Emilio Estevez

In this Lethal Weapon (1987) spoof, two mismatched LA cops investigate a case involving cocaine-laced girl scout cookies. In the wake of his former partner's gruesome murder, the experienced LAPD Detective, Wes Luger, finds himself following a faint trail of crumbs, in the last, and most important, case of his career. Now, to catch the elusive killer, Wes reluctantly teams up with Jack Colt, a grieving loner and loose cannon, and no movie franchise is safe--including Lethal Weapon (1987), Dirty Harry (1971), Die Hard (1988), and The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Before long, the seductively cryptic owner of the Wilderness Girls Cookie factory, Miss Demeanor, becomes embroiled in a dangerous criminal conspiracy orchestrated by the nefarious Vietnam War veteran, General Mortars, and the bullets start flying. Can the mismatched duo thwart ruthless Mortars' master plan? Do they deserve a sequel? —Nick Riganas

Two garbage men uncover a conspiracy involving illegal toxic waste dumping and decide to bring the whole operation down. Carl and James are two pleasant but unambitious garbage men. Carl has binoculars with which he observes his neighbors. One evening he sees a man giving a female neighbor a hard time. As she leaves he shoots the man with a pellet gun. Hiding, he and James miss two men strangling the man and leaving with the body. When he appears in a can on their route they are afraid and hide the body, fearing that they may be implicated in the death. Trying to crack the case, they spy on the woman, join up with a slightly to majorly crazed Vietnam vet, kidnap a pizza man and help to protect the ecology. —Anonymous

A group of young gunmen, led by Billy the Kid, become deputies to avenge the murder of the rancher who became their benefactor. But when Billy takes their authority too far, they become the hunted. 1878 in New Mexico: John Tunstall picks up young gun men from the road to have them work on his ranch, but also to teach them reading and to civilize them. However he's a thorn in the side of the rich rancher Murphy, as he's a competitor in selling cattle. One day he's shot by Murphy's men. Judge Wilson can't do anything, since Sheriff Brady is one of Murphy's men. But attorney Alex persuades him to constitute Tunstall's young friends to Deputies and give them warrants of arrest for the murderers. Instead of arresting them, William Bonney just shoots them down. Soon the 5 guys become famous and William gets the name "Billy the Kid" - but they're also chased by dozens of Murphy's men and the army. The people however honor him as fighter for justice. —Tom Zoerner <Tom.Zoerner@informatik.uni-erlangen.de>

Four months after their college graduation, Wendy Beamish (Mare Winningham) and William "Billy" Hicks (Rob Lowe) are in an automobile accident, and their friends, Alec Newberry (Judd Nelson), Kirby "Kirbo" Kegger (Emilio Estevez), Kevin Dolenz (Andrew McCarthy), Leslie Hunter (Ally Sheedy), and Jules (Demi Moore), rush to the hospital. The victims suffer only minor injuries after Billy crashed Wendy's new car while drunk. Jules chastises Wendy for paying Billy's medical fees after he destroyed the car her father gave her as a graduation gift. Billy is arrested for the incident. At the hospital, Kirby sees Dale Bieberman (Andie MacDowell), a beautiful doctor he recognizes from college, and his former crush is reignited. Jules posts Billy's bail, and the friends gather at St. Elmo's Bar, where Kirby works. Leslie and Jules question Wendy for accepting Billy's careless behavior. However, Wendy's low self-esteem and romantic interest in Billy prevent her from cutting him out of her life. Meanwhile, Billy telephones his estranged wife, and mother of his child, then flirts with several girls at the bar. Alec is angry when he learns Billy lost the job in a senator's office that he helped get for Billy. The friends quickly resolve their arguments, however, and happily dance and drink together. Sometime later, Alec discusses his political aspirations with his girl friend Leslie, and suggests they get married. Leslie believes they are not yet ready for marriage. The couple get a late-night visit from Jules, who needs a place to sleep for the night. Elsewhere, roommates Kevin and Kirby talk about Kirby's intense infatuation with Dale Bieberman, and Billy arrives to spend the night. Sometime later, Alec helps Billy obtain another job. Kevin visits Jules's new apartment and wonders how she can afford such an expensive place. Jules asks why nothing sexual ever happened between them, and accuses him of being homosexual and in love with Alec. Kevin denies the accusations, and quickly leaves. Kirby invites Dale Bieberman to an expensive restaurant to impress her, however, the busy doctor has to leave when she is called for an emergency. Leslie cooks dinner for Kevin, who tells her he gave up on love after a girl broke his heart. When Alec returns with a gift of lingerie for Leslie, he confides to Kevin that he cheated on Leslie with the sales girl. He vows he would be faithful if Leslie would agree to marry him, but Kevin is doubtful. Later, Jules gets high while snorting cocaine and telephones Alec to rescue her from a group of strange men. He arrives and accuses her of "crying wolf." Billy visits Wendy at the welfare office where she works, and admits that he lost his new job. Wendy brings him home to have dinner with her wealthy family, and borrows money from her father to give to Billy, who shocks her uptight family by climbing onto the roof. Wendy finds his antics charming, and reveals to him that she is still a virgin. Billy makes a clumsy pass at her, and embarrasses her by making fun of her undergarments. Wendy gives him the rent money he needs, then says she no longer wants to see him. On Halloween, the friends gather at St. Elmo's Bar, where Billy plays saxophone with his band. Alec asks Kevin if he can use his apartment to have sex with the lingerie sales girl, and Wendy arrives with a nerdy date named Howie Krantz (Jon Cutler). Jules continues her wild behavior, and jumps onstage. Billy kisses her while Wendy watches. Billy's wife, Felicia (Jenny Wright), arrives with her own date, and the friends worry how he will react. Billy stops the show to yell at Felicia from stage, then jumps down and punches her date. The fight continues outside the bar, and Billy curses at his wife. Moments later, Billy and Felicia kiss passionately. In time, when Wendy and Leslie have an intervention with Jules over her affair with her married boss, she dismisses their concern. Wendy hesitantly asks Leslie about Billy. Kirby's obsession with Dale Bieberman continues. He follows her to a private party, and admits his feelings to her. She attempts to dash his hopes by listing her many flaws, but Kirby mistakenly believes she is not interested in him because he lacks money, and makes it his mission to become wealthy. Meanwhile, Felicia asks Billy for an annulment, but he denies her, and vows to become a better husband and father to their daughter, Melody. Kirby takes a job as attaché to a wealthy businessman, and throws a party at the man's estate to impress Dale. Wendy's father buys her another car as a bribe to marry Howie, but she remains unenthusiastic. The friends arrive at Kirby's party, but Dale Bieberman fails to attend. Wendy introduces Howie to Billy, and Billy tells her that things are going well between him and Felicia. He apologizes to Wendy for hurting her, then crassly asks if she is still a virgin. Billy takes drugs with Jules, and Alec announces a false wedding date to the crowd, in an attempt to get Leslie to commit. They argue in private, and Leslie accuses him of having an affair. Alec blames Kevin for revealing his secret, then lunges at him. Leslie stops the fight saying it was only a hunch, but Alec's response has proven his guilt. Alec shocks Leslie by demanding she move out of their apartment. Jules drives Billy home and he kisses her. Billy becomes aggressive, and Jules fights him off, saying she only needed a friend to talk to. She accuses him of letting everyone down, and Felicia opens the front door to see her drunken husband in the driveway with Jules. Elsewhere, Kirby learns that Dale Bieberman has gone to a cabin for the weekend, and he follows her. He is embarrassed to discover that she is there with her boyfriend. He attempts to leave, but his car gets stuck in the snow. Dale and her date invite him to spend the night in their cabin. Meanwhile, Leslie stays at Kevin's apartment and discovers that he has been secretly in love with her for years. She and Kevin have sex, and in the morning, Alec arrives to apologize to Kevin, unaware that Leslie is there. When Leslie comes out from the bedroom, Alec is stunned. Kirby gets his car unstuck from the snow, and Dale Bieberman kindly says goodbye. Kirby passionately kisses Dale, leaving her speechless, then drives away laughing. Sometime later, Wendy tells her father that she does not care for Howie, and that it is Billy she loves. Leslie returns to her apartment with Alec to pack her belongings, and tells him that she has moved in with Jules. They argue over her involvement with Kevin, and Alec secretly longs to win her back. Leslie witnesses Jules's drug use, and worries about her friend. Kevin asks Leslie to move in and asserts his love for her, but she tells him it was "just sex" to her, and asks him to leave. Sometime later, Leslie visits Alec at his work and asks for help with Jules, who has locked herself in their apartment after all of her belongings were repossessed. Leslie confronted her after discovering that Jules secretly lost her job three weeks before. Kevin and Kirby meet Alec and Leslie at Jules's apartment, and the men climb the fire escape to look inside. They find Jules sitting on the floor with all the windows open, nearly freezing to death. Kirby leaves to get Billy's help to cut the window bars, and Alec takes out his anger on Kevin, dangling him over the fire escape. Leslie begs him to release Kevin. Billy arrives and convinces Jules to open the door. She tells him she has been visiting her comatose, much-hated former stepmother, and talking to her about why her father hates her. Billy tells Jules that her worries are an illusion, like the story of "St. Elmo's Fire,"--flashes of light in the sky that sailors used to guide their voyages. However, the sailors only imagined them to keep motivated on their journeys. Billy comforts Jules, and admits that they all feel lost, and soon they begin laughing. Later, Billy visits Wendy at her new apartment, tells her what happened with Jules, and shares that Felicia is about to remarry. He pays back some of the money he owes Wendy, and they discuss his upcoming move to New York City. Billy asks Wendy if she is still a virgin, and gently asks her for a going away present. Billy makes love to Wendy. Afterward, she walks him to the bus station, where the rest of their friends await to see Billy off. Billy tells Alec not to lose Leslie, then promises to keep in touch with Wendy. Leslie tells Kevin and Alec that she loves them both, but chooses to be on her own for a while, and they all agree to remain friends. The group plans to meet later for breakfast, but decide to find a new place, not St. Elmo's Bar. Jules jokes about her plans to bury her stepmother in a large cat suit to save on funeral costs.

The plot follows five students at fictional Shermer High School in the widely used John Hughes setting of Shermer, Illinois (a fictitious suburb of Chicago based on Hughes' hometown of Northbrook, Illinois), as they report for Saturday detention on March 24, 1984. While not complete strangers, the five are all from different cliques or social groups: John Bender (Judd Nelson) "The Criminal"; Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald) "The Princess"; Brian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall) "The Brain"; Andy Clark (Emilio Estévez) "The Athlete"; and Allison Reynolds (Ally Sheedy) "The Basket Case". The school's disciplinary principal, Richard Vernon (Paul Gleason), gives them all an assignment; they will write an essay about "who you think you are" and the violations they committed to end up into Saturday detention. The seeming delinquent of the group, Bender, is instantly hostile toward his classmates, acting out several times. He acts as though he will urinate on the floor, suggests that he and Andrew close the library door and have forced sex with Claire, challenges Andrew's athletic prowess and rigs the main door to the library so that it can't be braced open so Vernon can keep an eye on them from his office. During lunch, he jovially mocks Brian's home life and then offers everyone a glimpse into his relationship with his own father who abuses him both verbally and physically. In a rage, Bender runs off and sits alone, hurt by what he revealed to the group. They pass the hours in a variety of ways: they dance, harass each other, tell stories, fight, smoke marijuana, and talk about a variety of subjects. Gradually they open up to each other and reveal their secrets, for example, Allison is a compulsive liar, and Brian and Claire are ashamed of their virginity and Andy got in trouble because of his overbearing father. They also discover that they all have strained relationships with their parents and are afraid of making the same mistakes as the adults around them. However, despite these evolving friendships, they are afraid that once the detention is over, they will return to their respective cliques and never speak to each other again. Mr. Vernon actually has several epiphanies of his own. When he's down in the basement looking through the personal files of his teachers, he's caught by the school's janitor, Carl Reed (John Kapelos), who essentially blackmails him for his silence about Vernon's poking through private information about his staff. The two spend the rest of the day talking. Vernon admits he's frightened of the future; that the very students he has in detention will one day be running the country. He also claims that since he's been into education for many years that the kids haven't changed, they are still defiant, arrogant and disrespectful of authority. Carl tells Vernon he's dead wrong, that Vernon is the one who's attitude has soured his perspective for a job he once liked. The kids will always be the way Vernon described them. The group decides to sneak out of the library and go to Bender's locker. Bender retrieves a small amount of marijuana hidden there. On their way back, they nearly run right into Vernon. While trying to find a route back to the library undiscovered, Bender sacrifices his own freedom to help the others escape. (He also stuffs his stash down Brian's pants.) Vernon catches up with him in the gym, shooting hoops. Vernon takes Bender to a small closet. With his obvious hatred for the student apparent, Vernon challenges him, offering him one defenseless punch. Bender is too scared to take the challenge and Vernon reminds him that people won't take the word of a delinquent student over that of a high school principal. He leaves Bender locked in the closet. Bender slips out through the ceiling and rejoins the group, retrieving his stash from Brian. The group spends the rest of their time smoking weed and even relaxing while Vernon talks to Carl in the basement. They loosen up, play music and dance. Bender sneaks back to his closet when the end of their detention approaches. Late in the day, some of the group talk about what they did to land into Saturday detention: Claire had skipped class to go out with friends. In an earlier moment, she worries about whether or not her parents will ground her and suggests that they have a strained marriage where they use Claire to get back at each other. Brian tells everyone that he had felt suicidal after failing a project in his shop class and had brought a flare gun to school to possibly kill himself (the gun had gone off in his locker, starting a fire). Andrew's story seems to be the most painful: he had attacked another student (a friend of Brian's) in the locker room after gym class, beating on him while his friends cheered him on and covering the boy's buttocks in duct tape, causing the boy minor but humiliating injury. Andrew says he did it because his father is an overbearing tyrant (he describes him as a "mindless machine I can't relate to anymore") who can't abide his kids being seen as losers and that they must win at all costs. Alison isn't clear about the reason why she's in the detention session other than to say she had had nothing better to do on a Saturday. In the end, some of their more hidden character traits emerge: Claire is a natural leader. Bender develops a softer attitude and becomes more friendly with everyone. Claire spends some time with him in the locked closet making out with him and it seems the two will try a romantic relationship. Andrew becomes interested in Allison after she allows Claire to give her a makeover. Brian realizes he can write very eloquently, as he gets to show everyone later. At Claire's request and the consensus of the group, Brian agrees to write the essay Mr. Vernon assigned earlier on behalf of them all, which challenges Vernon and his preconceived judgments about them. While Brian accedes, instead of writing about the actual topic, he writes a very motivating letter that is in essence, the main point of the story. He signs the essay "The Breakfast Club", and leaves it on the table for Vernon to read when they leave. There are two versions of this letter, one read at the beginning and one read at the end, and they differ slightly; illustrating the shift in the students' judgments of one another, and their realization that they truly have things in common. The beginning of the letter is as follows: "Saturday, March 24, 1984. Shermer High School, Shermer, Illinois 60062. Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was that we did wrong. What we did was wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write this essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us... in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. Correct? That's how we saw each other at seven o'clock this morning. We were brainwashed." The letter read before the closing credits reads as follows: "Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong, but we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us... In the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain... ...and an athlete... ...and a basket case... ...a princess... and a criminal. Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club." The letter is the focal point of the movie, as it demonstrates and illustrates the changes the students undergo during the course of the day; their attitudes and perspectives have changed and are now completely different. The movie ends as the characters leave detention. The final shot shows Bender walking near the goal post of the football field, freezing as he raises his hand triumphantly and fading to a dark frame as the ending credits roll.

In the Mojave Desert, a motorcycle cop pulls over a 1964 Chevrolet Malibu being erratically driven by Dr. J. Frank Parnell. Despite warnings from the space-out Parnell, the policeman opens the trunk, sees a blinding flash of white light, and is instantly vaporized, leaving only his boots behind. Parnell drives off, continuing his erratic driving. Otto Maddox, a young punk rocker in L.A., is fired from his job as a supermarket stock clerk when his manager nitpicks his work placing products in displays. He goes to a punk rocker party where he catches his girlfriend cheating on him with his best friend Duke. Depressed and broke, Otto is wandering the streets when a man named Bud drives up and offers him $25 to drive a 1978 Olds Cutlass Salon out of the area, saying it's his wife's car. Bud tells Otto that his wife is at the hospital about to deliver twins and that he needs to get her car out of the bad neighborhood. Otto follows Bud in the car to the Helping Hand Acceptance Corporation, where he learns that the car he drove was being repossessed and Bud's story was a ruse. After defiantly pouring out the beer they give him, he refuses to join Bud as a "repo man," and goes to his parents' house. He learns that his burned-out ex-hippie parents have donated the money they promised him for finishing school to a crooked televangelist. He decides to take the repo job. Bud teaches Otto what he calls the Repo Code and about the lifestyle of a repo man which involves dressing like a cop, working very late hours, getting little sleep and snorting speed to keep awake. Bud also tells Otto about the Rodriguez Brothers, Hand Acceptance's chief competition in the repo business. They engage the brothers in a brief race in the LA River with Bud yelling insults as the Rodriguez' speed off. After repossessing a flashy red 1976 Cadillac, Otto sees a girl named Leila running down the street. He gives her a ride to her workplace, the United Fruitcake Outlet. On the way, Leila ducks down in the footwell when she spots two men in the next car who dress like government agents. She shows Otto pictures of aliens that she says are in the trunk of a Chevy Malibu. She claims that they are dangerous because of the radiation that they emit. Meanwhile, Helping Hand is offered a $20,000 bounty notice for the Malibu. Most assume that the car is drug-related, because the bounty is so far above the actual value of the car. Parnell arrives in L.A. driving the Malibu, but he is unable to meet his waiting UFO compatriots because of a team of government agents led by a woman with a metal hand. When Parnell pulls into a gas station, Helping Hand's competitors, the Rodriguez brothers, take the Malibu. They stop for sodas because the car's trunk is so hot. While they are out of the car, a trio of Otto's punk friends, Duke, Debbi and Archie, who are on a crime spree, steal the Malibu. After they visit a night club, Parnell appears and tricks the punks into opening the trunk, killing one of them and scaring the other two away. Later, he picks up Otto and drives aimlessly, before collapsing and dying from radiation exposure. Otto takes the Malibu back to Helping Hand and leaves it in the lot. The car is stolen from the lot by an unidentified thief, and a chase ensues. By this time, the car is glowing bright green. Eventually, the Malibu reappears at the Helping Hand lot with Bud behind the wheel, but he gets shot by government agents who arrive on the scene in a helicopter. The various groups trying to acquire the car soon show up; government agents, the UFO scientists, and the televangelist. Anyone who approaches it bursts into flames, even those in flame-retardant suits. Only Miller, an eccentric mechanic at Helping Hand, is able to enter the car. He slides behind the wheel and beckons Otto into the Malibu. After he settles into the passenger seat, the Malibu lifts straight up into the air and flies off, streaking around downtown Los Angeles at high speed. Otto happily says the ride is "intense" and Miller replies

The film opens with Ponyboy Curtis (C. Thomas Howell) sitting at his desk in his room, writing. He talks about walking home from the movies one night. As he is bouncing and messing with a ball, he recites parts of the movie that he's just seen when a group of guys pull up in a red Corvair. They start to call him a greaser because he has greasy hair, and he tries to evade them. They're the Socials, clean-cut teens dressed in Varsity letter jackets and chinos, also known as the rich kids or the South Side Socs. The Socs stop, get out, and attack Pony, knocking him to the ground as he struggles. The soc on top of Pony puts his knees on Pony's elbows, asking, "How would you like that haircut to begin just below the neck?" Ponyboy struggles but is unable to unpin himself. As the socs try and shut him up, the knife accidentally slips and cuts his head slightly. Hearing his screams, Pony's older brothers, Darrel (Patrick Swayze) and Sodapop (Rob Lowe) and the rest of their gang, Johnny Cade (Ralph Macchio), Dallas Winston (Matt Dillion), Steve Randall (Tom Cruise), and Two-Bit Matthews (Emilio Estevez) come to his rescue, chasing off the Socs. Darrel, Sodapop, and Ponyboy lost their parents in a car crash. Darrel, a high school grad with a job, acts as the father figure. Soda is a dropout who works at a gas station. The three are allowed to live together without parental supervision as long as they stay out of trouble. Pony is still in high school at Darry's insistence and is actually a good student, earning good grades. However, Pony is often absent-minded, getting into trouble when he doesn't let his older brothers know where he is after dark and other small slips. Darry is very protective of his two younger brothers, more so with Pony, since they are all still reeling from the trauma of losing their parents. Dallas, Johnny, and Ponyboy go to a drive-in movie and sit in the bleachers. Cherry (Diane Lane) quarrels with her Soc date and leaves his car, going to sit in front of the greasers with her friend . Dallas tries to chat her up but Cherry seems to connect more with Ponyboy and Johnny. Dallas finally says something offensive and Cherry, unafraid of his tough-guy attitude, tells him to shut his mouth. When Dallas reaches for her, Johnny stops him, being the only member of the group able to do so. Spurned, Dallas stalks off. Pony goes with Cherry to the concession stand. While waiting in line, they talk about their respective friends. Pony's view is that he and his friends are persecuted by the Socs because they're poor, dress differently and are often considered delinquents. Cherry counters, saying that her group has their own problems, ones that the greasers couldn't even imagine. Back at their seats, Two-Bit joins the group and after the movie ends, the three boys and two girls walk together chatting. Cherry's boyfriend, Bob, stops in his car nearby. He's drunk and harshly admonishes her for hanging out with the greasers. Two-Bit immediately pulls out the butterfly knife he carries and smashes the end off a bottle to use as a weapon. To avoid a violent fight, Cherry reluctantly goes with Bob. While they walk past Johnny's house, they hear Johnny's parents having a violent fight. Johnny decides he's going to sleep out in the vacant lot near his house until his parents stop fighting. When he arrives home, Ponyboy is harshly reprimanded by Darry for staying out so late. When his brother tries to stop the argument, Darry pushes Pony a bit too hard, spilling him to the floor. Pony runs out of the house despite Darry's attempts to apologize and he finds Johnny in the vacant lot. Still very much upset, Pony gets Johnny to walk to the local park with him. Not long after, the Socs find Ponyboy and Johnny in the park, still angry about the greasers trying to pick up Cherry and her friend. They mock both Pony and Johnny for having long, greasy hair and Pony throws an insult back. The Socs are further provoked when Pony spits at them and tries to run, making it as far as the park's fountain. The Socs knock Johnny to the ground and dunk Ponyboy's head in the water, nearly drowning him. Johnny pulls out a switchblade to stop them. Bob is left dead and everyone flees. Johnny, unusually calm only a few minutes after he kills Bob, decides that he and Pony should find Dallas, who will be able to help them in their predicament. They go to a house where Dallas had been partying with an old friend (a cameo by singer Tom Waits) and talk to him about hiding out. Dallas gives them instructions to board a train to a small village called Windrixville where they can hide out in an abandoned church. Johnny and Ponyboy hop a freight train and make their way, break into the church, and fall asleep. The next morning Johnny comes back with bologna and bread, cigarettes, a paperback copy of "Gone With the Wind" and, oddly, a bottle of peroxide. Pony is puzzled by the last item until Johnny tells him that they should cut their hair and dye Pony's blonde so they can't fit the descriptions the police will have for them. Johnny also mentions that if they have to appear before a judge, that the judge will order them to get their hair cut anyway. They cut their hair with Johnny's switchblade and Ponyboy dyes his blond. The two hide out in the church for several days, waiting for word from Dallas. The two spend several days playing cards, betting with cigarettes, Pony reads "Gone With the Wind" to Johnny, and they try to trap a rabbit. One morning, Pony wakes up early and sees the valley below the church in the sunrise, admiring its beauty. He recites a Robert Frost poem, "Nothing Gold Can Stay" that Johnny takes to heart. A few days later Dallas arrives and takes them out to eat. He tells Ponyboy about how the police are looking for Bob's killer, even hauling Dallas himself in for questioning. Soda and Darry are both worried about Pony's disappearance but Dallas has assured them that the two are safe. Johnny wants to turn himself in as it sounds like they can claim self-defense, but Dallas tries to discourage him, warning him of what can happen if Johnny gets jail time. On returning to the church, they find it burning and a group of young kids milling about with two adults and a school bus. The woman exclaims some kids are trapped inside. Johnny and Ponyboy feel responsible, thinking that one of them must've dropped a lit cigarette that sparked the fire. Over Dallas' harsh objection, they enter to rescue the kids, Dallas reluctantly following. They find the kids in a back room and carry them to safety, Dallas helping out. Suddenly the roof collapses and Johnny is badly burnt and his back is broken. Dallas pulls both of them to safety. EMS finally arrives and takes them back to their hometown and the hospital. The boys are all hailed as heroes, and Ponyboy is tearfully reunited with Darrel and Sodapop. The Socs and Greasers plan a big rumble to settle things after the death of Bob, and Cherry acts as the go-between: No knives or other weapons; fighting will only be hand-to-hand. Two-Bit and Pony go to the hospital to visit Dallas and Johnny. Johnny is suffering from horrible burns and is in traction, laying on his chest, seemingly paralyzed. The visit is very emotional and Johnny becomes very upset when a nurse tells him that his mother has come to visit. He doesn't want to see her, as he feels she doesn't care about him. He orders the nurse (a cameo by the novel's author, SE Hinton) to send her away, and faints. Pony and Two-Bit leave, shaken by the encounter. When they visit Dallas, he is arguing with a nurse. Dallas asks about Johnny and they tell him the outcome doesn't look promising. Dallas is desperate to join the big rumble and asks Two-Bit for his knife, talking about revenge for Johnny's sake. On the night of the rumble, despite signs of exhaustion, Ponyboy wants to go. Darrell reluctantly lets him participate, telling him and Soda to run if cops arrive. The Socs arrive and the big rumble gets underway in a heavy rainstorm as the groups pair off and start slugging. Both sides get their licks in but after a while the Socs retreat, the Greasers whooping with delight at their victory. Just before the first punch is thrown, Dallas arrives, having left the hospital. When the fight ends, Dallas grabs Pony and they drive to the hospital to see Johnny, who is weaker than ever. On the way, Dallas tells Pony to stay tough and nothing will ever faze him. When they arrive, Dallas tells Johnny that the Socs have been driven out of their territory for good. Johnny seems not to care and tells Pony to "stay gold". Johnny dies and Dallas becomes incredibly upset, dry-firing a pistol at a doctor and babbling madly before he runs off. Pony heads home to find Darrell and the rest of the gang nursing their wounds. He tells them that Johnny died and Dallas tore off in a fury. While Pony worries that Dallas will do something crazy, Dallas holds up a convenience store and is shot and wounded. He calls Pony's house, asking for a place to hide from the police. The cops chase him and shoot him when he waves the unloaded gun at them. The police open fire and his friends arrive just as he dies; his last word is "Pony". Pony faints from exhaustion. At the trial Cherry gives her testimony and Ponyboy is declared not guilty. Back at school Ponyboy is now neatly dressed and coiffed; Cherry ignores him and a teacher gives him an extension to finish his writing assignment. At home Darrel rides Ponyboy as Sodapop runs off into the night. The three brothers reunite and Sodapop tells Darrel to stop being so hard on Ponyboy, the three only have each other and they all need to get along. They have a group hug and return home. At home at his desk, Ponyboy opens the paperback copy of Gone With the Wind that they'd bought for Johnny and finds a note from his friend. Johnny tells him he thinks the Robert Frost poem Pony had recited while they watched the sunrise was telling them both to enjoy their youth. Pony opens his composition class notebook and begins to write his story, starting with the moment he left the movie theater: "When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I only had two things on my mind: Paul Newman, and a ride home", the first line from Hinton's novel.