Written by Richard Whitley, Russ Dvonch, and Joseph McBride
Directed by Allan Arkush and Joe Dante

There are some themes that seem to be universal and transcend the generations. Just as I loved The Breakfast Club when I was in high school, I have seen my oldest child embrace that movie and its themes. Although the music may have changed some in the years since Rock ‘n’ Roll High School was released, the recurring theme of rebelling against authority in high school is just as alluring today as it was way back then.

The film opens the way dozens of other high school movies have – with the students arriving to what amounts to a typically chaotic day filled with a cross-section of students from various cliques.  When Sheena Is A Punk Rocker is blasted over the sound system, nearly the entire student body breaks out dancing.

This is the scene that greets the new principal, Miss Togar (portrayed by Mary Woronov).  She intimidates the student body and chastises the two girls responsible.

Tom (portrayed by Vincent Van Patten) is a good student and the captain of the football team.  However, he’s a bit of a nerd, terribly awkward around girls, and can’t seem to get a date.  A visit to the high school guru, Mr. Eaglebauer (portrayed by Clint Howard), who wants to set him up with Kate Rambeau (portrayed by Dey Young). However, Tom would rather go with Riff Randell (portrayed by P.J. Soles), the rock and roll girl at the center of the opening disturbance.

Meanwhile, Miss Togar has decided that all of the school’s problems center around rock-n-roll and sets out to extinguish its influence from all over the school. She uses a device to show the bad effects of rock music. When the music of The Ramones is played loudly, mice from the school’s science lab explode.

Riff cuts class to get tickets to see The Ramones live.  While she’s staked out her spot and waiting in line, the band shows up. They bring the bad into a film that’s already been pretty well set up for them. Although much of the activity centers around the kids in the school, the band does get a good amount of screen time.

The movie here descends into the battle against authority with Riff leading the charge. It ends with the kids blowing up the school, something which didn’t have the connotations in 1979 that it does today. The film works largely because it has the same appeal to students today as it did back when it was first released; the battle against the rules that confine them and in some cases, stifle them.

I was surprised to learn that Rock ‘n’ Roll High School was not created as a vehicle for The Ramones. Unlike other films that center around a rock band, it didn’t come about by those who produced the film saying “We have this band, now let’s make a movie for them.” Rather, one of the earliest incarnations was Disco High – I couldn’t see that working, and neither could the producers. They eventually latched on to The Ramones who at the time were at the height of the punk movement and about as anti-authority as you can get.

Most of the lines from the band come courtesy of Joey Ramone, whom Riff has a crush on. I don’t see it – I was more of a Dee Dee person myself. Joey is tall and gangly and doesn’t always make sense when he talks. Even one of the other character’s names he can’t wrap his tongue around and instead of referring to the teacher as Mr. McGree (portrayed by the late Paul Bartel) he ends up calling him Mr. McGlub or something like that. It does work in a sense, however, and that’s the good part of the film. Just don’t expect any Academy Award-winning sequences when the band tries to act.

A huge plus for Rock ‘n’ Roll High School is that when The Ramones perform, instead of bits and pieces of songs the viewer is treated to the songs in their entirety. The music is terrific and through the years has been a great way for me to remember this era. Even now though they are not in the limelight, the fact that the film’s makers chose to use hard-driving punk music over what was considered pop (or, God forbid, disco) at the time gives the film a degree of timelessness.

There are some terrific bits of humor in the film, but not all of them overt. The students attend Vince Lombardi High School and in addition to the school’s colors being the same as the Green Bay Packers, there are pictures of the idolized coach throughout the school. However, the pictures continually change and a picture of the coach that was present in one scene at a certain place will be replaced by a different picture later on. Miss Togar has something of a Hitler-like look to her and indeed seems to want to run the school more like a military camp than a high school. Her two hall monitor underlings are more like two of the Stooges than objects of authority.

Without The Ramones, Rock ‘n’ Roll High School would have likely faded into oblivion. The rest of the film is mostly a predictable cheesy B movie. It’s not horrible as the actors all do adequate jobs, but there’s nothing remarkable or new to the story. It does have the feel-good quality of teenage rebellion that had my own kids laughing when we viewed it together. There are some funny lines that they won’t all get if they aren’t Ramones fans, such as when I had to explain how they aren’t really related after Miss Togar asks the band “Do your parents know you’re Ramones?” It’s still a lot of fun, though.

I’d recommend getting your hands on the DVD over viewing the film on television. It’s most often aired on VH1 and VH1-Classic and with the no-drugs policy, there’s one funny sequence that’s usually edited out. There is mild drug use in the film as Riff smokes a joint in her room. The band is clean, though, and it even shows Joey having to naturalize his body while other members of the band chow down on pizza. This was more funny back in the day when people really weren’t paying all that much attention to what they were putting in their bodies and it does still work for a brief joke now.

The DVD was cleaned up quite well and the picture is great. Even better is the sound as the music can be appreciated, even if the band did have to lip-synch to the songs. The bonus features are worth paying attention to on the DVD as the details of what went into filming this are priceless, especially if you were or still are a fan of The Ramones.

You don’t have to be a fan of The Ramones to like the film, and it’s a fun movie to watch with teenagers. The different stories going on make for a lot of fun and listening to The Ramones in their heyday is terrific.


BONUS FEATURES:

• Back to School: A Retrospective
• Audio Commentary with Roger Corman and Dey Young (Kate Rambeau)
• Audio Commentary with Director Allan Arkush, Producer Michael Finnell, and Screenwriter Richard Whitely
• Audio Outtakes at the Roxy
• Original Radio Ads
• Original Theatrical Trailer