Movie review: ‘Streets of Fire’

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Director Walter Hill made “The Warriors” and it’s more stylish than great (click here for my review), then four years later he came out with “Streets of Fire.” There’s more music in “Streets of Fire” than “The Warriors” and the soundtrack is truly sensational and “Streets of Fire” also tells a story about a group being chased at night across in a big city – with lots of reflected lights off wet pavement. However, “Streets of Fire” was self-labeled “A Rock & Roll Fable” and tried to have the story intrinsically linked to the music. However, the mix of music, retro styles in fashion and cars and the immersion of noir … just didn’t come together. “Streets of Fire” isn’t a great film despite having an outstandingly underrated cast, but you should check it out. Let me tell you about it …

‘Streets of Fire’
(1984; 93 minutes; rated PG; directed by Walter Hill and starring Michael Pare, Diane Lane, Rick Moranis and Amy Madigan)

A FILM BETTER SERVED IF A TRUE MUSICAL

Director Walter Hill obviously wanted “Streets of Fire” to have its music, youth-oriented anti-establishment message and young cast blend together in kind of a noir meets “American Graffiti.” But, in the end, it just doesn’t work. The music of “American Graffiti” is that film’s soul, while in “Streets of Fire” it tried to be that, but individual songs became just punctuation points of a few moments.

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“Streets of Fire” has an outstanding young cast from Michael Paré, Diane Lane, Amy Madigan and Rick Moranis to an under-used and excellent Willem Dafoe. It also has outstanding music, great musical scenes with nice performances. Sigh. Therein lies the central problem: “Streets of Fire” knows what it wants to be, but just never comes completely together.

Action? OK, it’s there, but it’s not as good as the music. The music? It’s sensational, but somehow, despite being central to the story, the rest of the film detracts from the music. Central to it all, though, is the movie’s style. From retro to noir to color and smash cuts in the film … style is king here.

Since you’re probably going to ask, “Streets of Fire” is about a young popular singer who is kidnapped by a motorcycle gang. Her old flame, who was away from home in the military of the day (the film is from “another time, another place”) is called back to rescue her. You then follow him and a ragtag group as he first fights to free her and the fights to keep her … but not ultimately keeping her.

From the opening concert to the closing songs, music tries to be the soul of “Streets of Fire” but never really accomplishes what’s intended, even though you get “Ellen Aim and the Attackers,” the real-life group the “Blasters” at “Torchie’s” and the made-up group of doo-wop smooth-singers called “The Sorels.”

All the music just simply sizzles (and it doesn’t hurt to have as one song’s highlight the dance double from “Flashdance” on the bar in fishnet stockings) with “The Blasters” playing “One Bad Stud” and at the end the “Sorels” will moonwalk you away.

Back on the acting front, outside of Madigan as Paré’s soldier-sidekick, you won’t find any great performances in “Streets of Fire.” Moranis does the next-best job from the top of the cast, while Ed Begely Jr. is tops for the actor with nearly the least amount of screen time. None of the three can elevate this film – and Hill, like in his gang movie “The Warriors,” serves up a lot of style but comes up short in the end.

At the top of the cast are forgettable performances by Paré and a very young Lane (she was 18 when she read for the part and 19 at the premiere). Paré gets close to a decent performance since his lines have some oomph to them, but Lane just didn’t have the acting chops then to elevate the stale dialogue given to her. All-in-all, the actors’ work as a cast in the whole is OK and watchable, but there was so much more to expect that it ultimately grades out a failure by Hill.

In any case, here’s my look at some of the cast:

  • Paré plays “Tom Cody” and he’s the tough, cool guy coming home to rescue the damsel in distress. Actually, he has nice moments and the most to work with in the film, but, like almost all the rest of the cast, ultimately comes up short. He’s really not that good in this part and it would have been interesting with other casting. Paré has had a prolific career with 149 acting credits from his first in a TV movie in 1981 through the original posting of this review. He currently has 18 in pre- or post-production, completed or announced. His first “big” film was starring as the title character in “Eddie and the Cruisers” and has been on dozes of TV shows as well as being in films such as “The Virgin Suicides.”
  • An Oscar nominee and three-time Golden Globe nominee later in her career, Lane was only 18 when she read for the part of star singer “Ellen Aim.” However, don’t be fooled by her age. “Streets of Fire” was her eighth film and she doesn’t fumble the ball … but, she just doesn’t gain much yardage when she has to carry it. It’s not all Lane’s fault as the screenplay by Hill and Larry Gross is deficient. Still, she’s watchable and does good lip-synchs on her musical numbers. Lane was nominated for both an Oscar and Globe for “Unfaithful” and she’s been in “Under the Tuscan Sun,” “The Outsiders” and one I like her best in, the sci-fi thriller “Jumper.”
  • Also an Oscar nominee and three-time Globe nominee (not for this one), Madigan, as I’ve already written, gives the best performance of the cast as “McCoy.” She does somewhat distant very well and conveys every emotion she’s asked – although there aren’t that many. I would have been interesting for her character to be the star of the sequel that never developed. I liked Madigan in “Field of Dreams” and liked her better in “Uncle Buck” (click here for my review) and she was nominated for the Oscar and one Globe for “Twice in a Lifetime” and got her other globe nominations for TV’s “Roe vs. Wade” and “Love Child.”
  • Primetime Emmy winner Moranis plays “Billy Fish” and he’s Lane’s manager and boyfriend (until it’s obvious she’ll drop him instantly for Paré). He does the second-best job after Madigan and is near-perfect with the snarky wise-cracking and put-downs. His character is the most interesting one and it actually develops well. However, there is only so far that one can go in this film. Moranis won his Emmy in 1981 for writing on “SCTV Network 90” and is most recognized for “Ghostbusters.” I though he was excellent in the kids football flick “Little Giants” (click here for my review) as well as “Head Office” (click here for my review) and “Parenthood” (click here for my review). Younger audiences will remember his work on “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” and that franchise. His most under-appreciated effort would be as an FBI agent shepherding Steve Martin in the witness protection program in “My Blue Heaven” (click here for my review).
  • The character that is the most underdeveloped and therefore wastes the talent of a young Willem Dafoe is “Raven Shaddock,” the bad guy and leader of the motorcycle gang that kidnaps Lane. Future three-time Oscar nominee Dafoe just oozes energy when he’s on screen and it would have been so much better to cut a bunch of the noir garbage and give that time to him. Wow. What a waste. Dafoe was nominated for “Platoon,” “Shadow of the Vampire” and “The Florida Project.” After “Platoon,” I like him best as the bad guy in “To Live and Die in L.A.” (click here for my review) and “Clear and Present Danger.” He was also in the stinkbomb called “Speed 2: Cruise Control” playing a nastily twisted bad guy – of course!
  • Deborah Van Valkenburgh’s first movie was “The Warriors” under the direction of Hill and here is her third. She’s basically so-so here as “Reva Cody,” who is Paré’s sister and responsible for calling him home to help Lane. However, she earns a passing mark because she’s watchable and doesn’t do anything to earn criticism. Van Valkenburgh doesn’t earn any praise, either. Most of her work has been on television and you’ll remember her best from TV’s “Too Close for Comfort.”

I’ve already mentioned that Begely as “Ben Gunn” does a great job in his minute or so on screen and there’s also a young Bill Paxton as “Clyde the Bartender.” I’m not going to take any more time on their characters, as this review is running too long. Sadly, Paxton died at 61 in 2017 of a stroke following surgery. Oh, yes, Lynne Thigpen with her signature voice makes an appearance here after being in “The Warriors” with her signature voice.

While “The Blasters” is a real group, “The Sorels” was created for the film and has actors lip-synching the songs. You might recognize Mykelti Williamson and Robert Townsend at two of the group’s members, but not anyone else. They accomplish a good, quiet job … but nothing more.

As for two-time Primetime Emmy winner Hill, his biggest hit was “48 Hrs.” with Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy (plus its sequel). In the middle, with never living up to their potential, are efforts such as “Streets of Fire,” “The Warriors” and, the ones I like better, “The Long Riders” (click here for my review) and “Red Heat” with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jim Belushi. Scraping bottom are efforts such as “Brewster’s Millions” with Richard Pryor and John Candy. However, a few much lesser-known works are actually more evenly solid throughout and they include: “The Driver,” “Southern Comfort” and “Hard Times.”

BTW … I’ve put both the spelling with the accent and the spelling without it for Paré. Search engines might not find “Paré” where they will with “Pare.”

“Streets of Fire” was 90th at U.S. theaters for 1984 with $8 million in ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo. It was made on a budget of $14.5 million, according to Wiki. In case you don’t remember, 1984 was a sensational year for moviegoers with “Beverly Hills Cop” and Eddie Murphy at No. 1 with $234.7 million; the now-classic “Ghostbusters” at No. 2 with $229.2 million; and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” at No. 3 with $179.8 million.

The other top 10 films were “The Karate Kid,” “Police Academy,” “Footloose,” the forgotten great “Romancing the Stone,” “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” and “Splash” (click here for my review). I don’t enjoy mentioning No. 4 (“Gremlins”) since I’ve never seen it or ever thought I wanted to see it. Here are the other films from 1984 that I’ve reviewed:

Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • The dancer in “Torchie’s” is memorable for her erotic moves, her fishnet stockings and her almost-striptease. She is Marine Jehan and was the dance double for Jennifer Beals in “Flashdance” from the year before “Streets of Fire.” Hmmm. Interesting trivia. Jehan has only three acting credits, including one for an episode of the TV show “T.J. Hooker” with William Shatner. The final, from 1988, was for an episode of TV’s “The Wizard” that was aptly title “The Heart of a Dancer.”
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “The Attackers were the real-life band-mates of Laurie Sargent, who provided the singing voice for Ellen Aim. Their band was called Face to Face and they played mainly “new wave” music around the Boston area. The group split up in 1988.”
  • Moranis was reportedly unhappy during filming because he wasn’t allowed to improvise.
  • The screenplay was originally written with Paul McCartney in mind as the singer being kidnapped, but when he passed on the project, it was rewritten as a woman and Lane won the part not for her singing, but for her acting.
  • Although it would have been interesting to see Edward James Olmos as Pare’s sidekick (the part was originally written as a Hispanic man named “Mendez”), I’d say Madigan did her part to near-perfection and was the correct choice – and she first read for the part given to Van Valkenburgh.
  • It was reported that some of the actors were so young that labor laws prevented late-night shooting, so some nighttime scenes were filmed under tarps.
  • Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “The film was originally rated R, but was edited to get Universal’s desired PG rating. The film was screened for exhibitors as an R, and among the trims reported: a number of F-words, Marine Jahan removing her top during her dance, and a different ending, with the credits rolling over Ellen’s final number.”
  • Click here IMDb.com’s extensive trivia page about the film …

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