has been lost somewhat. I love it visually, I love… More
  Rebel without a cause is not the best film on the subject of 1950's post-war juvenile delinquency but it's certainly not the worst, it's just the most mainstream. It was an important movie of its time but its relevance has been lost somewhat. I love it visually, I love the 50's, I love James Dean and I'm a huge Jim Backus fan but the story is flawed and unfortunately a little dated. In many ways it has stood the test of time but for all the wrong reasons. I have to give it a love/hate rating of 3 out of five!

• Fernando Rafael Q

  
  Insightful film about teen angst and dysfunctional families, well ahead of its time. James Dean's performance elevates a decent film into classic status almost all by itself. The image of Dean in his red jacket is incredibly striking, even to this day. Sal Mineo is remarkable… More
  Insightful film about teen angst and dysfunctional families, well ahead of its time. James Dean's performance elevates a decent film into classic status almost all by itself. The image of Dean in his red jacket is incredibly striking, even to this day. Sal Mineo is remarkable as troubled "Plato".

• Jennifer D

  
  First James Dean flick. Bit of a contrived plot, but the ending was rather good, not exactly what I expected from all that I heard about it over the years, but good regardless.

• Ken S

  
  Nicholas Ray is cinema!

• Veronique K

  
  "rebel without a cause" is the iconic and probably most cliched classic of james dean in his cooperation with director nicholas ray who has maneuvered himself in the genre of juvenile delinquency since the 40s with flicks like "they live by night", "knock on… More
  "rebel without a cause" is the iconic and probably most cliched classic of james dean in his cooperation with director nicholas ray who has maneuvered himself in the genre of juvenile delinquency since the 40s with flicks like "they live by night", "knock on any door" and "on the dangerous ground", tackling astray adolescents under a sympathetic light with lines like "live fast, die yong, have a beautiful corpse." that notion happens to reflect dean's transient grasp of life. but viewing rebel in a comtemporary light, it might seem dated and laughably whining since nowaday youth tend to be too ferocious to give a damn on their sappy parents. rebel's value lies more upon the cult perspect of counterculture than the cinematic breakthru except james dean's eccentric egoist method of acting. basically rebel is about a troubled teenager named jim whose family movies around a lot just to dissolve his anti-social misfit tendency, but it fails becuz the boy's best wish is just to have his dad rise up against his domineering mother like a man with backbone. also he has a crush upon the neighbor gal(natalie wood) who is the girlfriend of a rascal, so to impress the gal, he joins the daring game of the juvenile mob since he cannot stand to be called as a "chicken". so mob-leader died of accident, so hoodlums are after jim everywhere while his one friend plato who seems to have in-closet crush on jim guns down several men within the bully crowd. rebel has three major fundamental scopes: firstly it revolutionalizes the facet of manhood by delineating young males of more fragile temperament as if it's saying you could demonstrate your vulnerability but still remain as a man. such as plato hangs alan ladd's picture in the closet, trying to imitate ladd's hairstyle to appear manlier even in vain. and its revolt against paternality is fiercely conspicuous, jim's annoyed with his dad wearing an apron to clean the leftover on the floor, scolding his dad, pushing him down to fistfight dad. but he's even more resentful to his mother who castrates his reverence for dad. frequently his only wish is just to see his father tells his mother to shut up! a misogynist to some degree, jim shows his great comtempt for this gender reversal by kicking thru his mother's portrait before he escapes home again. james dean's notion of manhood here is like you've gotta strut around to be a man of your own without your father as the role model, but his ambivalence would be his actual wish is primitively conventional, far from rebellious: he just wants his dad to be phallic so he could have a father image to look up to. secondly, the topic of juvenile deliquency is officially heated up as trendy by the success of rebel, and also the kids of 50s. the decade of economical surplus, had enough pocket money from their parents to attend movies, so this genre's become a money-sucker ever since rebel. it furthers the gap btween adulthood and puberty as dichotomy with hostility against each other with utterance like you grown-ups don't understand us. juveniles've become more hegemonic to draw the mass attention along with the popularity of beat literature and james dean. juveniles started to develop their own way of coolness to discriminate adults just like adults do juveniles. but ray's interpretation would be their rebellion is caused by the loss of faith and intimacy with their parents. to girl, father no longer kisses and allows the daughter to sit on his lap in puberty, so she's perplexed and emotionally deserted. for boy, he has troubles reconciling his identification of manhood since father's effeminated by mother. and the causes presented by ray are obviously dated, only existed in 50s. irrevocably corny. during this period of beat counterculture, france was having camus and sartre's existentialism to elucidate their emptiness while america was having a beat fever with teenagers expressing their existential void in an abitrary and also illiterate way by saying "who cares?!" meanwhile, it creates the new mode of high-school romane, girls cease their clark-gable-adoration(electra complex) by craving the sweet tenderness from the mushy "it" boys like james dean instead of the steel-willed fatherly masculinity in old phallic icons like bogie and gable. male icons since then have become more and more boyish. thirdly, rebel thoroughly alternates the outlook of male fashion as well. the red jacket, white t shirt and blue jeans had been the stylish fashion milestone copied by many with fanatic hommage to james dean who inspires the fad of leisure wear when men used to suits and fedora to be considered dignified, along with the vagabond fascination of jack kerouac's "on the road" to enocurage youth to be emancipated...meanwhile brando demonstrates how sexy he could be in proteriat sweaty t-shirt in "streetcar named desire", also with leather-jacket in "the wild one" consequently. the course of gentility in male costumes has began to be neutral then fade into the field for the antiquated ever since. additionally, rebel is also one of the first examples in popular movies to have homosexual character as one of the lead protagonists except hitchcock's "the rope" which doesn't sell well then. the role plato has a crush on dean, he orders a song on the radio to bare his fascination, but dean's reaction is to shut it off at once but make love to natalie wood. it's more of a reluctance than a homophobic repulsion since dean generously gives away his red jacket to keep plato warm in the end as solace for his covet for dean, and plato even remarks "could i keep it?" then he wears dean's red jacket and demises in the bullet shots. the macabre part would be the trio pretend to act like grown-ups to form a crippled lullaby in a desolate mansion, a twisted poetic compensation to the lack of norm in their life. it is rumored that the whole cast of rebel died young, mystically followed by dean's death (or suicide?)...but they neglect that dennis hopper(one of the hoodlums who bully plato) still lives and prospers as one of the main popular character actors. "rebel without a cause" is staled with banality since its formuli have been barrowed by great many movies with stronger dosage of gory violence, debauched promiscuity and spicy endings without redemption. so what's left to give you any shock effect of carthesis? not a bit.

• Nicki M

  
  I think I expected too much of this one, and also suspect I have seen it too late in life for the first time ,as it kept reminding me of other movies ,(obviously movies which have borrowed from this one!). It's the first one of James Dean's movies I have seen and I… More
  I think I expected too much of this one, and also suspect I have seen it too late in life for the first time ,as it kept reminding me of other movies ,(obviously movies which have borrowed from this one!). It's the first one of James Dean's movies I have seen and I didn't find his acting all that convincing, particularly in the beginning although I had warmed to it slightly by the end of the film. Not a bad film, and obviously a very influencial one, but it didn't quite do it for me for some reason.

• Lady D

  
  It took a me a little while into the film to see it?s big appeal and it did get progressively better. Admittedly I wasn?t completely bowled over by it, but it certainly had a certain attraction and it?s one the teens must have loved at the time of it?s release. I did manage to… More
  It took a me a little while into the film to see it?s big appeal and it did get progressively better. Admittedly I wasn?t completely bowled over by it, but it certainly had a certain attraction and it?s one the teens must have loved at the time of it?s release. I did manage to watch the whole film before I realized the leading lady was Natalie Wood, so I guess that proves, she didn?t really stand out too much to me.

• Lenny M

  
  "Rebellious"???? Every Baby Boomer says this movie was revolutionary because nobody in this set time period, 1950's, never behaved the way James Dean did. In my opinion, he was a dumbass and complaining for the dumbest reasons. The social scene with the high school… More
  "Rebellious"???? Every Baby Boomer says this movie was revolutionary because nobody in this set time period, 1950's, never behaved the way James Dean did. In my opinion, he was a dumbass and complaining for the dumbest reasons. The social scene with the high school gang was a bunch of chicken shit, it just didn't do anything for me besides make me sleepy and scratch myself. I don't know, maybe it's cuz I'm a product of a completely different generation which makes the generation portrayed look like a bunch of balls baby balls. Is it just me, or is James Dean overrated? Is he only popular because he died so young with so little material? Because his acting isn't spectacular, he is kind of a boner if you know 50's terminology.

• Alice S

  
  Good in an "ahead-of-its-time" kind of way but honestly can't say I enjoyed everything about the pacing or performances.

• Daniel J D

  
  It had a lot going for it. James Dean had a lot going for him. I don't know that he was the next Marlon Brando (or that he would've been, had he lived longer), but he was probably the best thing the movie had going for it. It's like The Matrix and other breakthrough… More
  It had a lot going for it. James Dean had a lot going for him. I don't know that he was the next Marlon Brando (or that he would've been, had he lived longer), but he was probably the best thing the movie had going for it. It's like The Matrix and other breakthrough movies that really are incredible when they come out, considering the competition, but that ultimately fail the test of time. Mind you, it's still one of the better films of its time, and it's still got some memorable dramatic and comedic moments, but yeah.

• Pierluigi P

  
  1950's innocence gone forever, the colors, the problems, the motives, the honor, the love and hate, and the sensitivities of Nicholas Ray and James Dean. an iconic stamp of america and of a difficult age.

• Drew S

  
  I don't understand the hype for this one. When I saw it, I thought it was fucking idiotic. James Dean may be an icon, sure, but so is Jessica Alba and I'll be damned if she can act her way out of a paper bag. Dean himself lays on the cheese like crazy, overacting up a storm.… More
  I don't understand the hype for this one. When I saw it, I thought it was fucking idiotic. James Dean may be an icon, sure, but so is Jessica Alba and I'll be damned if she can act her way out of a paper bag. Dean himself lays on the cheese like crazy, overacting up a storm. Like The Warriors, this was made during a completely different zeitgeist, and as such it was probably a lot more effective fifty years ago. Also like The Warriors, however, it has aged extremely poorly, leaving a flimsy and artless film in its wake. I'm leaving this one for the middle-aged film fans to reminisce upon; Rebel Without a Cause has no more value in today's cinema.

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