Welcome to New Granada, the planned suburban paradise hailed as “tomorrow’s city … today.” But something’s been left out of the plans. One quarter of the town’s population is under the age of 15. And while the adults scramble to boost the resale value of New Granada’s stores, offices, and condos, the kids are left to discover their own values – and come up with enough drugs, booze, and discontent to push themselves and the entire community Over The Edge.

Filled with top-notch performances – including that of Matt Dillon in his screen debut – and backed by an anthemic soundtrack featuring Van Halen, Ramones, The Cars, and Cheap Trick, Over The Edge sounds an unforgettable warning to any society that makes no place for its children.

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Video Quality

Over The Edge comes to Blu-Ray with a fantastic digital AVC encoded 1080p transfer derived from a new 2K scan of the Interpositive. The film was released overseas by Arrow Video in 2021, but the master used for that one was from an older source. Clarity and detail are in great shape with some of the makeup effects and grime appearing unique in close-up shots. We also love seeing the dry desert sprawl, the throwback clothing choices, and the production design that all renders with a surprising amount of texture and definition. Skin tones are consistent and natural across the ensemble.

Colors faithfully saturate the frame with impressive hues popping off the screen in the background elements, light sources, and costumes. Black levels rarely falter with crush and compression artifacts not serving as an issue. Print damage has been eradicated with nothing big ever impairing the image. The transfer maintains the natural film grain of the source without any unnatural manipulation to compromise the image. The grain helps bring out the complexity of the image while avoiding a weak encode that could introduce some unwanted elements. Shout! Studios has treated this one with the utmost care.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray presents the film with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio dual mono track that executes everything ideally. One of the elements that stands out is the score from composer Sol Kaplan which sets the tone for what you are about to watch. His music radiates out with strong fidelity. The dialogue comes through crisply in harmony with all competing sounds. The environmental effects such as the car engines and chatter of kids at the community center are delineated without breaking a sweat. This track does not push the boundaries of sonic limitations, but it provides the appropriate texture while never showing any weakness. Shout! Studios has done what is needed here. There are optional English SDH subtitles provided.

Special Features

Audio Commentaries: There are two commentary tracks provided by the creative figures, one of which was recorded for the DVD release in 2005 and the other was recorded for the Arrow Video release. There are some great personal insights and reflections that illuminate quite a bit.

- Audio Commentary #1: Director Jonathan Kaplan, Producer George Litto, and Writers Tim Hunter & Charlie Haas

- Audio Commentary #2: Michael Kramer and Journalist Mike Sacks

Isolated Music and Effects Track: An option to watch the film with just the music and effects audible in DTS-HD 1.0 Master Audio.

Watch Out For Children – Making Over The Edge: A new 16-minute interview with Director Jonathan Kaplan in which he discusses first hearing about the material, what he was doing at this point in his career, the casting of the feature, filming at the school, refinements he made to the script, and more.

Coming Of Age – Writing Over The Edge: A new 17-minute interview with Screenwriter Charlie Haas who discusses the ideas behind the film, influences on the script, the production and legacy of the feature, and more.

My Father Told Me – Scoring Over The Edge: A new 14-minute interview with Jonathan Kaplan about his father, composer Sol Kaplan, in which he discusses his father’s early career work, working with Alfred Newman, developing the sound for Over The Edge, and much more.

Wide Streets + Narrow Minds: A multi-part retrospective documentary produced for Arrow Video that features interviews with the cast and creative team that traces the film from development to release.

- Part 1 – The Big Stool Pigeon (11:08)

- Part 2 – This Is The Kid (7:46)

- Part 3 – Blonde-Haired Jesus (10:16)

- Part 4 – A Face In The Crowd (12:53)

- Part 5 – Boom Boom (10:03)

- Part 6 – A Training Film For Vandalism (10:17)

- Part 7 – Kids Are More Honest Than Adults (10:18)

Destruction – Fun or Dumb?: A 13-minute full version of the excerpted video from the film.

Trailers (5:58)

TV Spots (1:04)

Final Thoughts

Over The Edge is an impactful coming-of-age crime drama that makes the wise choice to take the kids seriously. The film does not settle on a tidy black-and-white evaluation of righteousness, which makes it all the more compelling to see how both sides react to the escalating situation. The young performers are surprisingly good when it comes to selling their arc, and the adults bring the right amount of gravitas. This one has been overlooked for far too long. Shout! Studios has delivered a Blu-Ray featuring a grand A/V presentation and some first-rate new and archival special features. Do not mistake this for a teenage fantasy, this has some real dramatic heft. Recommended

Over The Edge is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Shout! Studios has supplied a copy of this set free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.