365 Movies Day #135 "Streets of Fire"

I'm on a Walter Hill kick. Not only was he the director of epic films like "48 Hours", "Wild Bill", "The Warriors" and recently featured "EXTREME PREJUDICE", but as a producer he has given us such films as "DEMON KNIGHT" and Ridley Scott's original "Alien". He has a masterful way of genre mixing and creative use of action to tell interesting and original stories. "Streets of Fire" is way outside the box.

Now those of you who know me well know that I have been working on developing a rock and roll action flick that is way outside the box. The script is done. I've talked to some fantastic rockabilly artists like The Wailin' Elroys, Dave Smith Country Rebel and the Cobramatics and would love to get it off the ground soon. Having just seen "Streets" a few days ago, it's awesome to know that I think along similar (though my script is way more sci-fi) lines as someone like Hill.

Another thing, and I've mentioned this before on here, I was a huge fan of HBO's Thursday Night Prime back in the day. I looked forward to it. So I'm no stranger to Michael Pare who plays the lead in this film. Pare has done a LOT of films. He and Eric Roberts were regular staples on the HBO Thursday line-up. One of his more recent films was featured in the blog already (Uwe Boll's "RAMPAGE") and you can catch him in "The Lincoln Lawyer". One of his most famous roles was in the title role of the 1983 hit "Eddie and the Cruisers".

The rest of the cast is a who's who of folks who would become household names to film-goers everywhere. Diane Lane plays Ellen Aim, front woman for The Attackers. You should know Lane from films like "Under the Tuscan Sun" and "Unfaithful" and I was just shocked to learn she was Cherry Valance in one of my favorite flicks of all time, "The Outsiders". She was also one of the stars of the film "KILLSHOT", our #23 film. During a performance Aim is kidnapped by vampire-looking leather clad biker and leader of The Bombers, Raven, played by Willem Dafoe. With his smooth face and 20+ years taken off, it took me a second to recognize him, but as soon as he started talking it was unmistakable. I really shouldn't have to list his film credits from "Spiderman" to "The Boondock Saints" to his masterful work in Stone's masterpiece "Platoon", Dafoe is an amazing actor and always a joy to watch. This is his first time appearing in the blog.

Aim's boyfriend, semi-sleezy music producer Billy Fish, played by Rick Moranis ("Ghostbusters", "Little Shop of Horrors", "Honey I Shrunk the Kids") hires Pare (Tom Cody) a former love interest of Aim to get her back. Cody is straight up modern cowboy with his wardrobe, his attitude and his arsenal of weapons including six shooters and lever action rifles. He finds an excellent partner in McCoy, a hard-edged soldier played by actress Amy Madigan ("Field of Dreams", "Gone Baby Gone", "Grey's Anatomy"). The three set off to take down Raven and get back the girl and run into an interesting lot of characters along the way.

Also making appearance is my hero Bill Paxton ("FRAILTY", "ONE FALSE MOVE", "Aliens", "Terminator", "Predator 2", "Navy Seals", "Big Love", "Near Dark", "Commando" and a ton of other badass films. Robert Townsend (who had a bit part in "The Warriors" and will be talked about later in the blog), Deborah Van Valkenburgh ("The Warriors", "The Devil's Rejects") and Rick Rossovich ("Top Gun", "Roxanne", "Navy Seals", "Terminator", "ER") are also floating around the film.

This film is very stylized from wardrobe, to cars to setting. Even the dialogue and delivery is reminiscent of cheesy old mobster flicks. The opening tells you it will be a rock and roll fable set in another time and another place. It's fun to watch and inspiring as a piece of filmmaking. Hill always delivers and this is no exception to the rule.

STREETS OF FIRE ON IMDB