In Colorado's planned community of New Granada, Carl, Richie, and Claude hang out at "The Rec", an adult-supervised venue where teenagers can socialize.

One afternoon, as The Rec closes, Carl and Richie are confronted by Police Sergeant Doberman, who suspects they perpetrated a freeway sniping incident.

That evening, after learning from his father of the community's plans to nix construction of an amusement center, he walks to a local park, where he hooks up with Richie.

But when police arrive to squelch the fun, Carl walks home alone and is assaulted by Mark, the real instigator of the freeway sniping.

Claude, recently arrested for possession of hash, explains that the local neighborhood pusher, a fellow student named Tip, sold it to him.

Richie, Carl, and Claude dump him into a pond as Tip's mother watches in horror from a nearby tennis court.

From atop an overpass, Cory and Claude wave goodbye to Carl, as the bus makes its way to a juvenile detention facility.

[2][3] Screenwriters Charles S. Haas and Tim Hunter began work shortly after the article's publication, including field research in the town itself where they interviewed some of the kids.

The east side of John Evans School, Cafetorium, metal shop parking lot, athletics storage building (not in picture), library and science classrooms were featured in the film.

[5]Due to the negative publicity surrounding a wave of recent youth gang films such as The Warriors, The Wanderers, and Boulevard Nights,[4] Over the Edge was given a limited theatrical release in 1979.

It debuted on May 18, 1979 in eight cities in the United States on a test run basis, with the biggest release in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"[8] Ultimately, the band opted not to give the song to the film, because Van Halen says in the same interview, "We went and saw a screening of the flick...and it ain't gonna win no Academy Award or nothing.

[9] Vincent Canby of The New York Times gave the movie a positive review, stating, "It's to Mr. Kaplan's credit that he makes New Granada look just as boring and alienated to us as it does to the unfortunate children who live there.

[4][13] Richard Labonté of the Ottawa Citizen wrote, "The strength of Over the Edge, and what set it apart...from most of the gang films of the late '70s, was Kaplan's ability to portray more than merely juvenile violence: his kid actors trash their school with the best of them, but the seething reasons for their behavior is discussed and explored and assessed, rather than merely exploited...capturing with discretion and with discernment the anger of suburban sterility and the dependence on the deadening effect of dope.

"[13] The Chicago Reader wrote, "Director Jonathan Kaplan has a fine feel for the crushing blandness of 'planned communities'—the anger that possesses his underage heroes proceeds from a physically oppressive emptiness, represented by rows of hollow town houses and vast, blasted fields.

[2] Over the Edge also partly inspired the music videos for the songs "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana[17][18] and "Evil Eye" by Fu Manchu.