Streets of Fire (1984)

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nTitle: Streets of Fire (1984)

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nDirector: Walter Hill

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nCast: Michael Pare, Diane Lane, Willem Dafoe, Rick Moranis,nAmy Madigan, Bill Paxton

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nReview:

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nStreets of Fire isn’t all that different from directornWalter Hill’s The Warriors (1979), it’s an alternate world created by thenfilmmakers, the rules created by the screenwriter, the director and the actors.nIn The Warriors, Walter Hill mixed fantasy and reality into a world all itsnown. The first time I saw The Warriors, it struck me as strange because I askednmyself, “who the hell dresses up like clown baseball players?” To me, that wasn’tnreal, gang members wouldn’t be caught dead in that attire, but then I realized,nthis is an exaggerated representation of reality. It was Walter Hill’s way ofnaddressing his frustrations and thoughts on the whole gang scene that wasndestroying the lives of young people during the 60’s and 70’s. And so, if wentake The Warriors as an exaggeration of reality, a comic book like fantasynworld if you will, then it works. You just gotta let yourself go and dive deepninto this cinematic world, suspend your disbelief and just go with it. The samencan be said of Streets of Fire, it’s a world into itself, the characters andnsituations depicted here are not meant to be taken as “reality” but a mere exaggerationnof it, a Rock and Roll Fable that takes place in “Another Time, Another Place”.n

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nThis is a world where cops allow street gangs to fight, anworld in which a biker gang can walk into a rock and roll concert, kidnap thenlead singer and terrorize concert goers in all sorts of violent ways. And theyncan get away with it just fine! This is the premise of Streets of Fire, a filmnin which we have two gangs of young kids that for whatever the reason hate eachnother. Willem Defoe and his gang of bikers, who all dress like they belonged innThe Village People, kidnap Ellen Aim (Diane Lane) right smack in the middle ofnher concert and it’s up to Tom Cody (Michael Pare) to rescue her from thenclutches of Rave Shaddock (Willem Dafoe) and his gang. The plot is that simple,nbut we need to keep in mind that Streets of Fire is the classic example ofnstyle over substance and I mean that in a good way! Streets of Fire is meant tonbe enjoyed from a purely visceral point of view, the film is clearly aimed tonpleasure our senses and our instinct rather than our minds. Not that it’s anstupid movie; it’s just that its emphasis lies in sensory input because it’s a filmnabout passion and violence, and getting things done. This is a film aboutnaction, not about talking. The sensory input comes in the form of enhancedncolors, and the awesome Rock and Roll soundtrack, speaking of the soundtrack,nthis is part of the reason why I say that this is a film that creates its ownnrules because the film seems to take place during the 50’s but some of thenmusic is very 80’s. I mean, some of the songs were written by the great JimnSteinman (from Meatloaf) and what’s more 80’s than his style of operatic rocknand roll?

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nIn a way, the whole story behind Streets of Fire reminds menof Homer’s The Iliad, in which a whole war is sparked by the abduction of anwoman, Helen of Troy. In Streets of Fire everything starts because RavenShaddock and his hoodlums abduct Ellen Aim, now that I think about it, Helenansounds a lot like Ellen,  maybe thensimilarities between Streets of Fire and The Iliad aren’t that far off, itnlooks to me as if the writers were partially inspired by ancient epic poem. Andnyeah, there’s some epicness to this film, there’s this really cool seen innwhich Tom starts shooting with a modified shotgun at all the bikers motorcyclesnand the motorcycles start blowing up in balls of flames! Awesome scene! Thenending is this clash between two gangs, the evil bikers vs. Tom Cody and hisnfriends, and the battle is like a battle between two rock and roll gods, theyneven battle with freaking metal hammers! I was like what? Metal hammers? Whonthought that up?

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nThe cast is excellent, Michael Pare is great as Tom Cody, he’s thenguy you don’t want to get mixed up with, he’s a loner, a rebel.nEllen the up and coming rock star, is his old flame; he broke up with hernbecause he doesn’t consider himself the kind of guy who would tag along withnher carrying her guitars. Nope, he’s too much of a loner for that. He talksnvery little, broods a lot and wears a trench coat. He’s a war hero that stealsncars, fights for the love of his life, fires shotguns, fights with hammers, andnrides motorcycles! This is the ultimate tough guy. Like Pee Wee Herman in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (1985) or JacknBurton in Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Tom Cody is too much of a rebelnto get tied down by a relationship. But he doesn’t mind a night of passion! MichaelnPare’s career was starting to take off, he was apparently going to be thennext big thing in Hollywood, unfortunately he filmed another Rock and Rollnthemed film called Eddie and the Cruisers (1983) and then he went and filmed Streetsnof Fire and they both tanked at the box office! Yet, the cinematic gods have smiled upon him! This double death at the box office didn’t kill his career completely, he’sncontinued his career making b-movies and even one or two studio films. And then there’s DianenLane, wow, she really portrayed a girl worth dying for! Every time she wasnsinging on stage, I was transfixed by her persona, totally captivated. Seeingnher on this movie is totally worth the price of admission. Rick Moranis is onnthis film as well, if you can believe it he plays Diane Lane’s agent/fiancée,nand some feel he was miscast in the role. I have to admit he does stick outnlike a sore thumb amongst all the tough guys and gals. Super sexy Diane Lanenwith a nerdy dude like Moranis? I didn’t buy it, but whatever, it’s a minornflaw in the movie, plus Moranis is always entertaining.

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nOne of the most interesting characters in the film was angirl named McCoy (Amy Madigan) a tomboy who has as much attitude as everyonenelse on the film. Willem Defoe is a cartoon of a villain, even his facialnexpressions are exaggerated emotions, he wears this leather bound attire that’snstraight of an S&M magazine or something. My only gripe with the film is thenmotivations for kidnapping Ellen were not fleshed out , Raven Shaddock saysnthat he’s kidnapped her simply to have his way with her for a couple of weeks,nand that’s it. Is that enough to warrant an all out destructive war between twonfactions? Apparently it is. If a woman is good enough to start a war in The Iliad,nthen I guess it’s good enough of a reason in Streets of Fire as well and like Insaid earlier, she is to die for in this movie.

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nWhen it was released, Streets of Fire failed horribly at thenbox office. It didn’t manage to make its money back, so the sequels that were planned for Tom Cody were never made, still, when you watch it, look out for that open ending, they kind of hint at the idea of future films. But as it often happensnwith cool movies that pass unnoticed in theaters, audiences eventually discover them and so the film hasngarnered its cult following. Streets of Fire was a good Joel Silver productionnand you can tell a lot of work went into creating this world, which is why Inrecommend it, it’s a film that deserves to be seen. Walter Hill wanted to makena film that had all the things he considered cool when he was a kid. Cool cars,nrock and roll, kisses in the rain, motorcycles, shotguns…basically, it’s annexplosion of coolness tinged with a bit of nostalgia coming straight fromnWalter Hill’s memory banks. Closing statements: I highlynrecommend this overlooked Rock and Roll Fable; it is a film that aims to remindnus what it means to be young and alive, gotta love it for that!       

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