MovieChat Forums > Over the Edge (1979) Discussion > Thank You OTE Fans - Michael Kramer

Thank You OTE Fans - Michael Kramer

posted 19 years ago by emka100
53 replies | jump to latest

To all of you who care enough about the film to post: Thanks for all your support. The DVD, which looks great, would never have happened without you (problems with the audio and cover not withstanding). Since I've posted here once or twice, your response has been overwhelming. Like I said, I knew there were some fans of the movie out there, but I had no idea... Thanks again.

Answers to some of your questions:

1. Eric Lalich (Tip) was most certainly a boy, and a decent kid as I recall.
2. Matt Dillon says "Grow fins, turkey" as we throw Tip into the water.
3. To the best of my knowledge, Matt and Vincent Spano remained good friends after OTE. I know for certain that they were good friends while it was being filmed.
4. I'm not completely certain what all of the actors in the film are doing now, but based on what I've learned about myself on these pages (I am not a "youth counselor living in Pennsylvania," for example), the info you have is most likely incorrect. Don't know how these rumours get started...
5. I too would like to see the missing footage that is discussed in the DVD commentary. I remember shooting the footage and having a great time doing it, but I've never seen it on film.
Enjoy the film

Michael Kramer

[–] artichoke6 19 years ago

Michael - I think it's just great you're logged on and can answer fans questions. You answered mine, #1 on your list. I thank you for your contributions here. OTE is a movie my teenage daughters kept hearing about and when I asked people I know in their mid 30s to 40s, if they ever heard of it, they all said - OTE is a great movie, you and your kids need to see it! Well, we could never find it! For sale or rent so I appreciate the devoted following this movie generated for a new DVD release. For a while now, we routinely checked the Wal-Mart bin but no luck. We own it now and as I dropped my 10th Grader off at school today, she said - we're watching OTE with commentary this weekend. This is the daughter who loves Dazed & Confused but immediately after watching OTE 2 weeks ago, she declared - this is my favorite movie now. I had to ask - more than D & C? Oh yeah....she said it was more realistic even though it takes place in 1979. Look past the clothing and hair styles and the message is still there. Parents are often clueless. I'm just trying not to be one of those parents!

So again, we should all be thanking you!

Be proud of this film (but I suspect you already are).

Mary

[–] dslyny1 19 years ago

I agree with you wholeheartedly. I just recieved mine a few weeks ago also and my 13 yr old daughter and my 17 yr old niece just love it. Yes great message and it was great to discuss how in years past adults didn't have much regards for what kids really felt like. I tell her that our generation has learned we need to involve kids in sports, arts, and to share activities with them instead of just letting them be seen and not heard. I take my hats off to you and your collegues Michael.

[–] artichoke6 19 years ago

dslyn1 - my own mother was clueless and provided no help with homework. My dad looked at my Algebra and said, you're on your own. I did terribly in HS! Managed to get a diploma but I focused on Home Ec, Typing I and II, etc. No wonder.

Here is what my 15 and 18 yr old kids notice when watching both Dazed & Confused and OTE: how much free time teenagers had back then. Endless days to do nothing but hang out. They've asked me if it was really like this back then (baby boomer here, born in 1955). I said yes, many pick up ball games in the summer, after school, weekends, sleeping out in the summer, walking or riding our bikes everywhere, your mother often didn't even own a car, you had to wait for dad to come home from work for a ride. By then he was tired from work and asked if your errand was really important! As he was sipping his beer, reading the paper....

One time my daughters asked about after school clubs, sports, activities. I just cracked up but then had to explain that sports back then were not emphasized much and only the nerdiest of the nerdy stayed after school for club meetings. All my friends and I wanted to do was hightail it outta there and get home. To do nothing but listen to music and talk on the phone.

So there ya have it. I really think what my kids get out of these movies is how simple life was back then for teens. Their own friends have such structured after school schedules, it's really hard to connect sometimes.

Mary

[–] ccr1633 19 years ago

"To all of you who care enough about the film to post: Thanks for all your support. The DVD, which looks great, would never have happened without you (problems with the audio and cover not withstanding). Since I've posted here once or twice, your response has been overwhelming. Like I said, I knew there were some fans of the movie out there, but I had no idea... Thanks again."
---------

Hello from the lower east side, New York City. I just moved in with an old pal, a musician and long time rock n roller like me (X, Ramones, Cheap Trick, The Clash), and a big fan of similarly controversial films of the time like The Warriors, which seems to have played a role in the failure of Over The Edge to see widespread release. I was most suprised to find that my friend hadn't even heard of your great movie, a testimony to its unfortunate and unjustifiable obscurity (although truth be told, it's always good to feel like you're one of the few who is attuned to the greatness of a cult classic). Lucky for him, I purchased a copy when the DVD was released. He's in for a treat.

Thanks for taking the time to chime in with some illuminating comments.

"Are you ready to rock?!"

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] movie-hunney100 19 years ago

wow i cant believe your posting on here thats soo cool!....im 16 and me and my friend adore you in OTE your great!....you play the role so well..i come from a middle of nowhere town in england..(actually named britains 5th worst town!)and its very similar to OTE..kids jus anging around doing nothing drinking ect..but anyway wow you are so great in the film and you were also totally gorgeous in it!...my friend actually left a post on your message board on this site a couple of months back talking about how gorgeous you are lol!..you should check it out..fantastic film you were wicked in it!...so what are you up to now?..still acting?

Kiefer sutherland rules all!!
R.I.P river phoenix

[–] emka100 18 years ago

thanks for all of the kind words movie-hunney.

Michael Kramer

[–] nodiggitynxd 18 years ago

Carl *beep* Kicks a55!!!

My Name is Alex Morais, And i'm a DVD-aholic.

[–] mvance-1 18 years ago

Michael,
That's a terrific final scene in the movie when Carl turns back from looking out of the bus window at his waving friends. The way that your smile melts into cold realization of where your character is and where he's heading is perfectly done. It speaks volumes, as they say.
Best, Steve Vance.

[–] tiaaguilar 18 years ago

thats likem my fave part in the whole movie when he looks out the bus. everytime i hear the song oooh child thats the first things that comes to mind awsome movie great music love it one of my all time faves

Michael Kramer Rocks

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] anfeargal 17 years ago

This is the most realistic movie about kids from the late 1970s that I have ever seen. I was born in 1969, and I knew the kids who would be teens in the late 1970s well. The people who think that today's kids are the worst ever did not grow up as kids back then.

Most of the kids in this movie are portrayed as being from pretty "decent" economic backgrounds (though Matt Dillon was not). Most, but not all, of the kids I knew were pretty similar.

Most of the kids who were raising hell in the late 1970s (with drugs and petty criminal stuff) ended up being productive members of society.

Though I was exposed to these kids (who made up probably 75% of the older kids I knew), I was not that influenced by them (I did not get into drugs or criminal activity).

This movie also captures the distrust of authorities that existed amongst kids in the late 1970s -- I don't think anyone who did not grow up in that era would believe the degree that young people distrusted the authorities then. There is no way anyone would believe how much distrust in middle class white America existed then -- people would maybe believe some of these themes coming from a ghetto kind of experience -- but not anything mainstream. But it did --and I know it because I grew up with it.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] doktorsuess 18 years ago

Hey Michael,When I first saw Seinfeld and I heard the name Kramer, I thought of you.

I remember watching Over The Edge when we first got HBO in the early 80's.
My cousin and I were always arguing over the location where the movie was filmed.I told him that it was filmed in Colorado, but he kept saying that the movie was filmed in Wyoming. Where did they film Over The Edge?

Great movie "Carl."

[–] abominable_f 16 years ago

OTE was filmed in Aurora, CO. The resevoir in the movie is Cherry Creek Resevoir, which was in the process of being filled during the filming. It covers a lot more area now. I grew up in the area during that time and know a lot of the neighborhoods. It's nice getting to look back in time at "my hood" and watch a great movie at the same time.

[–] catheter1st 18 years ago

I have to say that of all of the films about dysfunctional youth in my collection, none hit home like this one does. I have to commend you Michael on a performance well done.

I am 31 years old, and I can't remember the first time I saw the film, but it was sometime in the 80's on HBO. It was one of the ones I scoured the internet for in recent times, and could never come across a copy for less than $40. I am so glad WB finally got on the ball.

I still identify with the 3 main characters even as an adult. The characters Karl, Richie, and Claude are so much like myself and my friends from the time(late 80's, early 90's) Rich, and Jamie, that it is scary. The problems facing restless youths were the same in my teenage days as they were in OTE. We had nothing to do except hang out at the local mall, where we were harassed by security for hanging out at the mall(our version of the rec. center). Our parents were always too consumed in after-work wine-drinking and the local adult community to pay much attention to us, and there were always drug and alcohol fueled parties to help us pass the time. We were always the target of the police, even when we were doing nothing wrong. Sadly these problems still exist for the youth of today, and I don't see any end to it.

No need to update or remake this gem, 20 years from now it will still ring true. I can only hope that the adults that run the world kids live in will get the hint.

[–] intangible102 18 years ago

Michael,

I've just finished watching the DVD of "OTE", a movie I've had burned into my head since I first saw it on HBO at 14 years old, on my first day ever with cable TV--1979. I'm amazed (but probably shouldn't be) at the number of people I'm discovering here who were left with such a lasting impression. It had to be the first time American adolescents had seen such an authentic reflection of themselves on film. I watched in heavy rotation during that HBO run -- and then it dropped "Over the Edge" of the earth as far as I knew. Watching the DVD 26 years later I realized I remembered every frame. Anyway, thanks for making contact here and best wishes.

PS- The other thing that remained burned in my mind all this time was the face of Pamela Ludwig. I fell hard for her back then and it happened all over again with this viewing (that's OK right?? She IS older than me! ;). Never saw her in another thing. I see her last credit is in 1990. Can you share a memory or two of her?

Best...

[–] theskycam 18 years ago

The first time I saw "OTE" was on HBO in the early 80's as well. My brother and I watched it everytime it was on. I guess it struck a chord with all of us growing up back then. Not much to do, hanging out with your friends and getting into trouble; though not quite the trouble that happened to the kids in the movie. The music that was incorporated into the film was the soundtrack of the day with Van Halen & Cheap Trick. To this day whenever I hear the song "You Really Got Me" and "Ooh Child" I think back to "OTE". Thanks for the walk down memory lane.

[–] moffpeter2 18 years ago

Michael,

Thanks for setting a few things straight. You were great in OTE!

Anyway, I believe that the rumour about you being a "youth counselor living in Pennsylvania" was partially based on an interview that you apparently did for Metal Rules Magazine (Issue #13, page 23). You indicated in the interview that you went to grad school, took a class about teens with psychiatric disorders, and eventually became a clinical psychologist.

Peter

[–] flashblakk 18 years ago

Since I saw you in OTE I've always wondered what other projects you worked on after that because I was so young (10) when OTE came out it was hard for me to keep track of your career. I just wanted to tell you aside from havig a major crush on you at that age, that movie stayed with me until the present day, and I am 32. Just wanted to let you know you were a big part of a really good childhood memory. If it is possible, I would like to know where I would be able to see a recent picture of you. Please just let me know either way. If not possible, thanks for the kickass memories, it remains, to this day, one of my favorite movies!