Rock 'N' Roll High School: Rock On Edition: Roger Corman Early Films Combined DVD & UMD For PSP Review

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Title: Rock ‘N’ Roll High School: Rock On Edition: Roger Corman Early Films

Region: One

Genre: Comedy

Stars: P.J. Soles, Vincent Van Patten, Clint Howard, Mary Woronov, Paul Bartel, Paul Bartel, Dick Miller, Don Steele, and The Ramones

Writers: Richard Whitley, Russ Dvonch, and Joseph McBride

Based On A Story By: Allan Arkush and Joe Dante

Director: Allan Arkush

Feature length: 94 minutes

Extras: “Back To School” Featurette (DVD Exclusive), Audio Commentary With Roger Corman and Dey Young (DVD Exclusive), Audio Outtakes At The Roxy With The Ramones (DVD Exclusive), Audio Commentary With Director Allan Arkush, Producer Michael Finnell, and Screenwriter Richard Whitley, Theatrical Trailer

Languages: English Stereo Sound

Subtitles: English Subtitles For The Deaf And Hearing Impaired

Packaging: Keep Case

Chapter Stops: 12

Sound: Stereo Sound

Year of Theatrical Release: 1979/DVD Release: 2005/UMD Release: 2005

Theatrical Distributor: New World Pictures

Home Video Distributor: Buena Vista Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: PG

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

If you grew up in New York City in the 1970s and 1980s or know someone who did, there is a good chance you have heard of “The Ramones” before and knew someone who saw them play live. The Ramones would often appear at various rock clubs in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens and gave fans close access through the use of these smaller and more intimate venues for a more intense concert experience. Their music has been labeled as punk, alternative, college, and many other music genres, but regardless of what one may consider them, I think any fan would agree that they were a great band. Members of The Ramones have appeared on various TV specials and radio programs as well as provided songs for feature film soundtracks like Stephen King’s “Pet Sematary.” Sadly in recent years band members have passed away and this Buena Vista home video release on both DVD and UMD has been dedicated to the memory of Joey Ramone, who died in 2001. For those who enjoy their music, we will always have their songs and albums as well as any videotaped or concert appearance the band including the Roger Corman produced film “Rock ‘N” Roll High School.”

“Rock ‘N’ Roll High School” is a time capsule of sorts of the transition period between the 70s and the 80s. As a comedy, “Rock ‘N’ Roll High School” is a bit infantile, but as soon as the Ramones appear, he film picks up pace very quickly and is far more enjoyable. In some ways one might call this film a hybrid between a fantasy and a musical as much as it is a comedy since it does feature a scene where we see The Ramones pull up to The Roxy and they are literally singing and playing instruments despite the fact there are no amps or drums present, but it is just so cool and fun to watch that quite honestly I just forget the absurdity, buy into it, and enjoy myself. Another great scene that is cut from television broadcasts is a fantasy segment where the lead character Riff Randal (P.J. Soles) smokes a joint and imagines The Ramones serenading her in her bedroom and bathroom no less singing “I want you to know.” One could almost consider it an early music video. P.J. Soles is perfect in the film too because she is just so bouncy and cute. She carries a certain amount of innocence in her performance too that’s both refreshing and endearing. One could honestly believe she is or was a Ramones super-fan. Ironically the best line of dialogue occurs near the film’s memorable climax when veteran character actor Dick Miller as a police officer watching The Ramones play in front of the high school that the students have seized comments “They’re Ugly. Ugly, ugly people.” “The Ramones” are good sports for allowing themselves to be parodied in that way and for everything they do in the film. “Rock ‘N’ Roll High School” is not the best high school film ever made, but it is still fun to watch after more than two decades.

As part of the series of films Buena Vista Home Entertainment is distributing, the “Rock ‘N’ Roll High School: Rock On Edition: Roger Corman Early Films” is available on both DVD and UMD-Video for PSP. Despite what the packaging states, the image quality and transfer appear to be taken from the original letterboxed (1.85:1) “Lumivision” DVD release and has not been enhanced for 16 by 9 televisions. As a result on a widescreen TV the film looks stretched and while letterboxed to fit nearly perfectly on to the widescreen LCD of the Sony PlayStation Portable, the UMD version picture quality often appears jumbled up with minor compression artifacts and distortion. Both versions feature an English Stereo Soundtrack as well as English Subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired. They both also feature the original audio commentary with Director Allan Arkush, Producer Michael Finnell, and Screenwriter Richard Whitley, that was featured on the Lumivision DVD release and both include the original theatrical trailer (2:09).

Exclusive to the DVD release are radio spots, audio outtakes from The Ramones performance at The Roxy, a new retrospective featurette (23:46) with new interview clips that include Allan Arkush, Roger Corman, Joe Dante, Dey Young, Clint Howard, Marky Ramone, Loren Lester, and Mary Woronov and a new audio commentary track with Roger Corman and Dey Young. Some of the background information is repeated here and there, but for anyone curious about the film, it is quite interesting. Director Allan Arkush was hospitalized due to exhaustion just before filming the last scene for the movie. Roger Corman as a rule always reminded his filmmakers to remember to take a seat every once in a while because directing a feature film, especially a low budget independent feature can be grueling. So Joe Dante stepped in and directed the last segment for Arkush lending crossover team support since everyone who worked on a New World Pictures production would often wear more than one hat in the filmmaking process.

The interactive menus for both versions are well rendered and easy to navigate and the UMD for PSP version features full motion scene selections too. “Rock ‘N’ Roll High School: Rock On Edition: Roger Corman Early Films” is available on DVD-Video and UMD-Video for PSP at retailers on and offline now courtesy of Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

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