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| YOU ARE HERE : Home > Categories > Movies > Drama > Pump Up the Volume | |
| ProdID: 1928 - Pump Up the VolumeDirected byAllan Moyle | Product Score: 10.0 |
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By day Mark Hunter is a quiet, studious high school senior. But at night he becomes the sex-obsessed Hard Harry, the mysterious DJ broadcasting from his basement on his pirate radio transmitter, beaming out a mantra of social commentary and teenage angst, punctuated by outbursts of gangsta rap and punk rock. When his sworn nemesis, the school principal declares war and vows to bring "Harry" to justice for broadcasting without a licence, he retaliates by broadcasting confidential school reports. With his rating soariing and the law closing in, Hard Harry is about to take his cause to a new level and pump up the volume. |
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This movie really grabbed my attention when it first came out, back in 1990... with a young and smooth Christian Slater playing his part as teenaged closet rebel, Happy Harry Hardon, aka Hard Harry. The name was a pun on the name of the school he attended, Hubert Humphry High... HHH... Mostly, the aspect of the movie that really grabbed me was the awesome soundtrack, in particular the song "Everybody Knows" by Leonard Cohen... it's just such a dark but cynically honest view of the world... and it's only become more so in recent years. Despite that, the tale is also a love story, as young Mark discovers that despite being an anonymous disguised voice floating over the airwaves, he has found a kindred spirit in Nora, a young girl inspired by Hard Harry and looking to inspire Mark to live up to his true self. With near misses and confrontations scattered throughout, glimpses of how Harry's inner turmoil is sparking rebellion in the repressed youth within reach of his transmitter, and ultimately the self-imposed suicide of a lost soul who could thing of no-one else tio turn to in his final moments but Harry, the storyline is a masterpiece of illustration of teenage life as we knew it 15 years ago. Overall, a wonderful story... however the M rating still holds true as I for one would NOT want my sons to watch this and get the idea that teenagers have 2 basic choice... tough it out and hide the pain, or redecorate their bedroom ceilings in pastel shades of neuron, calcium and hair. |
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| Printed at 07:34:23pm on Saturday 20th April 2024 |
