| The Principal | | Cast : | James Belushi, Louis Gossett Jr., Rae Dawn Chong | | Director : | Christopher Cain | | Studio : | Columbia Tristar Hom | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned | | Released Date : | September 18, 1987 | | DVD Released Date : | June 01, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | April 06, 2005 | | Summary | Belushi is the man | Content
 | Man if you ever thought you were SOL, watch this movie. Belushi totally kicks rear end as Rick Latimer, a take-no-crap motorcycle riding teacher who is assigned to Brandel High School, the worst high school in the city, which even offers rape and weed as majors. A must see.
An easy 5/5 |
| Rating | | | Date | March 13, 2005 | | Summary | Great Job | Content
| I saw this movie on FX and I was hardcore. The guy has his ways with controlling the school.
It was just amazing
and my mom said that I could have it and I'm Glad |
| Rating | | | Date | January 18, 2005 | | Summary | Belushi Is One Tough Dude | Content
| I just saw this movie today on FX and damn...it's badass. I had never even heard of it until seeing promos for it the past couple of days, and I've got to give props. [...]
The auditorium scene is great...Belushi lets the students know that "The Principal" is in charge. |
| Rating | | | Date | September 18, 2004 | | Summary | He's the principal,man! | Content
| Rick Latimer(James Belushi) is a high school English teacher who is promoted to principal many years after applying for the latter position. So he is sent to Brandel High,which is unlike other high schools. Most of the students there are troublemakers. They've been permanently expelled from other schools. They're into drugs,commit violent acts and other highly intolerable activities. So Rick with the help of security guard Jake Phillips(Lou Gossett Jr.) shape up the school. Brandel's worst student is Victor Duncan(Michael Wright),who's heavily armed and tries to gain control of the school. One student who makes no trouble at all is Arturo(Jacob Vargas). Arturo has a mild learning disability whose teacher is Hilary Orosco(Rae Dawn Chong). At first Hilary didn't like Rick at all. At one point in the film he brings several of the troublemakers into Hilary's classroom. That's where Hilary says to Rick,"I resent you. I resent what you're doing!". In the opening scene,a drunken Rick demolishes the windshield,headlights and taillights of his ex-wife's boyfriend's car. The boyfriend is a divorce lawyer who represented Rick's ex-wife Kimberly. One Brandel student who straightened out was Emile(Troy Winbush). He was a member of Victor's dangerous gang and quit. In another scene,Emile crashes through a ceiling window,hanging by a rope. He ends up in the hospital and Rick visits him. Rick is so furious with Victor that Rick wishes Victor was in prison. Also there's Trina,who drops out after she's been busted for selling drugs in the restrooms. Rick tutors Trina. She willed to comply with the tutoring. Trina is an unwed mother with a small child living in a slum. Then Victor and his buddy go out to kill Rick. Rick,with Jake,beat the crap out of the mischievous pair and put them into police custody. Also,in another scene,Victor and his team disassemble Rick motorcycle,then beat the crap out of Rick(when Emile was a member). Arturo and his friends reassemble the bike and decorate it with Rick's helmet("El Principal" appears on the bike and helmet). Currently,Belushi is the star of the ABC sitcom "According To Jim". Gossett previously played the drill seargeant in 1982's AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN. Wright subsequently appeared in 1991's THE FIVE HEARTBEATS. Chong played C. Thomas Howell's girlfriend in 1986's SOUL MAN. Winbush later had a recurring role as one of Malcolm Jamal Warner's buddies on NBC's "The Cosby Show". Vargas subsequently appeared in 1995's GET SHORTY. Belushi's other films include REAL MEN,ABOUT LAST NIGHT,K-9,CURLY SUE,TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS,ONLY THE LONELY,RED HEAT and MR. DESTINY. |
| Rating | | | Date | February 15, 2004 | | Summary | James Belushi should have gotten an oscar for this... | Content
| So then why do I only give 3 stars? Well, for one the movie was not as long as I hoped it would be and I also didn't care too much for the abrupt ending. Despite all that The Principal is probably the most realistic story of a man who even though has serious difficulty turning a trashy high school into a somewhat safer learning environment, manages to slowly succeed while firmly enforcing his rules. I wouldn't be surprised if this movie was based on a true story. I've seen movies like this such as Lean on Me, Dangerous Minds, High School High, and the Substitute but The Principal is the most realistic (not to mention more entertaining) film of the "Teacher vs. dangerous schools" scenario and I never seem to tire of it. |
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