Best High School Movies of All Time

Best High School Movies

In 'Fired Up,' Eric Christian Olsen and Nicholas D'Agosto play football stars who spend the summer at cheer camp. Ah, it reminds us of our own high school years, when we brought down the house at our talent show, paid the popular girl to date us, spent Saturday at detention, comandeered a parade float ... oh wait, none of that happened to us. But it did happen in our favorite high school movies.

We can't send you to cheer camp, but are you ready to go back to school? Sit up straight, spit out your gum and check out our top 25 high school movies of all time. There may be a quiz.

Sony

25.'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).

20th Century Fox

24. 'Fame'(1980)

What do you mean, you didn't dance on the tables in your high school cafeteria? In Alan Parker's exuberant chronicle of teen-artist angst, the students at the School of Performing Arts (now known as "The 'Fame' School") have mad skillz on stage; it's the rest of their lives that need work. At least they're gonna live forever.

MGM / ZUMA Press

23. 'Stand and Deliver' (1998)

The '80s and '90s are littered with films in which tough teachers inspire troubled inner-city students ('Lean on Me,' 'Dangerous Minds'), but 'Stand and Deliver' rises to the top. C'mon, the guy teaches gangsters CALCULUS. We knew Edward James Olmos was one badass hombre.


ZUMA Press

22. 'To Sir, With Love' (1967)

Sidney Poitier is Mark Thackeray, who gets his class of London toughs to achieve more than they ever thought possible. It was one of the first "teacher and his hard-case students" dramas, and a true classic; and when Lulu sings the title song at the end, you can't help but be moved.

Columbia / ZUMA Press

21. 'Can't Buy Me Love' (1987)

A nerd (Patrick Dempsey) pays the most popular girl in school to date him and goes "from totally geek to totally chic" in the process. It's a scathing expose on the flock mentality, a feel-good romantic comedy and every dork's fantasy in one. Also, three words: African Anteater Ritual.

Touchstone / ZUMA Press

20. 'Brick' (2006

A film noir set in high school sounds like an exercise in pretentiousness, but director Rian Johnson's gamble pays off with a film that's smart, even brilliant -- from the rapid-fire dialogue to the twisty murder plot. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt, all grown up from 'Third Rock,' is the coolest gumshoe this side of Humphrey Bogart.

Focus Features

19. 'Friday Night Lights' (2004)

In Peter Berg's gritty gridiron drama set in Odessa, Tex., the pressure on high schoolers -- or at least some of them -- is intense: High school football is king in this small town, and winning the big game may be these kids' only hope of glory (and of escaping the dead-end jobs of their parents).

Universal Pictures

18. 'Superbad' (2007)

Too soon, you say? See it first, and THEN tell us we're wrong. No one "gets" the male psyche like producer Judd Apatow, and this take on high school life, seen through the eyes of three sweet, horny losers, is raunchy, hilarious and oddly endearing. It's juvenile in every sense of the word, and we mean that as a compliment.

Sony

17. 'Footloose' (1984)

He's six degrees removed from everybody now, but to us Kevin Bacon will always be spiky-haired Ren, who's stuck in a town where dancing is banned (boo) and only wants his senior class to have a prom. And the soundtrack! No wonder the movie's spawned a musical AND a remake. Zac Efron, get that velvet tux ready.


Paramount / ZUMA Press