In most cases when books are turned into movies, the results are less than stellar. There are exceptions, but most people will agree no matter how great the director is, it is usually hard to capture the same intensity on the big screen. There are tons of movies that evolved from books, but one major one for teens in the 80’s was The Outsiders. Based on S.E. Hinton’s novel, The Outsiders tells the story of the greasers and socs. A classic tale of the rivalry of kids from the wrong side of the tracks and the kids who want to make sure they never forget their place. Although the book was written 1967 and the movie came later when it was made by Francis Ford Coppola in 1983. Since then, many people have not only read the book or saw the movie The Outsiders, they also may have gone on to read the sequels That Was Then, This Is Now and Rumble Fish. Although neither of the sequels, in my opinion, were as good as the first, both of them were also turned into feature films starring some of the same actors from first film. The Outsiders had what could be described as a young all-star line up. C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillion, Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez and Ralph Macchio made up the infamous greaser group. Even with a great cast, director, and script, a film based on a book has great obstacles to overcome. Although a great movie its still hard to hold a candle next to such a great book. Stay gold Ponyboy.