The Outsiders (1983)

64% of critics liked it
(33 reviews)
81% of users liked it
(118,847 ratings)

Teen rivalry in a small Southern town sets the stage for this dramatic interpretation of the novel by S.E. Hinton. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, The Outsiders tells the story of the ongoing conflict between the Greasers and the Socs in rural Oklahoma. C. Thomas Howell stars as Ponyboy, the… More Teen rivalry in a small Southern town sets the stage for this dramatic interpretation of the novel by S.E. Hinton. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, The Outsiders tells the story of the ongoing conflict between the Greasers and the Socs in rural Oklahoma. C. Thomas Howell stars as Ponyboy, the youngest of three orphaned boys who pal around with the local hoods known as the Greasers. When Ponyboy and his friend (Ralph Macchio) get into a deadly confrontation one night, the two go on the run from the cops, and they grow up quickly and soon realize the insignificance of their petty posturing. Matt Dillon stars as the tough-as-nails leader of their group and Patrick Swayze appears as Ponyboy's oldest brother. A host of other 1980s Brat Pack celebs fill out the cast. Dillon later appeared in another Coppola adaption of a Hinton book, Rumble Fish. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 32 min.
Directed By: Francis Ford Coppola
Written By: Kathleen Rowell
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Mar 25, 1983 Wide
On DVD: Nov 30, 1999
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures

Critic Reviews

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine
Because it falls in with the undulating rhythm of the life of its heroes, for whom a fatal fight and a quiet night have almost equal importance, the picture never manages to reach the peaks of satisfying Hollywood melodrama.
Variety Staff, Variety
Well acted and crafted but highly conventional.
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
The film is unremitting in its morbid sentimentality, running its teenage characters through a masochistic gamut of beatings, killings, burnings, and suicides.
Kyle Smith, New York Post
A deeply strange film that gives '60s hoodlums the personalities of Care Bears and places them under constant attack from preppies in pastel sweaters.
Manohla Dargis, New York Times
[Coppola's] revisions to the film, which include a new, improved soundtrack, invest it with grandeur worthy of both its characters and his own ambitions.
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Francis Coppola's revision of his 1983 film of S.E. Hinton's best seller The Outsiders is funny, touching and revelatory.
Gabe Leibowitz, Film and Felt
Francis Ford Coppola's cheesy, overblown adaptation of S.E. Hinton's wonderful novel captures none of the book's gritty magic.
Carly Kocurek, Common Sense Media
Coppola's take on S.E. Hinton's classic. Teens+.
David Sterritt, Christian Science Monitor
As a movie, it's mediocre. As a clue to Coppola's thinking, it shows he still has things to learn about the relation between technology and expression.
Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
A devouring CinemaScope fever dream: an homage to Robert Wise and Nicholas Ray that took its chief inspiration from the timeless backlit twilights of Gone with the Wind.
Lewis Beale, Film Journal International
Flawed though it might be, it's still an exciting piece of film made by an innovative director who was firing on all cylinders.
, Time Out
Lightly likeable.
Rory L. Aronsky, Film Threat
The new cut of "The Outsiders" aptly entitled "The Complete Novel" expands what existed before to such a degree that the framework of the novel is restored...
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
The new DVD is longer by 22 minutes and has better score, making for a lyrical youth film that launched the careers of a whole cohort of stars like Tom Cruise and Mat Dillon
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
While his film lacks the emotional conviction and psychological insight of Nicholas Ray's classic work, his grandiose vision pays off in some stunning camerawork.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
I'm not convinced the additional music and footage make the film all that much better, but there's no denying the film is now more than ever like Hinton's book.

Read all 16 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Jeff "

The Outsiders directed by Francis Ford Coppola is a very well done adaptation of S.E Hinton's classic novel, The Outsiders. Francis Ford Coppola brings together an impressive and talented cast of actors. This is a superb film with a terrific story. I find that The Outsiders is… More
The Outsiders directed by Francis Ford Coppola is a very well done adaptation of S.E Hinton's classic novel, The Outsiders. Francis Ford Coppola brings together an impressive and talented cast of actors. This is a superb film with a terrific story. I find that The Outsiders is often overlooked as a great film, because after all, Francis Ford Coppola did direct The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. The Outsiders is a terrific, well plotted and directed film that stays truthful to the book. That's what I love about Coppola, his respect for the source material. Just like he did with Mario Puzo's The Godfather, Coppola stayed true to the novel when he made The Outsiders. This boasts a great cast of now known actors, and they each deliver good performances. The Outsiders is both dramatic and funny, and Coppola's brilliant directing definitely pulls you in. You feel something for the characters and you sympathize with them. Francis Ford Coppola is a phenomenal director, and because he's directed three film classics before this, The Outsiders is often forgotten, but it shouldn't. The film will appeal to fans of the book, as it stays truthful to the source material, and is yet another solid effort from Francis Ford Coppola. The Outsiders tells a remarkable story of a rivalry between two Teen gangs and the struggle to survive a brutal confrontation and the ultimate run from the law. The Outsiders is not a perfect film, but it definitely is a classic\, and is a definite must see.
Bob O

Notable for its, then unknown, cast of movie stars--Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Diane Lane and (golly) Tom Cruise--The Outsiders must go down as a well-intentioned folly. Francis Ford Coppola's attempt to transform S.E. Hinton's syrupy teen novel… More
Notable for its, then unknown, cast of movie stars--Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Diane Lane and (golly) Tom Cruise--The Outsiders must go down as a well-intentioned folly. Francis Ford Coppola's attempt to transform S.E. Hinton's syrupy teen novel into nostalgia infused pop-poetry only buckles under its faithfulness to the sentimentality of the author's saccharine prose--a book about male camaraderie clearly written by a young girl with a lot of feminine feelings.
erika b

The outsiders are about 2 gangs one that is from poor side of town and one from rich part of town. The rich gang went after pony boy and Johnny because they felt they cheated on thier women. Johnny kills someone from the rich gang. To stop them from killing his buddy pony boy. After… More
The outsiders are about 2 gangs one that is from poor side of town and one from rich part of town. The rich gang went after pony boy and Johnny because they felt they cheated on thier women. Johnny kills someone from the rich gang. To stop them from killing his buddy pony boy. After that the tense between the gangs got so back they decided on a rumble. Pros Good acting and plot It shows what it is like to be in gang and the hood.
Jennifer X

If there was ever a way to make an awful book an even more awful movie, Francis Ford Coppola has done just that. What the hell was that cheesy Gone With the Wind lighting, Francis?
J P

As someone who read the book, I can honestly say this is a very shitty adaptation. The characters in the movie are painfully shallow. It's really, really hard to care about the characters because the movie tells us so little about them. Boys from the gang like Steve and… More
As someone who read the book, I can honestly say this is a very shitty adaptation. The characters in the movie are painfully shallow. It's really, really hard to care about the characters because the movie tells us so little about them. Boys from the gang like Steve and Two-Bit just kind of appear on screen, and are never properly introduced. Even though I read the book, I was still like "who the hell are those guys?". It wasn't until after the credits I realized who they were supposed to be. The characters overall are very underdeveloped. Johnny was beaten up pretty badly in the book by the Socs, making him very nervous around strangers. In the movie, it showed Johnny being uneasy around strangers/Socs, but it never really went into detail about why. The "why" part is a pretty vital part of the story. That was only one of the many plot holes in this movie. The number of plot holes in the Outsiders is astounding. The movie also didn't go into depth about the relationships the boys had with each other. Pony had a tight relationship with his brother Soda, and a pretty rocky relationship with his other brother Darry. Darry and Soda are very important parts of the plot, yet they only get maybe 10mins of screen time. Dally and Johnny also had a very unique relationship with each other, yet you barely see that relationship in the film. The scenes in the movie were taken from the book, but they were all thrown together in a random fashion that made it hard to understand the movie, if you hadn't read the book. The transitions from one scene to the next didn't make any sense either. Especially the beginning, when Pony starts writing his essay for school. It never goes into WHY he was writing or what it was for.....it doesn't even say what he's writing about! Major scenes were also cut from the movie like Pony getting beaten up after walking home from the movies. That's actually the very beginning of the movie, and it's where they go into detail about each greaser. The pacing was also very off. The movie cuts half way through the book, and starts at the part where Pony, Johnny and Dally are at the movies. From there the movie just takes off, and everything happens too fast. Overall this was a poorly directed film. It had the potential to be great, since the book was pretty good, but somehow the director managed to screw it up big time.
AJ V

Normally considered a classic, but I didn't like it for some reason. I saw this on TV a long time ago, and I liked seeing all the great 80s teen actors, but I didn't get the story, it seemed really boring. I'll watch it again sometime and see what I think of it now.
MisterYoda ?

not interested
Mark W

Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of S.E Hinton's book which I remember reading when I was about 13yrs old. The book is aimed around that age group and I thoroughly it enjoyed it at the time but it's a shame that Coppola sticks very closely to that, in making the film.… More
Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of S.E Hinton's book which I remember reading when I was about 13yrs old. The book is aimed around that age group and I thoroughly it enjoyed it at the time but it's a shame that Coppola sticks very closely to that, in making the film. It would have been much better if he added a little more bite and dropped the innocence. It would definately have been possible for a more hard hitting film and the director of "The Godfather" more than capable of delivering that. Sadly it wasn't to be and the film ends up being aimed at a teenage audience also. However there are still some great scenes and a very impressive cast. The best thing about it though is Stevie Wonders song "Stay Gold".
Nani V

Classic! Loved both the book and movie! I rented this movie again after not seeing it for years and because my boyfriend has never seen it. I realized even more why I love it so much; it was beautifully shot, especially when Pony Boy and Johnny were at the abandoned church and… More
Classic! Loved both the book and movie! I rented this movie again after not seeing it for years and because my boyfriend has never seen it. I realized even more why I love it so much; it was beautifully shot, especially when Pony Boy and Johnny were at the abandoned church and they were talking about the sunset. "Stay gold, Pony Boy, stay gold." - Johnny
Tim S

There is some good stuff in this movie, but it feels a bit convoluted and doesn't have a clear story direction. Perhaps that's intentional, but it just didn't sit right with me.
Jason S

It's good but not as good as I would have expected from Cappola. While the script is fine the acting is weakened by the inexperience of the cast trying to pull off some pretty strong characters. The music is horribly melodramatic and it even distracts from the film at times.… More
It's good but not as good as I would have expected from Cappola. While the script is fine the acting is weakened by the inexperience of the cast trying to pull off some pretty strong characters. The music is horribly melodramatic and it even distracts from the film at times. All in all it's a movie I recommend watching but not one that would make any top list I would make.
KJ P

I enjoyed the novel, and for once the movie adaptation was actually good!
Wahida K

They grew up on the outside of society. They weren't looking for a fight. They were looking to belong.
Conner R

A great ensemble and on of the most dead on adaptions. It captures nearly everything S.E. Hinton put on paper and more. The characters even look better with such great casting. It's hard to not find this movie extremely powerful. It has such a mature outlook on life. Francis Ford… More
A great ensemble and on of the most dead on adaptions. It captures nearly everything S.E. Hinton put on paper and more. The characters even look better with such great casting. It's hard to not find this movie extremely powerful. It has such a mature outlook on life. Francis Ford Coppola did an excellent job and put a lot of effort into getting the tone and visual style just perfect.
Pierluigi P

Coppola's talent behind the camera is undeniable. I particularly like Ponyboy's memoirs at the theater after he sees "the hustler" and the "nothing gold can stay" moment with his partner Johnny. Although it is a big catalog of precious instants, I… More
Coppola's talent behind the camera is undeniable. I particularly like Ponyboy's memoirs at the theater after he sees "the hustler" and the "nothing gold can stay" moment with his partner Johnny. Although it is a big catalog of precious instants, I couldn't help but notice some uninspiring over sentimentality that made me roll my eyes a few times. Pity the story couldn't match the artistry of its images or its brilliant collection of old songs.
Anthony L

I remember how cool this film was at the time. Brat Pack classic!
Emile T

How the hell could the same man who did The Godfather made this complete crap ? This is truly despicable; the novel was far better than this.
Al S

One of the great film classics of the 1980's. One of the best novel to film adaptations ever. A masterpiece by Director, Frances Ford Coppola. A brilliant, stylish and exhilerating drama. A bold, beautiful, powerful and emotionally gripping powerhouse piece of work. It's… More
One of the great film classics of the 1980's. One of the best novel to film adaptations ever. A masterpiece by Director, Frances Ford Coppola. A brilliant, stylish and exhilerating drama. A bold, beautiful, powerful and emotionally gripping powerhouse piece of work. It's performed by an excellent cast of actors, all the "Greats" have to start somewhere and some of the best performers started with this amasing movie. A story of friendship, loyalty and brotherhood that stands out as some of the best elements to describe this movie.
Cassie H

Great Movie
EightThirty .

Classic Drama 4 Gangsters ^_^