Streets of Fire [1894 Walter Hill dir]

Streets of Fire is a 1984 film directed by Walter Hill, and co-written by Hill and Larry Gross. It was described in previews, trailers, and posters as "A Rock & Roll Fable." It is an unusual mix of musical, action, drama and comedy with elements both retro-1950s and 1980s. The film stars Michael Paré as a soldier of fortune who returns home to rescue his ex-girlfriend (Diane Lane) who has been kidnapped by Raven (Willem Dafoe) and his motorcycle gang, the Bombers. Some of the film was shot on the backlot of Universal Studios in California on two large, elaborate sets covered in a tarp 1,240 feet long by 220 feet wide so that night scenes could be filmed during the day.



The film was promoted as a summer blockbuster but was not well-received critically or commercially, grossing only USD $8 million in North America, well below its $14.5 million budget. Its dynamic musical score by the likes of Jim Steinman, Ry Cooder and others, however, has helped it attain something of a cult following among fans.



Streets of Fire fared poorly at the box office, opening in 1,150 theaters on June 1, 1984 and grossing USD $2.4 million.[3] After ten days it made $4.5 million while Star Trek III: The Search for Spock grossed $34.8 million in the same time.[2] The film went on to make $8 million in North America, well below its $14.5 million budget.[3] It retains a cult following today, in part due to its Wagnerian rock soundtrack.



The film received mostly negative reviews from critics when it was first released. It currently has a 60% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Janet Maslin of the New York Times criticized the film's screenplay as being misogynistic and "problematically crude."[5] Gary Arnold in the Washington Post wrote that as "romantic leads, Paré and Lane are pretty much a washout," and that "most of the action climaxes are treated as such throwaways that you begin to wonder if they bored the director."[6] Jay Scott in The Globe and Mail newspaper wrote, "when Streets of Fire is speeding by like Mercury on methedrine, the rush left in its wake cancels out questions of content. But the minute the momentum slows, it's another story - a story about a movie with no story at all."[7] In a lengthy essay for Film Comment, David Chute wrote, "It's probably impossible not to enjoy the movie. No director holds a candle to Hill for sheer visceral expertise. But the moods didn't linger. It's such a hard-shelled picture that it barely has moods".[2] However, Roger Ebert, in his Chicago Sun-Times review, praised the film's dialogue. He wrote, "the language is strange, too: It's tough, but not with 1984 toughness. It sounds like the way really mean guys would have talked in the late 1950s, only with a few words different - as if this world evolved a slightly different language."[8]



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streets_of_fire




http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088194/