Pump Up the Volume(1990)

New Line Cinema

R
1h 42m

Release Date: Aug 24, 1990 | Moderate

Mark runs a pirate radio station and causes an uproar when he speaks his mind and enthralls fellow teens.

Releases

Original Release | Aug 24, 1990

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Box Office Results

Updated as of May 21, 2026 11:30 AM ET

Results

Opening Weekend US & Canada:
$1,601,489
Total US & Canada:
$11,541,758
Total Worldwide:
$11,541,758

Current Showtimes

Your Location or

(U.S. Only)

Director & Top Cast

Allan Moyle
Director

Christian Slater
Mark Hunter

Samantha Mathis
Nora Diniro

Anthony Luke Lucero
Malcolm Kaiser

Andy Romano
Murdock

Keith Stuart Thayer
Luis Chavez

Cheryl Pollak

Paige

Jeff Chamberlain

Mr. Woodward

Billy Morrissette

Mazz Mazzilli

Lala Sloatman

Janie

Holly Sampson

Cheryl Biggs

Annie Ross

Loretta Creswood

Annie Rusoff

Annie

Jonathan Mazer

Jonathan

Alexander Enberg

Alex

Ahmet Zappa

Jamie

Seth Green

Joey

Mimi Kennedy

Marla Hunter

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo

Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: Canada,United States

Language: English

Summaries

Plot Summary

Mark Hunter (Christian Slater), a high school student in a sleepy suburb of Phoenix, Arizona, begins an FM pirate radio station that broadcasts from the basement of his parents' house. Mark is an intelligent but shy young man, an outsider whose only outlet for his teenage angst and aggression is his unauthorized radio station. His pirate station's theme song is "Everybody Knows" by singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen and there are glimpses of cassettes by a number of alternative rock musicians. By day, Mark is seen as a lone wolf who has to make an extreme endeavor to be sociable around others; by night, he expressed his outside views about what is wrong with American society. When he speaks his mind about what is going on at his school and in the community, more and more of his fellow students tune into his show.Nobody knows the true identity of "Hard Harry" or "Happy Harry Hard-on", as Mark refers to himself, until fellow student Nora Diniro (Samantha Mathis) tracks him down and confronts him the day after caller Malcolm Kaiser (Anthony Luke Lucero) committed suicide after Harry attempts to reason with him. The radio show becomes increasingly popular and influential after Harry confronts the suicide head-on, extorting his listeners to do something about their problems instead of surrendering them through suicide - at the crescendo of his shouted speech, overachieving student and constant listener Paige Woodward (Cheryl Pollak) jams her various medals and accolades into a microwave and turn this on. She then sits, watching the awards cook until the microwave explodes, which injures her face. While this is happening, other students express their feelings into cathartic release.Eventually, the radio show causes so much trouble into the community that the FCC is called into investigate. During the fracas, it is revealed that the school principal Loretta Creswood (Annie Ross) has been expelling "problem students", namely students with below-average standardized test scores, in an endeavor to boost the district's test scores while still keeping their names on the rolls (a criminal offense) in order to retain government funding. Mark's father, school board commissioner Brian Hunter (Scott Paulin), confronts Creswood demanding to know why she systematically expelled students with low test scores. Creswood insists they were losers and troublemakers and she did this for the good of the school; Brian immediately suspends her.Mark dismantles his radio station and attaches this to his mother's Jeep, creating a mobile transmitter so his position can't be triangulated. Pursued by the police and the FCC, Nora drives the Jeep around while Mark broadcasts. The harmonizer he uses to disguise his voice breaks, and with no time to repair this, Mark decides to broadcast his final message as himself. They finally drive up to the crowd of protesting students, and Mark informs them that the world belongs to them and that they should make their own future. He encourages them to "steal the air" and begin their own shows to put their thoughts and feelings out into the world. The police become involved and arrest Mark and Nora. As they are taken away, students shout their appreciation of "Harry"; Mark turns to the students and orders them to "Talk hard!" As the film ends, the voices of other students, and even one of the teachers, and heard introducing their own pirate radio shows.

Storyline

Mark Hunter is an intelligent but shy teenager who has just moved to Phoenix, Arizona from the East Coast. His parents give him a short-wave radio so he can talk to his friends, but instead he sets up shop as pirate deejay Hard Harry, who becomes a hero to his peers while inspiring the wrath of the high school principal. When one of Harry's listeners commits suicide, inspired chaos breaks out at the school and the authorities are called into put a stop to Harry's broadcasts. Meanwhile, the corrupt school principal weeds out underachieving students to keep the school's SAT scores high as false testimony to her competence. — Denise P. Meyer <dpm1@cornell.edu>