Rock 'n' Roll High School (Roger Corman's Cult Classics) [Blu-ray]

There are a few clever jokes in the movie (like naming the school Vince Lombardi High) but it's pretty much an hour and a half long music video. You're better off just buying any Ramones album because the sound quality during their movie concert is pretty bad. And even with a brief shot of a guy trying to snort spilled coke out of a rug, it's a disturbingly innocent take on punk. If you're a deathly serious Ramones fan, this movie's for you and only you. Otherwise, skip this and buy The School of Rock, a vast improvement on a similar theme.

The movie does a great job of playfully championing the Ramones as rock gods and yet shows them being accessible to their fans. The band first appears in a car driving down the street on the way to their venue as they play "I Just Wanna Have Something To Do." Once outside the club, they get out of the car and interact with the crowd of ticket buyers. The editing, coupled with the insanely catchy song gives the scene an infectious energy.

From B-movie veterans like Paul (Eating Raoul) Bartel and Mary (Death Race 2000) Woronov to newcomers (at the time), P.J. (Halloween) Soles and Dey (Strange Invaders) Young, the entire cast has a lot of fun spouting the film's wonderfully inspired cornball dialogue ("If you don't like it, you can put it where the monkey puts the nuts."). The Ramones are good sports and mumble their way through the film and truly coming alive during the music sequences. The movie rightfully cements their reputation as legends.

Rock 'n' Roll High School embodies the essence of the punk rock music that made the Ramones famous. The film is bursting with youthful energy, a dose of good ol' fashion anarchy and is loads of fun to watch. These are also the ingredients that made Rock 'n' Roll High School a cult film. It was a commercial and critical failure upon its initial release but repeated midnight screenings, coupled with steady appearances on TV, have helped the film endure over the years.

Producer Michael Finnell, screenwriter Richard Whitley and director Alan Arkush deliver an engaging and rather chatty audio commentary. The three men laugh and joke about working on Rock 'n' Roll High School. They clearly have fond memories of their experiences on the movie.

Also included is a dynamic theatrical trailer that gives away the ending! Definitely watch this last if you haven't seen the movie.

Leonard Maltin interviews Roger Corman about the movie. To his credit, the veteran filmmaker admits that he was wrong about the Disco High idea and was glad that Arkush convinced him to go with Rock 'n' Roll High School.

A real treat for fans of the Ramones are several audio outtakes during the filming of the concert sequence. These are the original audio tracks of the band in action.

While Rock 'n' Roll High School will appeal predominantly to fans of the Ramones (duh!), it is also one of those fun, goofy movies to invite friends over and watch with copious amounts of junk food on hand. Despite a lackluster transfer, the audio commentary and audio outtakes are worth the price of purchase for this fantastic cinematic oddity.

Seriously, this movie has everything you could possibly think of, with the kitchen sink thrown in. We got the 'Ron Howard's Brother' in possibly one of his largest roles ever. His office is the boy's room and he aims to bring romance into your life. Even if you're a nerdy football player(?) who's opening line has something to do with the rain in Idaho.

The Ramones make this movie, there's no argument there. You get some concert footage of them that is filmed well. Where ele can you get footage of Joey singing with a camera a half inch away from his face?? They get some funny lines and end the film running through the high school with the rest of the kids. Sure the school gets blown up in the end, but c'mon it's all in the name of rock n roll.