Since we are currently in the middle of the school year, it seemed a good time for a list of top movies about High School. For criteria, I tried to focus on movies set in or on the school grounds and classrooms, about High School life, including cliques and bullies, and involving the teachers (when possible).
An excellent girl-clique companion to Heathers, and actually better in many people’s opinions. Also Lindsay Lohan’s best work to date. Cady is the new redhead that falls in with The Plastics, an A-list clique of supermodel-esque blondes. She then proceeds to fall for the ex-boyfriend of head-Plastic Regina (the wonderful Rachel McAdams). The Plastics plan their revenge, but Cady uses her jungle-environment home-schooling to get the last laugh. Also stars Tina Fey as the hot but socially awkward teacher, Ms. Norbury.
Glenn Holland is a musician and composer who takes a teaching job to pay the rent while, in his ‘spare time’, he can strive to achieve his true goal – compose one memorable piece of music to leave his mark on the world. As Holland discovers ‘Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans’ and as the years unfold the joy of sharing his contagious passion for music with his students becomes his new definition of success.
Tracy Flick is the most driven student at Carver High, who just happens to be having an affair with one of her teachers. Another teacher–Mr. McAllister–is having an affair with his wife’s best friend. Student Elections are under way, when Mr. McAllister persuades football jock Paul to run against Flick for his own pleasure. Flick, of course, is mortified that Paul is even trying to compete. Tammy, Paul’s lesbian sister who got dumped by her girlfriend to go with Paul, decides that running against her brother is the best revenge. Who will win the election this year?
High school girls’ cliques at their best (worst?). A snobbish group of girls named Heather (including Shannon Doherty) allow a new girl, Veronica (Winona Ryder) to join. Veronica’s boyfriend (Christian Slater) decides to shake up school politics by proposing killing the Heathers.
Samantha’s life is going downhill fast. The fifteen-year-old has a crush on the most popular boy in school, and the geekiest boy in school has a crush on her. Her sister’s getting married, and with all the excitement the rest of her family forgets her birthday! Add all this to a pair of horrendously embarrassing grandparents, a foreign exchange student named Long Duc Dong, and we have the makings of a hilarious journey into young womanhood.
A great high school fish-out-of-water story, as Marty (Michael J Fox) is accidentally sent back to 1955 and deals with his parents at school while he tries to get back to his own time without disrupting their budding romance. “Peggy Sue got Married” follows a similar vein.
A much younger Matthew Broderick decides to take the day off school, roping in his girlfriend and his reluctant hypochondriac buddy, which angers his sister (Dirty Dancing’s Jennifer Grey) and principal (Jeffrey Jones in a role made even creepier by his latest news), who spends all day trying to catch him. Introduced Ben Stein as the epitome of the boring teacher. Bueller? Bueller?
The best High School horror movie. Sissy Spacek is a social outcast with a domineering and over-protective mother (a psychotic Piper Laurie). The school kids decide to humiliate her during the big dance. Carrie gets her telekinetic revenge by burning the place to the ground and killing her mom and the popular girl.
Engineer Mark Thackeray arrives to teach a totally undisciplined class at an East End school. Still hoping for a good engineering job, he’s hopeful that he won’t be there long. He starts implementing his own brand of classroom discipline: forcing the pupils to treat each other with respect. Inevitably he begins getting involved in the students’ personal lives, and must avoid the advances of an amorous student while winning over the class tough. What will he decide when the engineering job comes through? An inspiring film showing life in the 1960s.
A picture perfect replica of 1980’s high school life in a small rural town. Napoleon is a geek who dreams of the popular girl while drawing unusual animals and fighting with his equally geeky older brother. He also decides to help new student Pedro become class president. Tater tots anyone?
Richard Dadier earns a teaching assignment at a tough high school, where the teenagers make the rules and the staff meekly accept the fact that they’ve lost control. When Dadier tries exerting his authority, he receives much hostility from both students and faculty, culminating with his pregnant wife receiving anonymous letters with false accusations that he is romantically involved with another woman at school. In anger, Dadier hurls an accusation at Gregory Miller, a black youth whom he fears is against him. Miller doesn’t deny the accusation. Instead he escalates the confrontation, but does that mean that he was the culprit?
Features the coming of age of four teenagers on their last summer night before college. Rediscover drag racing, Insipiration Point and drive-ins all over again in this nostalgic looks at the 60′s. The incredible soundtrack brings you the most memorable rock ‘n’ roll hits of the era.
Five wildly disparate students spend a Saturday doing detention in the library under the hawk-like supervision of Principal Vernon (Paul Gleeson). The jock (Emilio Estevez), the nerd (Anthony Michael Hall), the outcast (Judd Nelson), the princess (Molly Ringwald), and the basket-case (Ally Sheedy) share their stories and discover new friendships while tearing down their clichéd personas. Director John Hughes best teen film.
Dude! The ultimate high school vision of sex, school and rock and roll set in the 80’s in Southern California. (You get the feeling Cher from Clueless went to the same school). Sean Penn defined the laid-back surfer and battles stuck-in-the-mud Mr. Hand (a great Ray Walston), while Brad (Judge Reinhold) fantasizes (literally) about super-hot Phoebe Cates, who is getting sex-ed lessons from Brad’s sister, Stacy (Jennifer Leigh).
The soundtrack helped define the 80’s valley culture as well.
Greased Lightning! Set in the 50’s in Southern California, John Travolta’s greaser/hoodlum Danny falls in love with Olivia Newton-John’s transplanted virginal Aussie, Sandy, during the summer before Senior Year. Sandy ends up at Danny’s high school, where he rules the school with the Thunderbirds and their female counterparts, the Pink Ladies. Danny’s embarrassed to admit that he loves Sandy, while the Pink Ladies are determined to embarrass both. Hi-jinks include an American Bandstand-like dance contest, a street race against the rival gang, and an end-of-school carnival.
I [JFrater] have added this film to the list as a bonus because it is my favorite High School film. It is a bonus rather than an item on the list because it is really more about a focus on family life than school life. So, the synopsis: Jim Stark is the new kid in town. He has been in trouble elsewhere; which is why his family has had to move. Here he hopes to find the love he doesn’t get from his middle-class family. Though he finds some of this in his relationship with Judy, and a form of it in both Plato’s adulation and Ray’s real concern for him, Jim must still prove himself to his peers in switchblade knife fights and “chickie” games in which cars race toward a seaside cliff.
Notable omissions: Dazed and Confused, Footloose, Children of a Lesser God, Superbad, Pleasantville, Cruel Intentions, High School Musical, Can’t Buy Me Love, Varsity Blues, Fame, Hollywood Knights, Clueless
Sources: Some text is courtesy of IMDB, the Internet Movie Database
Contributor: copperdragon
113. ABrutalKind – you hate fast times at ridgemont high? Are you on crack? Sean penn does a fantastic job. Watch the film again
Great list! Love love love all these flicks!
re: Spocker
It is indeed Phoebe Cates who is giving lessons to Jennifer Jason Leigh’s character but there is no “hot dog” scene. You’re thinking of the carrot scene
What about Kids?? Or Hairspray?
i think hairspray was more based on racism then highschool… not much about highschool in that one..
I think I’m going to repeat comments made by others. I’m just going to keep changing my moniker and then ‘file, paste’ everything I’ve said until the paste button gets worn down to the circuit and this website changes it’s from the List Universe to DAZED AND *****ING CON*****INGFUSED WASN’T MENTIONED and THEY MIXED UP THE DESCRIPTIONS OF TWO MOVIES WITH MOLLY RINGWALD.
It’s like some 6 year old and their mother at the grocery store checkout line.
Candy?
No.
Candy?
No
Candy?
No
CANDEE?
NO!
I want Candy!
I said no.
But I want CANDEE!!
No!
AWWJHGHG CANDEEE!
NO.
I suppose telling people to read the list AND the comments is a little too much to ask to some of those people who missed their daily dose of Ritalin. Yes we know it was left out, yes, it’s true that one of the movies mentioned had a mix up on the description. The reason we know this is because it’s already been repeated more than a James Bond movie on TBS.
So what would be really cool is if you didn’t read my post before stating these two facts again Captain Obvious. You’ll be the coolest person here, making sure we understand something that only you can point out. You’ll be so awesome and hip that Jamie will immediately fly you out to New Zealand to help write other lists and he’ll give you a whole box of graham crackers and PBNJ’s with the crusts cut off. We’ll all bow at your insight and proclaim you to be the Miles Davis of the List Universe and we’ll parade you around with a crown on your head and make a movie starring you as the focus of the entire universe. What would be more awesome and cool is if you put your insights into capitol letters to distinguish what a smarty pants your are, that way anyone who scans down the comment list will be sure to stop and read yours because what everyone else says with proper punctuation, grammar, spelling and common sense is just *****, but hey here’s someone who must really be telling me something I want to hear because after all if it’s in capitol letters, it must be important. We all know that people who type out real sentences with correct spelling and punctuation are just squares and dorks, but you’ve found the all caps button which on your keyboard is marked ‘I’m *****ing awesome!!’ Now everybody will be able to peer into your brilliant intellect and super sized brain. The world will know you’ve arrived and we’ll all just go away because we can’t stand to look into the Shekinah glory rays you give off.
31. Elodie: I have been trying for months, nay years, to get people to come up with NEW comments, not the same old straw. It’s been in vain, but keep fighting the good fight.
As far as I know, Napolean Dynamite’s timeline was never introduced, making me suspect that it was set in modern times. I do know it was set in Idaho (first movie to be set there, I believe). They did show constant internet usage, so I don’t think it was set in the 80s. The costume actually made me think the early 90′s.
may not have much high school in it but, where’s SUperbad?
I appreciate the effort of the author to include all kinds of high school movies who were seen by many, but that doesn´t mean that those were any good, such as Sixteen Candles (barf) or anything with Reese Witherspoon in it, let alone Grease which can be fun but not a good movie imo.
The fact that Rushmore isn´t mentioned, either tells me that the author doesn´t know it or that his criteria to judge a good movie needs polishing.
I would also include:
“Welcome to the Dollhouse” and “Heavenly Creatures”
@ Mememe up there: you win at life.
And could I mention Gus Van Sant’s Elephant? It’s based upon the tragic Columbine shootings, and shows life in highschool from different perspectives. Maybe it’s just me and my naivete, but I found it so poetic.
Is it neccesary to have such a … let me put it this way…vivid picture for Carrie?
Oh and loved To sir with love. In the scene when the girls burnt something under the desk what do you think it was since it isnt clear in the movie.
PS Im so happy that HSM didnt make it that i will now break into song……
LIKE THAT WILL EVER HAPPEN
JFrater,
I usually enjoy your lists but number 11 almost made my hea explode. It was Michael Schoeffling, not Matt Dillon. And Ducky, Iona and Blane were from “Pretty in Pink”, not Sixteen Candles.
Also, in Fast Times, Phoebe Cates character was giving *****-ed lessons to Brad’s sister Stacy, not getting. Other than that, good list and some great movies.
No American Pie? I’m sickenned!!!!!!
maybe the people who make these lists are old… but Superbad was the most realistic portrayal of my high school experience, which was somewhat recent…
Superbad should be #1, that’s my favorite movie of all time. I was glad to see Election on the list.
**pulls out pistol, cocks, shoots self in head**
131. Bob:…It was Michael Schoeffling, not Matt Dillon. And Ducky, Iona and Blane were from “Pretty in Pink”, not Sixteen Candles. Also, in Fast Times, Phoebe Cates character was giving *****-ed lessons to Brad’s sister Stacy, not getting….
****
bucslim, another example of someone who did not bother to read any of the comments posted before posting his own comment, yet expecting *us* to read his comment.
The out and out prideful naiveté! Who raises these people? Or are they thrust, fully-formed, onto society from some paper heap?
“Four for you Glenn Coco!! You go Glenn Coco!
And none for Gretchen Weiners.”
“Is butter a carb?”
“…but it’s not my fault I have a heavy flow and a wide set vagina!”
“YOU JUST CAN’T SIT WITH US!!!!!!”
GOD I love Mean Girls!!! It’s become a bit of a thing for teenage girls where I’m from to have a Mean Girls night where they all watch as a group and just quote all the quotable lines… it used be SUCH a fun night!!!
Two words. Risky business! Huge omission! Also 3 o’clock high was mentioned along with my bodyguard. But I am old.
segue
crying softly whilst standing over the body which once housed bucslim.
ooo…good call on Risky Business Tom!
Lifeschool (110): Animal House is about college…
Jayhawk – agree with you on Napolean Dynamite and Pump Up the Volume is a great movie
Where’s Porky’s?
How about “The Last American Virgin?”
The ending is true because it’s real life. That ending is a killer.
Great list Copperdragon, still mine’s better, much better: River’s Edge, Donnie Darko, My Bodyguard, Brick, Better Luck Tomorrow, Clueless, Say Anything, Boyz in the Hood, School of Rock, Peggy Sue Got Married, Rock ‘N Roll High School, The Substitute, Hoop Dreams, The Last Picture Show and don’t forget about Veronica Mars. It’s a TV show I know, one of the best. The depiction of high school in seasons one and two is spot on to the point of being painful to watch sometimes, although having a drop-dead gorgeous actress in the lead makes the pain bearable.
I was quite happy with this list… until I saw number 1.
I’ve seen Grease once (at a university screening). Never having been a fan, I tried to keep an open mind about it. Instead, it was so painful, I almost scratched out my eyeballs and tore my eardrums to shreds.
I can’t wrap my mind around it, how it is so popular. The plot is not that bad, but that is some of the corniest, phoniest music I’ve ever heard. Totally mind-boggling.
I don’t get it.
this list made me angry. i know, i know…i’m following the crowd and repeating everything that everyone else said, but really? no dazed and confused?? thought it would be number 1..but i guess it just holds special meaning to me because in high school we drank in a field and occasionally referred to it as the moontower. also..i know that clueless is noted at the bottom, but you can’t include mean girls and heathers in the list and not include clueless. clueless owns mean girls and heathers. if clueless, mean girls, and heathers were a *****y girl clique at a high school, clueless would be the head *****, so it deserves some recognition..and grease as number 1?? might as well have included high school musical on the list and made that number 1, trash…sing-songy, dance-y, crappy trash
She’s All That was pretty good…I liked it better than Mean Girls
didn’t really like grease….I almost liked the Breakfast Club but that whole dance seen and the window breaking thing….just too ridiculous…ruined the entire film for me.
Please don´t die Buclism!!! Those people aren´t worth your despair!
bucslim: THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
It is very hard to keep a straight face at this work meeting while I am reading your comments!! People keep giving me strange looks!!
Jake Ryan = Michael Schoeffling. And you’ve confused the plots of Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink.
“A picture perfect replica of 1980’s high school life in a small rural town” – I’d say Napoleon Dynamite is anything but a perfect replica of anyone’s real life ever. Nobody acts like that (that’s why it’s so fun).
As for the whiny nancy-boys who don’t understand that most people stumble on these lists and don’t really care about reading 140 comments.. leave it be.. people are going to type the same stuff.. and because it’s written so much you know it’s a common thought.
I mean, it’s not any more annoying to me than people who make posts like “I like this movie.. but this one not so much.” Stating your anonymous opinion on the internet to a bunch of random people accomplishes nothing.
Anyways, we should all stop whining so much it seems.
#152. Steve – January 15th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Jake Ryan = Michael Schoeffling. And you’ve confused the plots of Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink.
Good call Steve….also noticed that they omitted Dazed and Confused….right Bucslim?
You named 16 Candles as part of your list, but you wrote a mix of both 16 Candles and Pretty in Pink. Anthony Michael Hall is in 16 Candles, Iona, Duckie and Blane are in Pretty in Pink. I think Pretty in Pink should have a mention on this list.
Steve = awesome! Are you sure about that? Wait, they mixed up the plots of those two movies? Holy *****! Huh? Oh, wait they totally did. Wow, the things I learn when I come back from the dead!
KP = even more awesome than Steve! Because he pointed out that the two movies plots were mixed up 30 seconds after Steve posted it.
hey bucslim, why don’t you stop being a hypocrite and reposting how annoying you think it is that people keep repeating the same thing, when essentially that is exactly what you’re doing. we all know you’re annoyed, we get it…stop reading if you don’t want to hear about dazed and confused or the 16 candles mix-up for the 100th time. we’re all sick of listening to you whine about the repeated comments. clearly you have too much time on your hands if you are constantly refreshing this page to see who else has written about something that doesn’t please you, the almighty list-god. find a hobby.
I’m with Seanithanegan. Comments are bound to be repeated. In fact, I think it’s just about as easy to scroll past mindless repeats as it is to scroll past pointlessly lengthy posts.
Hey Jenn, thanks for annointing me the almighty list god. Make sure that Randall hears that.
oh my god!! you took my sarcastic comment and turned it into a compliment! congratulations, you’re the wittiest person to ever live. oh wait…no you aren’t. you annoy me. take your sixth grade education and self-appointed rule over this site elsewhere. we’re all just trying to read some lists, not listen to you complain, whine, put people down, and generally make the vibe of this site a negative one. go read perez hilton or something, i’m sure they’d love you there!
I am so surprised that Mean Girls made it on, but Clueless did not. I loved Mean Girls, but CLueless is much better. Clueless spawned a hit TV show, it generated new slang (Anyone else but the book, How To Speak Cluelessly? lol)
Hmmm.
Very happy Rebel Without A Cause and The Breakfast Club were on the list
OOPS! Just saw the Notable Ommisions list! My bad!
WORST LIST EVER!!!
I realize tons of people said it already but come on!!!
Dazed and Confused should be #1. Absolutely and completely insane that its not even on the list, or in the notables.
This list is a POS!
Sorry Jenn, I have too much time on my hands and my actual hobby is whining and annoying people. And when people tell me to go elsewhere, I just stay put, just to show em’. I also like to start my sentences out with capitol letters to show people that I am starting a new thought. It sorta separates it from the last sentence.
Now I’ve got to get back to my self appointed rule over this website.
all hail lord bucslim!
OMG you mixed Pretty in pink up with 16 Candles!!! Jusk Kidding.
Sorry I did not realize that you were also the self-appointed grammar nazi. Next time I insult you I’ll be sure to copy and paste the entire comment into Word, just to make sure everything is spelled right and the periods and commas are all in their correct places. But next time you use the contraction “‘em,” make sure to put the apostrophe in it’s correct place, before the e. So you know, an apostrophe is used to show replacement of letters. Therefore, when you place it after the contraction, it is completely useless.
Tony: So, you’re not gonna go to law school? What do you wanna do then?
Mike: I wanna dance!
.
>Maybe Copperdragon was D&C when this list was compiled. I just did it myself, Dazed and Confused is a notable omission. The maddening crowd nears the weary listmaker.
DAZED AND CONFUSED IS #1. Grease not on my list. But the rest of the list brought back some memories. I don’t think I have seen most of these movies since high school.
Oh yeah and what about SUPER BAD?
JFra: Hey, I got a favour to ask you guys. You know the guy who made this list?
Benny O’Donnell: Yeah, Copperdragon?
JFra: Ya, . Well, take it easy on him this thread will ya?
Pink: Don’t worry sis, little brother’s safe with us.
JFra: Well just don’t get him worse than the other guys. He’s kinda little.
[walks off]
Benny O’Donnell: Ok. I promise.
[Jamie walks off]
Dawson: There was just a little bit of bull***** in all that right?
Benny O’Donnell: Major bull*****. He’s a dead man.
Randall: What the hell are you talking about girl?
Kaye Faulkner: Didn’t even think about it did you?
Randall: Gilligan’s Island?
Kaye Faulkner: It’s what’s called a male *****ographic fantasy.
Randall: [laughs] Oh my haha
Kaye Faulkner: Think about it! You’re basically alone on a deserted island with 2 readily available women. One, a seductive ***** goddess type. The other… a healthy girl-next-door-type with a nice butt. So the men have it all, the Madonna and the *****. Women get nothing! We get a geek, an overweight middle-age guy, and a nerdy scientific type.
Jodi: [interrupts] The professor… is *****y.
Randall: Thank you Jodi!
Okay guys, one more thing, this summer when you’re being inundated with all this American bicentennial Fourth Of July brouhaha, don’t forget what you’re celebrating, and that’s the fact that a bunch of slave-owning, aristocratic, white males didn’t want to pay their taxes.
I only came here to do two things, kick some ass and drink some beer.
Looks like we’re almost outta beer.
Forgot to include DAZED AND CONFUSED on your little list Copperdragon? I did it when I was a freshman, and you’ll do it when you’re a senior. but you’re doing great. Now fry like bacon, you little freshman piggy. Fry!
Has anyone pointed out that there seems to be some confusion between Sixteen Candles and Pretty In Pink in this list?
I know someone is going to say something needlessly nasty but I just wanted to see if that *rolling eyes smiley* really worked. Sorry!
OK, and now I have to admit that I have never seen either Sixteen Candles or Pretty in Pink so I had no idea that the plots were mixed up. Thanks for bringing that to my attention 100 times. I´ll try to remember if I ever feel the need to see either of them.
(Sorry, it´s been a long day at work and I still have a few hours to go…)
Some friendly advice for the list maker… It’s best to get it all at once. After the first 10 licks your ass gets so numb you don’t feel it…and next time, don’t forget DAZED AND CONFUSED!
I once saw this cool movie called Dazed And Cofnused. I wonder wht no one has noted this omission.