STREETS OF FIRE
(director/writer: Walter Hill; screenwriter: Larry Gross; cinematographer: Andrew Laszlo; editors: Michael Tronick, James Coblentz, Michael Ripps; music: Ry Cooder; cast: Michael Pare (Tom Cody), Diane Lane (Ellen Aim), Rick Moranis (Billy Fish), Amy Madigan (McCoy), Willem Dafoe (Raven Shaddock), Deborah Van Valkenburgh (Reva Cody), E. G. Daily (Baby Doll), Bill Paxton (Clyde); Runtime: 98; MPAA Rating: PG; producers: Lawrence Gordon, Joel Silver; RKO; 1984)
“Though a failure at the box-office when released, it has aged well and doesn’t look that bad when viewed today.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Walter Hill (“The Warriors”/”48 Hrs.”) crudely directs and co-writes with Larry Gross this 1950s-like urban “rock and roll” fable. Though a failure at the box-office when released, it has aged well and doesn’t look that bad when viewed today. It should be OK if you don’t take it that seriously.
Its featured song “I Can Dream About You” became a hit single.
A bad-ass black leather Hell’s Angels type of motorcycle gang led by the creepy rapist Raven Shaddock (Willem Dafoe) snatches the hot rock singer Ellen Aim (Diane Lane) while she’s performing at a benefit club concert at her rundown fictional hometown. At the time, she’s singing the song with the catchy lyrics: ”You and me may be goin’ nowhere baby/But we should be goin’ nowhere fast!”
When snatched, her cool, taciturn, tough guy, old flame Tom Cody (Michael Pare), with a shotgun over his shoulder, comes to rescue her in the gang’s hideout. Also in on the rescue is her feisty hard-nosed Army vet butch sidekick McCoy (Amy Madigan) and her bow tie wearing nerdy manager Billy Fish (Rick Moranis).
It’s a pointless but stylish film with a fast pace and a lot of energy. Too bad its story sucks, it’s so bleak and it left me with my ears ringing from all the explosions.
The four singers who make up a black a capella musical ensemble, The Sorels, are smooth, Ry Cooder plays a mean guitar, and Diane Lane has sex appeal. What I don’t get is that the cops don’t drive Plymouths but circa 1950 Studebakers. The movie has developed a cult following.
REVIEWED ON 8/12/2024 GRADE: B-
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