Okay, imagine if George Lucas directed a rock-and-roll opera reboot of The Searchers. If that sounds insane, you’re right, but it’s how I’d describe this movie. Of course, Lucas didn’t actually direct this–Walter Hill did–but it shares GL’s fondness for ’50s diners, sports cars, and underworld bars.
The movie begins with rock singer Ellen Aim getting kidnapped by a motorcycle gang, and the strong, silent Tom Cody, her ex-boyfriend, being recruited to rescue her. He’s joined by the streetwise mercenary McCoy and Aim’s manager, an arrogant, snobbish type who acts above it all.
Between them, Cody and McCoy are able to rescue Ellen, but that’s just the start of the drama. Cody has made an enemy of the gang’s leader, Raven, who views to get revenge. Besides that, seeing Ellen again stokes the fires of old emotions, even if Cody’s stoic personality refuses to let him acknowledge them.
It’s not a complicated story. On the contrary, it’s simple, straightforward, and raw. What makes it work well are the aesthetics; a pitch-perfect blend of ’80s punk with ’50s rock-n’-roll. It’s unique, compelling, and effective. Rich, without being overwrought. Bold, without being pretentious.
Amy Madigan almost steals the show as McCoy. The character could so easily be a walking cliché, but Madigan manages to make her feel genuine. She has a very expressive face that communicates toughness but with a hint of deep emotion behind it. And we don’t need to know her whole backstory; the play of feelings in her eyes tells us all we need to know. She’s scrappy and hard-nosed, but in a way that seems earned, and not like she’s just there to be the perfunctory Strong Woman™.
Now, that is not to say this is a great movie. It’s not a great movie, and it wasn’t trying to be. And therein lies its strength: it has no grand ambitions; it’s just trying to tell a good story in an interesting way. A mood piece.
The only major problem I had with this movie was that it uses a common trope that I hate: which is the idea that you punch somebody’s lights out and they will be unconscious for a bit, but otherwise fine. This happens all the time in fiction, and it’s stupid. A fist to the head is not a precision instrument, and it can do serious damage.
But, since the ethos of this film is that of a comic book—back before “comic book movie” became shorthand for a CGI-heavy installment in an interminable franchise of capes and spandex—I guess a bit of unreality is allowable. I dunno.
Apart from that, it’s a pretty enjoyable flick. I’m not sure how I never heard of it until recently. Apparently, it was a box office failure. Which, ironically, is probably a good thing, because if it had been a success, it would have spawned a Tom Cody Cinematic Universe, which would inevitably have become stupid. They actually did make a spiritual sequel, Road to Hell, but despite the fact that I enjoyed Streets of Fire, my interest in seeing it is exactly zero. 🎶 “You got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, know when to walk away…”🎶
Like empires, movie franchises are doomed to become victims of their own success sooner or later. Better to make a one-off that fails with the moviegoing public but finds a second life as a cult hit.
Although late to the post when I saw the heading made this a priority. I agree with you wholeheartedly about Amy Madigan, Streets of Fire belong to her and William Defoe. Apparently Madigan was originally to be as Reva Cody but she saw the script and lobbied for McCoy (who originally was seen as a big gruff guy).
Michaël Pare and Diane Lane were just starting out and seems to have been slotted in because other bigger fish were either bust elsewhere or didn’t fancy the project. Give them their later dues Lane went on the better things (eg Lonesome Dove) while Pare continues to put in an exceptional workload on TV films, a fine example of find your level and work to that.
Whereas Streets of Fire did flop it paved the way for a genre, and has a 16 page print-out option on Wikipedia (which can’t be too bad a heritage).
On the trope. Yes, I get your irritation with the knock out punch. I read an interesting article by a woman stunt worker and martial artist who complained about the lack of bruises on the protagonist’s fist when they punch someone, pointing out the giver also feel the hurt.
Me, in my formative years of 6 -10 grew up believing that a bullet wound in the shoulder was no big deal and the hero (usually of a western) after a bit of limping and wincing carried on fighting the good fight. (Worst one ever- The Napoleonic film ‘Pride and The Passion’ Frank Sinatra armed with a 19th Century pistol shoots a man off a horse having waited for him to gallop about half a mile….19th century pistol- fast moving target…….seriously?????? )…OK rant over.
Ha, yes! As Richard Armour would say, “the laws of probability had not been passed yet.” 😀
By the way, since you’ve seen “Pride and the Passion” you might enjoy this old post of mine: https://ruinedchapel.com/2013/07/07/pride-and-passion-but-no-profit/
(Be warned, I was a much worse writer back then.)
Firstly -Richard Armour: I encountered him first in the mid 1960s; our small town library had several of his ‘It All Started With’ books, and since then admired his work greatly. I read and re-read his ‘Classics Re-Classified’ and ‘Twisted Tales From Shakespeare’ and never tire of them.
I agree with your assessment of ‘The Pride and Passion’ all the way, being a Napoleonic Wars reader winced all the way through at the factual errors- the C S Forrester original ‘The Gun’ is more credible (in an artistic licence way )
Finally, it was a good and concise review. No problems were encountered in the reading of….
Keep up the good work.
In a sequel known as Road to Hell none of the same characters exist except Tom Cody and his complicated mind disease suffering sister Reva who still thinks she’s his wife she’s responsible for this she doesn’t know the meaning of love her personality is the opposite of Kevin Flynn from Tron trilogy and Uprising (tv series), Officer Anne Lewis from Robocop trilogy, Dani Dennison from Hocus Pocus, & Alfred Pennyworth from Batman 1989-1997 and kinda Vicki Vale. But Ellen Aim and McCoy appeared in a sequel once played by 2 different women replaces Diane Lane and Amy Madigan by Anita Leeman and Lauren Sutherland. Tom Cody’s personality is also the opposite of Clu from Tron 1 & 2 and Uprising, John Spartan from Demolition man, and Batman from 1989-1997.