Director Walter Hill will be forever famous for The Warriors, the film where colorful New York street gangs are as interested in coordinated, daring fashion choices as guarding their turf.
But that movie has a lesser-known, distant cousin: Streets of Fire. And I struggle to think of a film that blends together as many aesthetics as this “rock and roll fable” does.
A color-blocked, fingerless-gloved 80s pop star cruises in a 1951 Mercury. We enter an alt-Chicago of vintage bars and cafes. It’s an actioner with a comic book tone yet eschews bloodshed and drops musical numbers. And there’s young love in the plot and the baby-faced villains and heroes you’d find in a high school movie.
But risky films capture the imagination but rarely the public. For all its creativity, Streets of Fire didn’t burn up the box office. It brought back just ~$8.1 million of its ~$14.5 million budget.
Still, it’s a film with a fanbase and influence, even outside Hollywood. For example, there have long been rumors that classic video game brawlers like Final Fight may have taken cues from the movie (a game that curiously has a main character also named Cody).
So is Streets of Fire an overlooked classic due a reappraisal or an ambitious vehicle whose engine cracked?
The Plot of Streets of Fire:
Pop singer Ellen Aim (Diane Lane) returns home to play a concert in Richmond (a fictional city district).
In the middle of her performance, Raven Shaddock (Willem Dafoe) and his biker gang, The Bombers, rush the stage and flee with Aim.
Reva Cody (Deborah Van Valkenburgh), shocked by the kidnapping, telegrams her brother, Tom Cody (Michael Pare), to return home.
Can Reva convince Tom to rescue Ellen, his ex-girlfriend, from The Bombers?
The rest of the main cast includes:
- Rick Moranis as Billy Fish
- Amy Madigan as McCoy
- Richard Lawson as Ed Price
- Rick Rossovich as Officer Cooley
- E.G. Daily as Baby Doll
- Bill Paxton as Clyde
- Stoney Jackson as Bird
- Mykelti Williamson as B.J.
- Lee Ving as Greer
- Grand Bush as Reggie
- Robert Townsend as Lester
What’s Working Well Here
Two Eras of World Building, +10 Points
Inspired by George Lucas’s Star Wars, Streets of Fire is set in “another time, another place.”
While there are modern-looking (by 80s standards) train systems, much of the clothing and vehicles resemble the 1950s.
The three city districts shown in the film (The Richmond, The Strip, and The Battery) are mostly depicted at night. Neon lights and oversized signage flash. Steel girders and building supports cover the city. And eerie green lights split shadows while steam rises up in the corners.
Drop into the 50s-style cafes, and you’ll struggle to find anyone over the age of ~30, with greaser gangs like The Roadmasters hassling servers. Meanwhile, young yet disillusioned patrons like McCoy knock back whiskey in the bars.
Altogether, it’s all its own aesthetic, landing somewhere between a comic book adaptation and a gritty, realistic fairytale.
Opening Music Number, + 5 Points
The film begins with the blitz of Ellen Aim and the Attackers’ performance of Nowhere Fast. In ~5 minutes, it blasts you with high energy and roaring exposition that plugs you into the film.
After the camera rises from just outside the music venue to Aim’s name on the marquee, the rest of the first 37 seconds are a barrage of micro cross-cuts. They give you a sense of the city as Reva Cody and other characters end their workdays and flood in for the concert.
Diane Lane’s Aim (lip-syncing) brings the poise and charisma of a young pop star. And the crowd of extras is lively in this mock, would-be music video.
But Billy Fish (Rick Moranis), Aim’s boyfriend/manager, cheaped out on security.
Setting the stage between good and evil, we cross-cut between the happy concert and Shaddock’s gang, riding their way through the streets and waltzing mysteriously into the venue.
Like some unreal moment, the biker gang sits obscured in the shadows, immobile black rocks against the waves of the dancing crowd. But eventually, the light is oh-so-slowly brought up on Dafoe’s Shaddock, who is fixated on Aim. It’s clever lighting, and with the languid pacing of Shaddock’s reveal, a fully cinematic moment.
Other than the concert venue’s announcer, there’s no dialogue – but all the visual storytelling gives the audience the picture.
Quick-Fire Cuts, +3 Points
The rapid-fire opening isn’t the only time the editing comes to life. Throughout the film, the editing keeps things ticking over.
And at times the editing goes more unorthodox, almost surreal.
For example, when the song Sorcerer is played, we cut back and forth between our characters returning to The Richmond, yet interspersed with fades to black in time to the music.
Then we follow the characters, interspersed with shots of Aim performing. It’s an interesting interlude, a quasi-music video stuck right into the thick of the film.
Notable Cast, +2 Points
The cast was more unknown then, but scan the roster now, and you’ll recognize the names.
The film features an early performance by 18-year-old Diane Lane. Rick Moranis (Ghostbusters) plays well against his usual gooftype as a cynical music manager. Bill Paxton (Aliens) plays a geeky bartender (right in his wheelhouse).
But the best of them is Willem Dafoe’s Shaddock. Gaunt and menacing, he’s a twisted, gothic biker gang leader (who might just be a bit kinky).
Some have said they find Michael Pare’s Tom Cody wooden, a performance writer Larry Gross, for one, singled out as helping to sink the movie.
I’d have to see someone else in the role to judge. Cody is an action figure archetype you’ve seen plenty of times, and to Pare’s credit, he lacks the lines that could separate him from other heroes in his mold.
Whatever you think of his performance, Pare has the build and peach fuzzy face needed for the vulnerability of the role – a strong dog, but a puppy dog.
Fun fact: Tom Cruise was offered the lead of Tom Cody but had to turn it down as he was committed to another project. No disrespect to Michael Pare, but what a miss for Universal Pictures.
Jim Steinman Tunes, +2 Points
**Minor Spoilers Here**
Though this is an 80s pop star film, you won’t find catchy synthesizer fare, nor is Aim a mock Madonna or Cyndi Lauper ripoff. Simplistic and catchy isn’t the game here (though Dan Hartman’s I Can Dream About You hit #6 on the Billboard Charts).
But suppose you’re into the operatic style of the legendary Jim Steinman (Bat Out of Hell), who wrote the opening and closing songs (performed by Laurie Sargent/Holly Sherwood and Fire Inc.). In that case, you’re in for a good listen.
Nowhere Fast doesn’t touch the heights of fare like tracks from Prince and the Revolution in Purple Rain (though what can?). But its driving beat and lyrics, with a pre-chorus and chorus for good measure, bring pulse-pounding theatrics.
Lyric and vocal heavy Tonight is What it Means to be Young, the film’s curtain closer, rises to the occasion. With choral quality, it tells the story of a romantic dream, fading out to a euphony of voices.
It sets a compelling backdrop for Cody’s goodbye to Aim, as one of the movie’s best scenes is his dramatic watching of the performance. Taking in the sight of Aim singing, Cody finally tears himself away to walk off from what he knows is an incompatible relationship.
It’s the reality of a burning young love that won’t work smashed against lyrics of a fantasy realm of angelic desires.
More plainly, it’s just a kickass way to end a wack-ass movie.
What’s Not Working So Well:
Talk Mean to Me, Baby -3 Points
Just about every character in the movie talks back with an attitude. It’s like they were all reading a Raymond Chandler novel for their book club at the same time. They’re not so much using words as verbal scorpion stings countered by talking spider bites.
It’s unlike Heathers, where you’re incorporating a slang style within a social group. It’s one mean note over and over.
The lack of variation in the dialogue weakens the characters. You could roll with it if it was confined to band manager Billy Fish and hardened sidekick McCoy. But even Aim seems to let the venom out, making them all one tumbling, arguing bunch that doesn’t set themselves apart.
Dodgy Costumes, -2 Points
I dig the 50s bikers straight out of something like Marlon Brando’s The Wild One.
But Cody is just about the only tough guy I’ve seen trying to rock high-waisted trousers and suspenders who is not stuck in the ’30s or ’40s.
Dafoe’s Shaddock is complete with an exaggerated greaser’s curl, like two cobras meeting at the top. But for leisurewear, he curiously has the only pair of leather overalls I’ve ever seen and can’t take seriously, even if he’s standing badass against a curtain of fire.
Mixed Action, -3 Points
The sledgehammer duel that ends the film is unexpected and entertaining.
But the most significant action set piece is Cody and McCoy’s raid on Torchie’s club, where Shaddock and his gang hang out.
Cody begins blasting gas tanks on bikers, causing the vehicles to explode and throw the rider. But it’s a really aimless sequence. None of the many bikers seem to be able to figure out what’s going on or confront Cody as he potshots them.
Later, Cody starts knocking some of them down as they ride by. Again, where is the effort to stop him?
It’s confusing and lackluster. Cody isn’t fighting anyone who meaningfully battles back. A better sequence was needed.
Awkward Moment, -1 Point
Cody straight-up deliberately smacks Ellen Aim, knocking her out. It’s done for her protection (no, really!) so she won’t follow him into danger. But it’s one throwback piece of this film that is uncomfortable and bizarre, even for such a short moment.
It’s unnecessary. Aim could have been reluctantly persuaded to stay away or held back by McCoy instead.
Go Watch Streets of Fire
Total Arbitrary Points Score: 11 Points
Streets of Fire didn’t fly with casual audiences, and you can understand why. A film throwing together action and musical pieces and 80s and 50s culture wrapped up in a hardline fairy tale tone is challenging to market.
But what made it fail at its release is what makes it worth your time today. It’s a unique beast, as no other film combines aesthetics and trends from multiple eras like this one.
It has flaws. It isn’t the most riveting action piece. And while it has plenty of character along the way, it doesn’t hit the heights of its rock-solid opening again.
But that doesn’t make it a bad time. Its visual style and editing are alluring. The music will absolutely rock fans of Jim Steinman. And its gritty fairytale world is unique.
So if you’re in the mood for something creatively different, please check this one out.
Streets of Fire is rated PG and was directed by Walter Hill.
You can rent it from Amazon Prime Video or YouTube.
You can watch the trailer here.
Disclaimer:
The factual information about the film in this review was gathered through online sources, such as Wikipedia, IMDB, or interviews. Misrepresentations and errors are possible but unintentional.
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