The 25 Best High School Movies of All Time
Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Fandom, Lists, Hold the 'Fone
Remember that time in high school when you ditched school, stole a Ferrari and sang "Twist and Shout" on a parade float? Or the time you busted out your super-sweet dance moves at the school assembly when your best friend Pedro ran for class president? Or how about when you stood on your desk and saluted your English teacher with the phrase "O captain, my captain"? No?
Oh wait, none of those things actually happened to us -- but they did happen in some of our favorite high school movies of all time. No offense, youth of today, but High School Musical 2 can't hold a candle to movies like Clueless, Pretty in Pink and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. So in honor of summer's end and the imminent approach of the start of the school year, we at Moviefone have compiled our list of the 25 best high school movies ever made.
Now, a word before you start ripping our choices to shreds. (And we love you for it.) It was nearly impossible to narrow the list -- what differentiates a high school movie from a movie that happens to be about high schoolers? -- so we applied some basic, yet important criteria: Each movie we chose had to be set mostly at a high school (which left off movies like Rebel Without a Cause, American Graffiti and Boyz N the Hood) and had to, in some fundamental way, BE about high school (there went most sports movies). How successful were we in the end? Well, there's the fun of it. Take a look at our list and then let us know: Which one's your favorite? Here's a tease ...
25. The Girl Next Door (2004)
The premise -- high school nerd (Emile Hirsch) falls for porn star with a heart of gold (Elisha Cuthbert) -- smacks of 'Risky Business,' but this flick is much funnier and truer in its depiction of the gruesome battle that is getting into college. Plus, as said porn star, Cuthbert has never been sexier (or less annoying).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
8-23-2007 @ 10:15PM
Ryan said...
Pretty good list. No Bring It On though? I'm half-kidding obviously.
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8-23-2007 @ 10:16PM
Carla H. said...
I don't agree with the placement of some of the movies and can't figure out why some of these could be ranked higher than others. I can't for the life of me figure out why Grease is number 16...for real its the high school movie for a lot of people. then 16 candles to rank so low, im just suprised and disagree.
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8-23-2007 @ 10:16PM
J8675309 said...
Good list, Mean Girls is darn good. Only iffy choice imo is Napolean Dynamite, I personally think Jon Heder owns me 1.5 hours of life back, but hey, w/e.
Again, solid list.
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8-23-2007 @ 11:36PM
tozmervo said...
Didn't Talk of the Nation just do this last week?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12840734
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8-23-2007 @ 11:56PM
al said...
I want to throw in an overlooked gem, Three O'Clock High.
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8-24-2007 @ 12:11AM
Neal said...
One word... Porky's!
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8-24-2007 @ 1:27AM
tikirob said...
I have always liked "10 things I hate about you" and "not another teen movie"
http://movie-cat.com
Rob
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8-24-2007 @ 2:40AM
Kirby Holt said...
You state: "Each movie we chose had to be set mostly at a high school".
Then how did "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" end up #1? The whole point of that movie is that he DIDN'T go to school that day. Heck, it's right there in the title!
- kch, http://moviedearest.blogspot.com/
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8-24-2007 @ 2:40AM
Urbey said...
They say this about what the Reese Witherspoon character did in the movie "Election": "sleeping with a teacher and then blackmailing him for a recommendation. You always suspected the valedictorian had a dark side, didn't you?"
I have seen that movie more than once and I don't remember it that way at all. I'm wondering what movie these AOL people watched.
Once the principal found out that the teacher slept with Reese Witherspoon, the teacher was quickly fired and left the town. There was no recommendation and no blackmailing. There was no time for that.
Additionally, it's clear that the ReeseW character was NOT the valedictorian and was not even one of the top students in the school. She even says it herself in her voiceover at the end of the movie.
Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.
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8-24-2007 @ 8:45AM
Joe said...
What's with this big ol' moviefone-cinematical circle j***. I don't like to censor, but you'll use any excuse to delete a comment asking why you're eternally linking to each other!
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8-24-2007 @ 12:36PM
Norm said...
It's not a great film (or even good) but I've always had a soft spot for 3 O'Clock High for some reason. Maybe because I could picture myself having to fend off the bully?
Dazed and Confused is one of the greatest evocations of a period of time ever in a movie. Nice job putting it so high. Even if you didn't grow up in the 70s, even if you've never been to Texas, you get it.
And while Dazed and Confused is perfect for repeated viewings, The Breakfast Club, sadly is not. Yes, it deserves its spot -- it's a quintessential high school movie, and a well-written one -- but it feels so utterly contrived two decades later. (It was just on Universal HD last night and I had to watch...)
Later.
Norm Schrager
http://www.meetinthelobby.com
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8-24-2007 @ 1:42PM
Lisa said...
"My friend told me Jon Heder is in this with a Cameo. I did not see him in the credits.
http://movies.aol.com/movie/september-dawn/28908/reviews
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8-24-2007 @ 1:54PM
Patricia Chui said...
Thanks for the heads up on Election; I've fixed that writeup. Apologies for the lack of fact-checking on that one. (Hey, but she's so evil, she COULD'VE blackmailed him, right? Heh. Just kidding.)
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8-24-2007 @ 2:14PM
Porchland said...
I love "Napoleon Dynamite" and "Ferris Beuller" but wouldn't consider either to be high school movies.
I was really glad to see "Brick" on the list. I wouldn't have thought high school noir would work but it absolutely did.
"Fast Times at Ridgemont High" is waaaaaaay overrated.
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8-24-2007 @ 2:32PM
Rick said...
I agree with 3 Oclock High, as well as My Bodyguard and Hoosiers. I guess Weird Science did not have enough "school time" as well as a few others I am thinking of. The list is solid though no doubt. Matter of opinion though on some placement.
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8-24-2007 @ 2:37PM
BMan said...
"Some Kind of Wonderful" The Amanda Jones movie is missing from this list...
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8-24-2007 @ 2:45PM
BMan said...
If you're a guy, Phoebe Cates can never be overrated.
That is, unless you're "gay."
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8-24-2007 @ 2:50PM
Tom said...
What a short-sighted, shallow list!!! No "Blackboard Jungle"?
Also, "so we applied some basic, yet important criteria: Each movie we chose had to be set mostly at a high school" -- this would've ruled out your #1 pick.
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8-24-2007 @ 2:55PM
Linda said...
"Better Off Dead" I want my two dollars!!!!!!!
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8-24-2007 @ 3:03PM
Johanna said...
I think this was a perfect list. You had all of the necessities for a list like this: Clueless, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Grease, Breakfast Club. You even had The Heathers! A movie that many of my friends havn't seen or heard of, but is one of the best "high school" movies. Cheers to you. . .
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