“Streets of Fire” (1984) directed by Walter Hill, starring Michael Paré, Diane Lane, Rick Moranis and Amy Madigan / Z-View

Streets of Fire (1984)

Director:  Walter Hill

Screenplay:  Walter Hill, Larry Gross

Stars: Michael Paré, Diane Lane, Rick Moranis, Amy Madigan, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, Rick Rossovich, Bill Paxton, Lee Ving, Stoney Jackson, Grand L. Bush, Robert Townsend, Mykelti Williamson, Marine Jahan, Ed Begley Jr., Olivia Brown, Peter Jason and Willem Dafoe.

Tagline: Tonight is what it means to be young.

The Plot…

Another time.  Another place.

Ellen Aim and The Attackers return to Ellen’s hometown for a special concert.  They’ve made the big time and want to show appreciation to their first fans. Things go sideways when Ellen is kidnapped by The Bombers motorcycle gang.

Tom Cody, a former soldier and Ellen’s ex-boyfriend is hired to rescue her.  Ellen’s being held in the Battery, a dangerous section of town under Bomber control. Cops don’t go into the battery, but Tom Cody will.

Tonight is what it means to be young.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Amy Madigan was up for the role of Reva, but lobbied for the part of Cody’s sidekick even though it was written for a Hispanic man named Mendez. Madigan convinced Walter Hill that she was right for the part so the character was renamed McCoy and changed to a woman.

Walter Hill wanted to make a film that contained all the things he loved as a teenager – “custom cars, kissing in the rain, neon, trains in the night, high-speed pursuit, rumbles, rock stars, motorcycles, jokes in tough situations, leather jackets and questions of honor”.  I’m right there with Walter.

Walter Hill hoped to do a trilogy of films starring Michael Paré as Tom Cody.  Sadly Streets of Fire‘s box office didn’t warrant sequels.

Despite not doing well in the US, Streets of Fire was a big success in Japan where it won the prestigious Kinema Junpo Award for Best Foreign Language Feature.

Marine Jahan, who doubled for Jennifer Beals in Flashdance, plays the dancer at Torchy’s bar.

Streets of Fire underwent a lot of editing to change it’s tone and to avoid a “R” rating.  Entire scenes were cut. Some of these scenes explained characters’ backstory, some helped with world-building while others were concert sequences.  I would love to see an “expanded cut”.

Streets of Fire features a cool soundtrack.

I’m an unapologetic fan of Streets of Fire.

Streets of Fire (1984) rates 4 of 5 stars.