Streets of Fire (1984)

In this dark musical drama a soldier of fortune must rescue his former girlfriend after she is kidnapped by a motorcycle gang. This is a very dark and energetic film with an excellent soundtrack and a story that keeps you involved..it has a great cast with Amy Madigan, Rick Moranis, Diane Lane, and others ..very underrated and ahead of its time on a scale of one to ten...7

Fmovies: Enjoyable urban/modern Western combined with rock 'n roll , displaying a satisfying and impressive directorial by Walter Hill . It is an entertaining compendium of noisy action , rock music , a love story , sadistic as well as violent bikers , fights , state-of-the-art frames and many other surprising things . A famous female rock singer called Ellen Aim (Diane Lane) is captured by a motorcycle gang led by Raven (Willem Dafoe) . As an embittered mercenary named Tom Cody (Michael Pare) goes after his ex-Sweetheart who has been kidnapped by the cruel band .

It's a diverting action/thriller/musical with adventures , non-stop action , shootouts , breathtaking scenarios ; but also melancholy , friendship , unlovable camaraderie , emotionalism and including marvelous songs . Gorgeous scenarios set to rocking backbeat , mostly in sumptuous interiors , reflecting wonderfully the luminous spaces filled with neon lights , they are splendidly photographed by excellent cameraman Andrew Laszlo , and mainly on a soundstage . It is an enjoyable storytelling set in a mythic world that combines a futuristic feel with 1950s styles and attitudes . Impressive and evocative musical score by Ry Cooder , Hill's ordinary musician , adding catching songs . Nice acting by Michael Pare as two-fisted hero , a former boyfriend who sets out to save his ex-girlfriend , an enticing female rock star well played by Diane Lane . Stunning support cast , plenty of familiar faces such as Rick Moranis , Deborah Van Valkenburgh , Richard Lawson , Rick Rossovich , Bill Paxton , Robert Townsend , Mykelti Williamson , Elizabeth Daily , John Dennis Johnston , Stoney Jackson , Lee Ving , Peter Jason , Ed Begley Jr , among others . And special mention for Amy Madigan , a tomboy playing a tough warrior woman who helps starring to take on the nasty biker finely performed by Williem Dafoe .

This stylized retelling was very well directed by Walter Hill , a Western expert , such as he proved in ¨Will Bill¨ and ¨Long riders¨ . Hill's skillful direction is assured and firm and occasionally quite inspired . Director Walter Hill gets too much experience on western genre , thus : ¨The long riders¨ , ¨Will Bill¨ , ¨Geronimo¨, and "Broken Trail". Besides , he has directed modern westerns such as ¨Streets of fire¨ , ¨Extreme prejudice¨ and ¨Last man standing¨. His best Western called ¨Geronimo¨ was followed , by his biggest hit to date, ¨ 48 hours¨ and with a sequel¨ Another 48 hours¨ . Since then, his movies have not made huge amounts at the box-office, though the best of them ¨ Streets of fire¨ retains a certain primitive drive strangely to be found elsewhere . Rating : Better than average and well worth watching for the proficient film-making . It's a magnificent movie , and an unforgettable , unchallenged classic modern flick.

Walter Hill's Streets Of Fire is just too good to be true, and yet it exists. It's like the type of dream concept for a movie that you and your coolest friend think up after a bunch of beers and wish you had the time, money and resources to make yourself. It's just cool right down to the bone, a beautiful little opus of 1950's style gang trouble set to a so-good-it-hurts rock n' roll soundtrack devised by the legendary Ry Cooper, Hill's go to music maestro. It's so 80's it's bursting at the seams with the stylistic notes of that decade, and both Hill and the actors stitch up those seams with all the soda jerk, greaser yowls and musical mania of the 50's. Anyone reading up to this point who isn't salivating right now and logging onto amazon to order a copy, well there's just no hope for you. I only say that because for sooommeee reason upon release this one was a financial and critical dud, floundering at the box office and erasing any hope for the sequels which Hill had planned to do. I guess some people just aren't cool enough to get it (can you tell I'm bitter? Lol). Anywho, there's nothing quite like it and it deserves a dig up, Blu Ray transfer and many a revisit. In a nocturnal, neon flared part of a nameless town that looks a little like New York, the streets are humming with excitement as everyone prepares for the nightly musical extravaganza. Darling songstress Ellen Aim (young Diane Lane♡♡) is about to belt out an epic rock ballad in a warehouse dance hall for droves of screaming fans. There's one fan who has plans to do more than just watch, though. Evil biker gang leader Raven Shaddock (Willem Dafoe, looking like Satan crossed with Richard Ramirez) kidnaps her as the last notes of her song drift away, his gang terrorizes the streets and disappears off into the night with poor Ellen as their prisoner. The locals need a hero to go up against Raven and rescue Ellen, and so estranged badass Tom Cody (Michael Paré) is called back to town after leaving years before. He's a strong and silent hotshot who takes no guff from no one, and is soon on the rampage to Raven's part of town. He's got two buddies as well: two fisted, beer guzzling brawler chick McCoy (Amy Madigan), and sniveling event planner Billy Fish (Rick Moranis). That's as much plot as you get and it's all you need, a delightful dime store yarn with shades of The Outsiders and a soundtrack that will have your jaw drop two floors down. The two songs which Ellen sings are heart thumping legends. 'Nowhere Fast' gives us a huge glam-rock welcome into the story, and 'Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young' ushers us out with a monumental bang before the credits roll, and damn if Hill doesn't know how to stage the two songs with rousing and much welcomed auditory excess that'll have you humming for days. Paré is great as the brooding hero, and you won't find too many solid roles like this in his career. He's a guy who somewhat strayed off the path into questionable waters (he's in like every Uwe Boll movie) but he pops up now and again I'm some cool stuff, like his scene stealing cameo in The Lincoln Lawyer. Dafoe clocks in right on time for his shift at the creepshow factory, giving Raven a glowering, makeup frosted grimace that's purely vampiric and altogether unnerving. Him and Paré are great in their street side sledgehammer smackdown in the last act. Bottom line, this is one for the books and it still saddens me how unfavorably it was recei

Streets of Fire fmovies. Co-writer / director Walter Hill's "rock 'n' roll fable" is well realized, visually stunning stuff with stylistic and thematic ties to his earlier movie "The Warriors". If nothing else, he and his crew create the perfect look for this wild update of 1950's B movies. A rising rock star named Ellen Aim (Diane Lane) is kidnapped by a motorcycle gang led by creepy Raven Shaddock (Willem Dafoe). Local diner owner Reva (Deborah Van Valkenburgh) appeals to her long lost brother Tom (Michael Pare), who used to date Ellen, to rescue her (although it's not necessarily just the girl that needs to be saved, but the neighbourhood in general), and he agrees to do so - as long as he gets paid. He and his motley collection of sidekicks, Ellen's nerdy but aggressive manager, Billy Fish (Rick Moranis) and his spunky new acquaintance, McCoy (Amy Madigan) team up to track Ellen down and get her back. A few key personnel help to make this a pleasure to both look at and listen to, and those are production designer John Vallone, cinematographer Andrew Laszlo, and composer Ry Cooder. The ambiance of the various sets seriously smokes, creating the perfect backdrop for this engaging bit of pulp story telling, the story definitely hearkening back to "The Warriors" as our unlikely group have to embark on a bit of a journey to get back to where they need to be. And, as others have said, while the movie is not without its dramatic moments, it never pretends to be truly serious about what it's doing. It's all in fun. The soundtrack (including such irresistible material as "One Bad Stud") is absolutely incredible, and may have the viewers bopping along to it without realizing they're doing so. The cast is very well chosen, with Pare displaying low key bad ass charisma and Dafoe investing his villain with plenty of swagger. Lane is of course just lovely, Moranis very good as a basically annoying character, and Madigan quite appealing. Tons of familiar faces turn up in supporting parts and bits: Richard Lawson, Rick Rossovich, Bill Paxton, Lee Ving, Grand L. Bush, Mykelti Williamson, Robert Townsend, Elizabeth Daily, Lynne Thigpen, Ed Begley Jr., John Dennis Johnston, Olivia Brown, Peter Jason, and Matthew Laurance. "Streets of Fire" may be one of those cases where the style matters more than the substance, but when the style works this well - right down to the scene transitions - it's hard to really complain. Eight out of 10.

Streets of Fire is directed by Walter Hill who also co-writes the screenplay with Larry Gross. It stars Michael Paré, Diane Lane, Rick Moranis, Amy Madigan and Willem Dafoe. Music is scored by Ry Cooder and cinematography is by Andrew Laszlo.

When the lead singer of Ellen Aim and the Attackers is kidnapped by biker gang The Bombers, her ex-soldier of fortune boyfriend is contacted and hired to go get her back...

There were a couple of movies released in 1984 by maverick directors that were frowned upon at the time, but are now significantly held in high regard and define the saying "cult movie". One was Alex Cox's Repo Man, the other was Walter Hill's Streets of Fire.

Streets of Fire is a bastard hybrid of ideas and influences. In part a rock opera set to the backdrop of blink blink blinkity blink neonvillle, an unnamed place that lives and breathes between 50s angst and 80s futurism, in others it's a straight forward road/mission movie headed up by an anti-hero taking notes from Snake Plissken whilst jostling for cool space with Kyle Reese. It's a film, that by Hill's own admission, is unashamedly a collage of things he finds cool in cinema. Yet this is not a detriment to the pic, the narrative is straightforward as can be and Hill throws everything he can into the mix, and it works.

In essence it's a live action comic book, it knows it's just a film and has no pretencions to seem remotely real life. The look is wonderfully flamboyant and campy, where the hero and villain wear braces and PVC overalls respectively. The girls are a mixture of a teenage diva babe and a beer swilling roughneck babe. The city itself is a vibrant mix of colours and carnage, beauty and beats, and where the streets literally are on fire. Hill weighs in with his adroit flair for action, always kinetic, while the soundtrack rocks and the dialogue bubbles with self aware glee. Cast are super, some sexy and tough, others weaselly and weak, but all pumping the pop culture blood through the veins of the movie.

With style and cool to burn, both only beaten out by the action quotient, Streets of Fire is an ode to live action fun. And watching it now you can see just how it has influenced many a film maker post its release. Streets of Fire, one bad ass bitch funky sex machine. 9/10

Director Walter Hill describes the movie this way: The Leader of the Pack (Willem DaFoe) kidnaps the Queen of the Hop (Diane Lane) and Soldier Boy (Michael Pare) comes home to rescue her. Sounds REAL strange but it works. It starts off with the words "A different time, a different place" then goes whizzing into action. Ellen Aim (Lane) is playing a concert in her home town. A guy from the bad side of town (Dafoe) and his gang kidnap her. Her former lover (Pare) comes back to save her.

OK let's get the bad things out of the way--lousy poster (I've NEVER seen such bad artwork), laughable dialogue and what-the-hell-is going-on performances. But everything else is great! Incredible sets (all neon and moody lighting), fantastic rock score, colorful costumes, wonderful direction by Hill, great action sequences and a total refusal to take itself seriously. It moves VERY quickly and there's never a dull moment! It does lose a lot on video--this should be seen on a wide screen with stereo--that's how I originally saw it in 1984, and for the entire length of the movie I was mesmerized! This was a huge bomb in its day but now has a cult following

A great movie all the way. I give it a 10.