Editorial Review:

Product Description:
It was the last day of high school in 1976. A time theyd never forget if they could only remember. At a wild and crazy midnight beer bash friendships are made and lost futures pondered romances rekindled and beleaguered freshman plot their revenge. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 02/06/2007 Starring: Jason London Rory Cochrane Run time: 103 minutes Rating: R

Amazon.com:
You remember high school? Really remember? If you think you do, watch this film: it'll all really come racing back. After changing the world with the generation-defining Slacker, director Richard Linklater turned his free-range vérité sensibility on the 1970s. As before, his all-seeing camera meanders across a landscape studded with goofy pop culture references and poignant glimpses of human nature. Only this time around, he's spreading a thick layer of nostalgia over the lens (and across the soundtrack). It's as if Fast Times at Ridgemont High was directed by Jean-Luc Godard. The story deals with a group of friends on the last day of high school, 1976. Good-natured football star Randall 'Pink' Floyd navigates effortlessly between the warring worlds of jocks, stoners, wannabes, and rockers with girlfriend and new-freshman buddy in tow. Surprisingly, it's not a coming-of-age movie, but a film that dares ask the eternal, overwhelming, adolescent question, 'What happens next?' It's a little too honest to be a light comedy (representative quote: 'If I ever say these were the best years of my life, remind me to kill myself.'). But it's also way too much fun (remember souped-up Corvettes and bicentennial madness?) to be just another existential-essay-on-celluloid. --Grant Balfour









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Rating: - All I'm saying is that if I ever start referring to these as the best years of my life - remind me to kill myself
THE TOP TEN THINGS I WAS 'DAZED AND CONFUSED' BY

1. Dazed and Confused spent 16% of the budget securing the rights to 70s pop songs for the sound track--but did they use "Dazed and Confused" the Led Zeppelin song from which the film took its title? No. Linklater asked Led Zeppelin if he could use it, and Jimmy Page said "yes," but Robert Plant said "no." They did get the rights to "School's Out" by Alice Cooper, "Love Hurts" by Nazareth, "Tush" by ZZ Top, "Cherry Bomb" by The Runaways, and the song that seems to sum up the zeitgeist--the spirit of 1976--almost as well as the Zep song would have, though the title isn't nearly as catchy, "Slow Ride" by Foghat. It is used at least twice, and the final time is for the ending, to sum up the whole experience.

2. Richard Linklater directed 'Dazed and Confused,' and he also directed 'Slackers,' 'The School of Rock,' and 'Through a Scanner, Darkly.' The latter was roto-scopped, a technique that converts live action to animation, and then the special effects can be animated as well. It saves lots of money, so they got a lot of heavy weight actors to play the parts, like Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, and Robert Downey Jr. Actually, they all wanted to do it because they were fans of Philip K. Dick. Rory Cochrane, who plays stoner Ron Slater in 'Dazed and Confused' is also in it. It is based on a book by Philip K. Dick. The Dick Estate was really hoping that they could finally capture a Dick book on celluloid. Hollywood has tried many times, but never really got the escense of his writing. I really wanted to see it, but it disappeared from theaters so fast I never had a chance. By the way, if you notice when I mention a movie there is a link, but it is at the bottom. I don't want to interrupt the flow of reading so I mention now, and Link Later (Rim shot denoting a supremely punishing pun).

3. Richard Floyd, Andy Slater and Bobby Wooderson were the actual people from Linklater's Huntsville High School daze that he based some of his characters on, but they claim Linklater never asked them if he could use their surnames, and they later ended up suing him in October of 2004. Floyd, who now works at a car showroom in Huntsville, Texas, says, "We had fun in high school, but there is nothing true about that movie. Yet I am having to deal with it all the time." The lawsuit was filed in New Mexico rather than Texas because New Mexico has a longer statute of limitations.

4. Dazed and Confused only grossed $8 million when it was first released, but it has gone on to cult status. Quentin Tarantino cited it on a list of the 12 greatest films of all time. Roger Ebert gave it three stars out of four, calling it "art mixed with anthropology" with "a painful underside." Entertainment Weekly put it third on a list of the 50 best High School movies.

5. Call me crazy, but in spite of the posthumous acclaim afforded 'Dazed and Confused' I think that 'Varsity Blues' is the better film. Both were about football crazed high schools in Texas, yet D&C never had a single scene of anyone actually playing football. VB has some great football scenes. Also, the reluctant hero of VB won the big game, but didn't let football define his life, going on to college. The quarterback of D&C makes a stand by refusing to sign a pledge to not take drugs and hangs out with stoners. Not exactly an inspiring message. Granted, D&C was more realistic while VB had some scenes of comic relief that verged on the silly. Also, VB was at times powered by the fantasy/wish fulfillment engine. While Tarantino may have put his Seal of Approval on D&C, VB garnered a shout out from 'Mean Girls.'

6. Mike Newhouse (Adam Goldberg) is what could be described as either an intellectual outsider or a nerd. He belongs to a trio of misfits who have banded together. As their High School days come to an end, they decide to go to a beer bust, tired of thinking, thinking, thinking and endlessly discussing their thoughts.

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Mike: It's what everybody in this car needs is some good ol' worthwhile visceral experience.
==========================

Goldberg wanted to do the movie when he read that his character would get into a fight, and thereby have an epiphany of sorts at said beer bust. Adam will be familiar to most viewers from his numerous television appearances where he proved adept at "mining the neuroses of his characters for both comedic and dramatic effect."* For instance, 2005's "Head Cases" where he played a lawyer with explosive disorder, would seem made to order for a man of his talents, but it only lasted five episodes on Fox. He was on both "Friends" and the ill considered spin off, "Joey," but as different characters. He played Freud in fellow nerd cast mate Marissa Ribisi's film, 'Some Girl.' I would be curious to see his performance in drug noir film 'The Salton Sea' with Val Kilmer. He was once engaged to Christina Ricci.

7. Tony Olson (Anthony Rapp) is another one of the misfits. A major part of 'Dazed and Confused' is the hazing that occurs for the incoming freshmen and freshwomen students. Though they observe (and by "observe" I mean they watch, not partake, in it) the ritual with disdain, it serves as an icebreaker when Jodi Kramer hazes Sabrina Davis (Christin Hinojosa):

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Jodi: Ask Tony to marry you.
Sabrina Davis: Will you marry me?
Tony: Oh god, what am I supposed to say?
Mike: I don't know.
Tony: Uh, whadda ya do for me?
Sabrina Davis: Umm, anything you like.
Tony: [turns to Mike] Imagine the possibilities.
======================

They later connect at the beer bust where he uses this classic pick up line:

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Tony: We were just discussing the utter stupidity of these initiation rituals, and we were wondering how someone such as you would subject themselves to the losing end of it all.
=========================

Anthony Rapp went on to star in 'Rent.' He originated the role of "Mark Cohen" on Broadway and also played him in the film version. He also appeared in the original Broadway production of 'Six Degrees of Separation' and the film adaptation. He was a childhood friend of Andy Dick, an experience that no doubt scarred him for life. He was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance of a cast in 'A Beautiful Mind,' an honor that he shared with Adam Goldberg and Russell Crowe. Christina Hinojosa hasn't done anything acting-wise since 1997, but as a freshman at the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago she founded the organization Wage Peace in 2002. She currently is one of their most prominent public speakers.

8. Cynthia Dunn (Marissa Ribisi) is the third member of the intellectual High School misfit trio. It is her red hair and good looks that get them invited to the beer bust by David Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey). Though Wooderson is a 22 year-old who still hangs out with High School kids, Cynthia is flattered by the attention.

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Cynthia: God, don't you ever feel like everything we do and everything we've been taught is just to service the future?
Tony: Yeah I know, like it's all preparation.
Cynthia: Right. But what are we preparing ourselves for?
Mike: Death.
Tony: Life of the party.
Mike: It's true.
Cynthia: You know, but that's valid because if we are all gonna die anyway shouldn't we be enjoying ourselves now? You know, I'd like to quit thinking of the present, like right now, as some minor insignificant preamble to something else.
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Marissa Ribisi is the twin of Giovanni Ribisi, though obviously they are not identical. They were born 15 minutes apart. Like her brother and Adam Goldberg, Marissa has also appeared on "Friends." One of her film roles was in 'The Size of Watermelons.' She wrote and appeared in the film 'Some Girl' which was about four unstable twenty something women living in Los Angeles and looking for stable relationships. She found one herself, and is also officially the Queen of All Nerds, as she is married to Beck.

9. Mitch Kramer (Wiley Wiggins) is one of the freshmen who is singled out for harsh punishment by Fred O'Bannion (Ben Affleck), and it gets even harsher when his big sister Jodi Kramer (Michelle Burke) pleads for leniency.

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Mitch: [after seniors threaten him] Er, Mr. Payne. Sir. You know every second that you could let us out early would really increase our chances of survival.
Mr. Payne, junior high school teacher: It's like our sergeant told us before one trip into the jungle.
[shouts]
Mr. Payne, junior high school teacher: Men!
[the boys jump]
Mr. Payne, junior high school teacher: Fifty of you are leaving on a mission. Twenty-five of you ain't coming back.
Mitch: Okay.
================

Mitch's punishment becomes harsher still when he evades Fred's initial attempt and his mother (Mona Lee Fultz) greets Fred's knock on the door like Dick Chaney--with a loaded shotgun. Mitch is the pitcher on the baseball team, and therefore his whereabouts are disclosed to Fred. But don't worry; soon he is partying up a storm with his former tormentors, running in the same circles as big sister Jodi:

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Jodi: Is that a beer in your hand?
Mitch: Why, yes it is.
Jodi: Have you had more than one of those?
Mitch: Few. No one's counting.
Jodi: When were you supposed to be home?
Mitch: Few hours ago I think.
Jodi: That's ********. That's major ********. You know I was barely let out at your age?
Mitch: Aww.
Jodi: Aww. Well don't think she won't be waiting up for you. And she is tough. I've been through it.
Mitch: Just don't ask her to take it easy on me.
===========================

10. Fred O'Bannion (Ben Affleck) is perhaps a little too invested in the hazing ritual, as he flunked and was held back a year, some conjecture just so he could participate a second time in the merciless paddling of freshmen. Funny thing, though Ben Affleck is the biggest star to participate in 'Dazed and Confused' yet I didn't even recognize him until I saw the credits roll. Renée Zellweger had a bit part as Girl in blue pickup truck but it was uncredited. Perhaps that is where she met Rory Cochrane, who played stoner Ron Slater, because they lived together for four years. Back to Affleck, he co-starred with and chased Joey Lauren Adams (who played Simone Kerr in 'Dazed and Confused') in 'Chasing Amy.' In the links below I chose 'Reindeer Games' as his most embarrassing movie though I was attempted to use 'Gigli.' Reason is because he was teased about it in 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back' and director Kevin Smith ought to know what gets his goat--or reindeer as the case may be.

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O'Bannion: You are an embarrassment to the game of pool and should be glad I even let you play at my table.
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A Scanner Darkly (2006)
Rent (2005)
School of Rock (Widescreen Edition) (2003)
The Salton Sea (2002)
Reindeer Games (2000)
Varsity Blues (1999)
Some Girl (1998)
Chasing Amy - Criterion Collection (1997)
Size of Watermelons [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - New Zealand ] (1996)
Boys on the Side (1995)

Cue Foghat's "Slow Ride."

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Rating: - "....Sweet Emotion...."
Buy it. If you are considering this movie, have specifically come searching for this movie on here just do it. I had the regular version, had actually completely forgotten about this movie and then for some reason decided to watch it one day and fell in love all over again. Went online to get more information and found this. I had it sent to me in Japan and it was the best 50$ I have spent in a while (postage etc).
The movie and extras more than lived up to expectations. The second disc has a ton of interviews, both from the time of shooting and the 10 year 'reunion'. Everyone is classically young and somewhat normal at the cusp of some great careers. They are casual, cocky, tired, nervous, but at the heart of it all entertaining. The deleted scenes were interesting to see and in my opinion the right ones to cut. You can see the attempt to build more character development but that would have definitely changed the tone of the movie.
The book is v. interesting and insightful with some great 'essays' written about the movie, the cast, and more importantly the time that that this movie attempted to portray. It did all the things it was meant to do; remind me of my school days, make me nostalgic for lost youth and wonder where all the friends I had lost touch with ended up, made me want to ride shotgun in my boyfriends sexy muscle car, made me want to smoke that joint.
The movie itself is great, the criterion collection addition to it just makes it something more.

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Rating: - DVD Purchase
My first purchase on Amazon.com was very easy anyone could have made this purchase with just a few clicks on the keyboard,I was very pleased with the ease in finding and making the purchase of the product I needed and getting it shipped ontime as a birthday gift without even leaving my home,delivered to my door.And the selections are amazeing you can find almost anything you want or need.

David C. Greenville SC

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Rating: - Swing & miss
Supposed to be about the era when I graduated High School. It's not. At least not on this planet. Instead it's a parade of stereotypes, over used prop-gags, and a hodge-podge of someone else's confused idea of what might have been happening, some place. To someone.

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Rating: - A Modern Classic that captures an era as perfectly as looking through an old photo album.
Richard Linklater's first picture, SLACKER, made on a shoestring, earned him a lot of attention, and he somehow managed to persuade Universal Pictures to spend $6 million on his sophomore effort, DAZED & CONFUSED, which follows a group of two dozen suburban Texas kids on the last day of high school in 1976. The studio that financed AMERICAN GRAFFITI several years before may have been hoping that lightning would strike again, and indeed there are intriguing similarities between the two movies. Both of them are ensemble pieces introducing a slew of talented young actors; both observe the cruising and dating rituals of a diverse gang of kids on a single afternoon and night; both feature wall-to-wall scores of golden oldies.

But the differences between the two movies are striking as well. AMERICAN GRAFFITI, set in 1962, was a chronicle of the last days of innocence. In DAZED & CONFUSED, innocence is already long gone. These kids, some of them as young as 14 or 15, booze it up, smoke dope, search for sex, and speak in a rush of profanities that might make the characters in a Scorsese movie blush, Unlike the idealistic kids in GRAFFITI, these teenage slackers are aimless and nihilistic. The film is more honest than George Lucas's reminiscence in acknowledging the tensions among the different cliques of high school kids, and it's psychologically perceptive about their conflicting impulses toward conformity and defiance. Linklater's alter ego, the incoming freshman Mitch (Wiley Wiggins), is flattered by the attention he gets from the older jocks even while he despises their infantile high jinks.

The performances are persuasive down to the smallest part, and Linklater has a fine ear for the unexpectedly loopy turns of phrase that make these teenagers come to life. He renders all of them -- the drugged out space cadet, the vascillating quarterback, the goons who take an almost psychotic relish in paddling freshman, the nerdy intellectual and the budding feminist -- with wit and affection. To anyone from the AMERICAN GRAFFITI generation, the teenagers in DAZED & CONFUSED may seem as alien as a band of Martians, but Linklater's passionate concern for the clan he's conjured should keep everyone mesmerized.