Despite my love for the cult film The Warriors, I had never looked into its director.
That man is Walter Hill. Seeking insights into his creativity, I began to go down farther and farther into the rabbit hole of his career.
And since finding an excuse to watch movie after movie is one of my leaks as a person, I’ve now seen every one of his films.
So let’s put those hours to use. We’re going to do what fans love to do and just what Hill does with his characters: pit the films against each other and see which ones come out on top.
For fun, this article ranks every film directed by Walter Hill, released from 1975 to 2022, from least entertaining/accomplished to most entertaining/accomplished.
All lists like this create controversy, and that’s the fun of having an opinion! If you disagree, feel free to share why in the comments below. I’d love to read your (respectful) case for why I could reconsider.
This is a 2024 ranking. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to recreate some of these films’ impact in their own moment. But we do our best.
And after the rankings are revealed, I’ll hand out some awards, such as best onscreen action, and highlight some things any creative can learn from Hill’s work.
But Wait…Who is Walter Hill?
Feel free to skip this introduction, if you don’t need it.
If you’re a millennial or older, you’ve likely watched a film or television show that has something to do with Walter Hill as a screenwriter, producer, or director (and sometimes all three).
Known for his stripped-down, “haiku” screenplay writing style, he’s written several films, including director Sam Peckinpah and actor Steve McQueen’s classic, The Getaway.
Along with his longtime business partner David Giler, they were the producers (and uncredited rewriters, which is a messy story) of the landmark sci-fi film Alien.
The pair also produced and had creative/story involvement with its sequels Aliens and Alien 3 (he is listed as a producer of every film in the franchise since but has clarified it’s in name only).
In television, he was an executive producer on the EC Comics-inspired Tales from the Crypt (directing three episodes). He won a Directors Guild of America award for his work on HBO’s original series Deadwood and Broken Trail.
He’s branched out recently, releasing the spoken-word western The Cowboy Iliad and the comic book Triggerman.
Just that creative output would make him a memorable figure, but we’re here for what he’s most well-known for: as a longtime film director.
Hill’s film directing career began in the mid-1970s, operating primarily in the action genre. He cemented the often-imitated modern buddy-cop formula with the angle that, as he’s put it, “The jokes are funny, but the bullets are real.”
He has also worked within his favorite genre, the western, and many of his films dip into throwback noir.
But enough with the man, let’s get on with the film battle royale.
Walter Hill Film Rankings:
Not Ranked – Supernova (2000)
Genre: Science Fiction
Budget: $60-$90 Million
Box Office: $14.8 Million
Plot: Don’t worry about it. Read on.
Supernova is only a Walter Hill movie in technicality and shouldn’t be held against him. He disowned the film, credited as “Thomas Lee.”
The short of it is, after a troubled production, tensions between Hill and the studio rose to a finale when the studio elected to screen a test cut for audiences WITHOUT the special effects, despite it being a science-fiction movie.
Hill, exasperated, decided he’d had enough and quit the project.
After director Jack Sholder came in to save the film but couldn’t get things working, Mr. Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather) made the final cut, attempting to restore the movie more to what Hill would have wanted.
But since sources claim very little of Hill’s original footage was actually in the final cut, I’m comfortable excluding this entry from consideration.
Oh, and it sounds like a bat-shit crazy film anyway. It’s the type of movie where a zero-gravity sex scene between characters played by Robin Tunney (The Craft) and Peter Facinelli (Can’t Hardly Wait) was digitally altered to look like James Spader and Angela Bassett instead.
Can you imagine being part of the special effects team that clocked in for the day and read that change order?
No doubt that’s the strategic screwing around (pun fully intended) that will help you earn back $14.8 million of your $60-$90 million budget.
It’s too bad, as it would have been Hill’s first directed science-fiction film.
21 – The Assignment (2016)
Chronological Order: 20
Genre: Action Crime Thriller
Budget: ~$3 Million
Box Office: ~388,789
Plot: After a betrayal, hitman Frank Kitchen (Michelle Rodriguez) is kidnapped by underground physician Dr. Rachel Jane (Sigourney Weaver). Jane performs a sex-change operation on Kitchen.
When Kitchen, now a “she” , wakes up and seeks her revenge, she learns the truth of why she was attacked.
With: Tony Shalhoub, Anthony LaPaglia, and Caitlin Gerard
Here were two female leads for a director whose canon is male-dominated movies.
Sigourney Weaver and Michelle Rodriguez looked capable casting for the mad-scientist-like Dr. Rachel Jane and the sex-changed hitman Frank Kitchen.
And the story involved two parallel narratives colliding to see who comes out on top – very Hill territory.
But this twisted revenge tale flubbed into a weak version of Old Boy.
What could be a sophisticated production with a B-movie vibe fails to walk the line and comes across straight-to-video.
Hill has had success with these EC Comics-like stories before (Tales from the Crypt), but I wish this film could borrow some of that series’ light-hearted fun.
A lot of people die by gunfire, but only because Frank Kitchen walks around unceremoniously, pointing a gun at them and squeezing a trigger. No doubt the budget limited the capabilities for extravagant set pieces, but Hill has worked much more impact into low budgets before (The Warriors).
And the film fails to craft likable characters.
Doctor Jane, fond of quoting Edgar Allen Poe, is a trite evil schemer but not one you can be fascinated/disgusted by, like Hannibal Lechter (Silence of the Lambs).
Frank Kitchen is the most basic hitperson, one who seems to have had a hard life but does nothing to make us root for them as an antihero.
You can find greatness in vehicles like this. A film like John Woo’s Face-Off, as over-the-top ridiculous as it was, demanded outstanding performances.
That movie presented the acting challenge of Nicholas Cage and John Travolta to play roles like a villain pretending to be the good guy in his body and vice versa (or even depicting moments when the good guy trapped in the villain’s body has to be a convincing bad guy for the characters around him yet get visibly sick over his actions for the audience).
Here, Rodriguez is challenged to play both the man and a man-turned-woman. Still, it only feels like slapping a prosthetic penis on (yes, they go there, and apparently, she picked the biggest one she could find) for 25% of the film.
So while Hill’s creative mind dreamed up a sleeper-hit vehicle, it’s got no power under the hood.
Is The Assignment a Good Movie Today?
I want to recommend it for the outrageous concept it was trying to fly, but I can’t endorse spending the time with it.
20 – Bullet to the Head (2012)
Chronological Order: 19
Genre: Action/Thriller
Budget: $55 Million
Plot: After his partner, Louie (Jon Seda), is murdered by ex-mercenary Keegan (Jason Momoa), hitman James “Jimmy Bobo” Bonomo (Sylvester Stallone) teams up with unlikely partner Detective Taylor Kwon (Sung Kang) to track down Keegan.
Bobo and Kwon’s search leads them head-on into the scheme of real-estate developer Robert Nkomo Morel (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje).
Bobo’s daughter, Lisa (Sarah Shahi), is dragged into the fray.
With: Christian Slater
It’s a surprise that an action star like Stallone and a vaunted genre director like Hill took this long to join forces.
And that lag in collaborating could be what hurt this film, which had Stallone’s worst box-office opening in 32 years.
It’s a familiar playground for Hill. Like 48 Hrs., the story smashes together two protagonists who don’t like each other to work for a common goal.
The script is based on the French graphic novel Du plomb dans la tête, and Hill aimed to freshen things up by being self-aware, a fun homage to 70s or 80s action films.
But while the creative intent was there, the result is a thinner version of a product we’re already familiar with.
The white loose cannon cop and slick black criminal partnership of 48 Hrs. is swapped for Asian cop with brains vs. dumb white criminal with muscles.
When Detective Kwon shows off the sophisticated police reporting and information he gets from his smartphone, making it like a weapon, Bobo quips he could kill the detective with an apple.
And unfortunately the racism of 48 Hrs. is alive and well, with Bobo all too happy to nonchalantly mix up different Asian cultures as he insults Kwon.
Bobo’s daughter, Lisa, walks into the movie as a paper-light love interest for Kwon.
Instead of a clever courtship, the film gracelessly crashes Kwon into her – first with a bullet wound she has to remove, second with him accidentally walking in on her naked because, for all his skills, knocking on doors isn’t one of them.
But the biggest surprise is that a movie that cost this much money and was shot by Hill and crew could carry a straight-to-video look and feel.
The villain’s wacky real estate scheme isn’t worth contemplating. And the movie is complete with a final showdown (as Richard Roeper pointed out) at an abandoned warehouse because of course.
But what can we expect from a film that is OK with naming someone “Jimmy Bobo.”
I will give this film one nugget: It was shot on location in New Orleans rather than the now-boilerplate LA, Chicago, Boston, or New York tough-cop haunts.
Another point is that even in 2012, Stallone was physically intimidating enough to make the part work. And the movie didn’t skirt around his age, with his mature daughter.
Jason Momoa and Christian Slater play their (silly) parts well, though I’m not sure if the writing was so bad or if Sung Kang (Fast & Furious) had an off-day the length of the shoot. Despite being a lead character, I might have forgotten him if he wasn’t on screen so much.
Keegan and Bobo play out a very Walter Hill thing as they battle it with fire axes to settle things.
But the film falls into the no-man’s land of sagging competence: not good enough to entertain or bad enough to inadvertently delight.
Is Bullet to the Head a Good Movie Today?
Not in a world of so much content you can watch instead.
19 – Red Heat – (1988)
Chronological Order: 11
Genre: Action/Comedy
Budget: ~$29 million
Box Office: $34.9 Million
Plot: When no-nonsense Russian Police Captain Ivan Danko (Arnold Schwarzenegger) tracks drug dealer Viktor Rosta (Ed O’Ross) to Chicago, he joins forces with mouthy Detective Sergeant Art Ridzik (James Belush) to capture him.
With: Peter Boyle, Larry (Laurence) Fishburne, and Gina Gershon
Wow.
Hill helms a vehicle written for Arnold himself, in his full 80s pomp, and a soundtrack from James Horner, yet we’re still near the bottom of these rankings.
Unlike many movies capitalizing on Arnold’s larger-than-life size and persona, Hill wanted to normalize it.
Thinking about a rational explanation for Arnold’s accent, Hill came up with the idea of him being a Russian cop in the United States (though Arnold is Austrian/American).
Before a script was penned, Arnold signed on for the film. He had been impressed with Hill’s success with 48 Hrs., the concept of this picture, and a scene Hill wanted to work into the movie (from a script by writer Harry Kleiner) where the policeman rips off a henchman’s leg to reveal it’s a wooden one packed full of cocaine.
Although, I think Arnold’s $8 million fee may have had something to do with him coming aboard.
But the movie, though opening number one at the box office, was an overall disappointment.
And when you revisit it today, it has moments but isn’t special.
“Ahnald’s” romp in a Russian bathhouse that turns into a snow fight was promising. He knocks some hardcore baddies out, the Foley sound effects working overtime.
The comedy of the leg rip scene is excellent. You feel the imminent horror, hearing the gasps for air in the room, that this large officer is about to crush this man’s leg. He proceeds to rip it off, but there’s strangely no blood, just ounces of powder. It’s a delightful turn.
Since it’s the 1980s and because Hill didn’t think Arnold fit well in cars, there’s an amusing bus vs. bus game of chicken.
Then there’s the muscular one’s performance. For all Arnold’s meme-tastic career has given us, he is much more of an actor than I think we give him credit for. His delivery of a joke about the Russians handling stress with simple vodka exemplifies his excellent timing.
But like the movie below it in these rankings, this film milks the 48 Hrs. formula. It’s a movie so recycled that even James Horner is said to have lifted pieces of the 48 Hrs. soundtrack into it.
The hard case Russian Danko pairs up with Chicago PD Sergeant Ridzik. As in other Hill movies, talkative Ridzik makes up for Danko’s silence. The Russian and American methods clash, but the characters go on to gain a friendship.
Watching the movie today, I don’t laugh at anything Belushi does. Comedy is so of its time that it rarely ages well, and I don’t mean it as a shine on the actor. But it really hurts the film’s appeal.
The film is interesting because it attempts to normalize Arnold. Had it worked, it could have been a unique moment in Schwarzenegger’s career. So many of his other movies are let’s take this big tough guy and exaggerate him (The Running Man, Commando) or let’s take this big guy and play directly against it (Kindergarten Cop, Twins).
Here, he was normalized into a stranger in a strange land, but it didn’t particularly fly.
Surprisingly, there’s no political angle. A Russian in America in the 1980s is just a plot device, a window dressing. There’s no animosity, and nothing is done with that. Perhaps the film feared controversy, but even a cash-in sequel like Rocky IV wasn’t scared to go there.
Is Red Heat a Good Movie Today?
If you love Arnold and haven’t seen it, the shootouts and his good lines might entertain you.
Otherwise, while it’s far from bad, it’s a boilerplate 1980s actioner that’s no classic.
18 – Wild Bill – (1995)
Chronological Order: 16
Genre: Acid Western
Budget: $30 Million
Box Office: ~$2,200,000
Plot: His health declining, James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickock (Jeff Bridges) arrives in Deadwood, South Dakota.
As Bill self-reflects on his past deeds, he remembers leaving his lover, Susannah Moore (Diane Lane), his many gunfights, and his travels with William Frederick “Buffalo Bill” Cody (Keith Carradine) and Martha Jane “Calamity Jane” Cannary (Ellen Barkin).
Meanwhile, young card player Jack McCall (David Arquette), bitter over a grudge, announces his intention to kill Wild Bill.
Will McCall shoot Bill?
With: John Hurt, Christina Applegate, Bruce Dern, James Gammon, Marjoe Gortner, and James Remar
Wild Bill lost a lot of money, with audiences and critics destroying it. The movie left the box office with a deflating ~$2 million take, not 10% of its reported budget.
Still, I had high hopes that, with time, this unorthodox western would gain some appreciation.
As a fan of Jim Jarmusch’s polarizing acid western entry Dead Man, surely something redeeming was bound to be here – differently crafted, if not even to all our tastes.
Starring Jeff Bridges and with credible supporting actors like Bruce Dern, John Hurt, and Ellen Barkin, it seemed Hill’s chance to right the poor box-office performance of Geronimo and pull off an epic.
And since Hill is a fan of history and capable of action direction, these were fitting hands for the story of legendary gunfighter Hickock.
But instead of pulp confrontations and gunpowder, Hill went for demurred poetry. It’s a film littered with flashbacks and dream sequences, drinking binges and opium smokes.
In theory, I appreciate Hill’s structural approach. It gets to the heart of a deeper story.
Young antagonist Jack McCall, seeking vengeance for his mother, sets out to find a legendary outlaw. Instead, he discovers a weary Hickok contemplating the worth and meaning of his life.
The picture doesn’t deconstruct the western myth like Unforgiven. Still, it asks questions, as heavy is the crown of king gunfighter.
But for all its gravitas, we’re dragged through this movie rather than mystified by it. We don’t feel the solid weight of the emotional impact of these flashbacks, and its finale drops like a dud.
While I admire Hill’s artful approach, I wonder what the straight version of this movie, sans Dutch camera angles and black-and-white sequences, could have been like.
When the film does kick Bill into action, the shootouts are impressive. Despite being in real-time, Bill draws faster and aims better.
And true to Walter Hill’s style, one of Wild Bill’s face-offs is particularly novel. Facing Bruce Dern’s Will Plumber, who’s stuck in a wheelchair, Hickock evens things out by tying himself to his own chair.
But despite this incredible cast and artistic approach, the movie doesn’t pull you in.
Is Wild Bill a Good Movie Today?
I doubt you’ll find treasure, but go for it if you want to see an ambitious attempt.
17 – Another 48 Hrs. (1990)
Chronological Order: 13
Genre: Action/Comedy
Budget: $50 Million
Box Office: $153.5 Million
Plot: Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) is trying to capture a mercurial drug dealer known as “The Iceman.”
When Cates kills a criminal in self-defense, internal affairs don’t see it as an accident, nor do they believe in the existence of the mysterious villain.
Jack must uncover The Iceman’s identity to prove his innocence and stay out of jail. Lucky for him, his old pal and ex-convict Reggie (Eddie Murphy) can identify The Iceman.
Meanwhile, to keep his identity a secret, the Iceman hires a biker gang to kill Reggie.
Can Jack and Reggie stay alive long enough to find The Iceman?
With: Brion James, Kevin Tighe, Ed O’Ross, David Anthony Marshall, Andrew Divoff, Bernie Casey, Brent Jennings, Ted Markland, Tisha Campbell, Felice Orlandi
Jack and Reggie are back. After the runaway success of the first installment, Paramount Pictures and Hill were happy to cash in on a sequel.
This time, Eddie Murphy gets top billing over Nick Nolte (and apparently a crazy pay rise from $200,000 for the original up to $12 million, plus a percentage of the gross).
While Hill’s sequel seems to have crushed the box office by a more significant margin than the original, the film was so expensive that profits were minimized.
The original was trendsetting. But by the sequel, imitators had sparked a 1980s buddy-cop movie takeover of action cinema. Films and franchises like Lethal Weapon, Running Scared, Tango & Cash, Stakeout, Dragnet, Beverly Hills Cop (a second Murphy vehicle), Midnight Run, and more had been launched into cinematic orbit.
It got so ridiculous that human and DOG buddy cop clones competed for the king of the same sub-niche (Turner & Hooch, K-9).
The lazy but accurate way to review Another 48 Hrs. is to say its title is literal – absolutely another 48 Hrs. film.
Still, while this sequel is a definitive cash-in, it’s not slipshod.
Murphy himself was hot for the project. With his then-superstardom, he didn’t have to do anything he didn’t want to. The story evolved from his idea (written by Fred Braughton, screenplay by John Fasano, Jeb Stuart, and Larry Gross) and picks up a few years after we left off.
The film found a way to extend the original’s story rather than use a hackneyed tactic of putting Jack and Reggie back to square one of needing each other’s help again. While Jack has a new case to solve, the film continues the original’s plot and players.
And Jack and Reggie have changed as people since we last saw them, though not too much. For example, Jack has wisened up from some of his bad health habits, but he’s still got that taste for crap cars.
But it inevitably tries to return to the same well of the first experience with so-so results.
The picture recycles jokes from the first film, like Reggie’s overly loud singing. While winking at the first movie’s funny bits would have been OK, relying on them again comes up short.
And the film plays out like a black-out drinking binge. It gets loud, shatters a lot of glass, and fires many bullets. A day after it’s over, you might not remember why it was doing that in the first place.
Is Another 48 Hrs. a Good Movie Today?
If you like the first one, go for the second. Though a lesser sequel, it’s still a wholly competent entry in the buddy-cop genre.
If you’re just interested in its technical or historical qualities, to see why these films had so many imitators, the original is all you need.
17 – Brewster’s Millions (1985)
Chronological Order: 8
Genre: Comedy
Budget: $15 Million
Box Office: $45.8 Million
Plot: Minor-league baseball pitcher Montgomery Brewster (Richard Pryor) learns that his great-uncle Rupert (Hume Cronyn) has left him a $300 million estate—with a few conditions.
Wanting him to get the urge to spend money out of his system, Uncle Rupert has written out that Brewster has 30 days to spend $30 million, or he won’t inherit the rest of the dough.
To add to the difficulty, along with stipulations about how much can be given to charity and the fact that he must have only the shirt on his back by the end, Brewster cannot tell anyone the truth about his Uncle’s will.
Will Brewster, much to the confusion of his friends and the public, be able to blow $30 million in 30 days?
With: John Candy, Lonette McKee, Stephen Collins
I was shocked to realize this is the seventh adaptation of the 1902 novel of the same name (and in worldwide cinema, it looks like the 13th!).
A straight comedy, this film has nothing in common with Hill’s other filmography except an appearance by Torchy’s Bar (a Hill staple or inside joke that appears in 48 Hrs., The Driver, Streets of Fire, and maybe a few others).
Hill said he made this film to improve his bank account and success quotient.
Critics didn’t like it, thinking it tamed Pryor’s comedy. But the movie returned with ~$45 million in box office money, tripling its budget.
Having seen pieces of this movie as a child (it was rerun on cable channel Comedy Central many times), I never bothered to sit down for all of it. Today, I expected a dull watch, but the absurdity of it mildly held my interest.
It’s refreshing to watch it now when comedies are rare. This happy throwback is never concerned with taking itself seriously or tackling societal themes.
And it glides at a robust pace, never hitting an outright lull.
But other than Brewster’s hilarious intentionally money-wasting mayoral campaign, “none of the above” (encouraging voters to avoid choosing him or any other corrupt candidate), I can’t say I laughed.
Another negative is the abrupt, anti-climactic ending. You’d think we’d get more fanfare after all the stress and pressure Brewster has been through. Perhaps he’d reveal to his best friend, Spike Nolan (John Candy), why he’s been bat-shit crazy spending money for 30 days. Yet the film avoids wrapping things up like it ran out of budget or tossed those bits to the cutting room floor.
Its biggest fail is not taking greater advantage of its premise’s freedom. Brewster spends a lot, but there’s much hiring at inflated salaries, parties, and redecorations when expensive pranks and ill-advised parades could have done.
Is Brewster’s Millions a Good Movie Today?
If you have a nostalgia for 1980s comedies, you could do worse (but also better).
16 – The Long Riders (1980)
Chronological Order: 4
Genre: Western
Budget: $8 Million
Box Office: ~$15,800,000
Plot: Former Confederate soldiers, the James-Younger gang robs banks and trains throughout the Midwestern United States.
A Pinkerton detective, Mr. Rixley (James Whitmore Jr.), is charged with bringing the criminals to justice.
Can the James-Younger gang avoid the Pinkertons?
With: David Carradine, Keith Carradine, Robert Carradine, James Keach, Stacy Keach, Dennis Quaid, Randy Quaid, Christopher Guest, Nicholas Guest, Pamela Reed, Savannah Smith Boucher, Kevin Brophy, Harry Carey Jr., Shelby Leverington, Felice Orlandi , Lin Shaye, Amy Stryker, James Remar
The Long Riders stands out in a genre we associate with dusty plains or deserts pockmarked with dry brush and cacti.
A “green western,” a midwestern, the film, shot in places like Parrot, Georgia, is transporting.
And on top of its striking scenery, the movie often evokes a dreamlike state.
The picture is famous for casting four sets of real-life brothers as the James-Younger gang. While that sounds like a gimmick, it adds chemistry and quality to the film, as historical figures look alike.
The film’s highlight is the Northfield Bank robbery gone wrong, a gruesome ~four-minute slow-motion nightmare. It culminates in lovely, never-again shots of horses and riders jumping through glass not once but twice in slow motion.
But the film could be faster. And if audiences space out for a bit, they’ll need help with its serpentine, plodding story.
While it tries to build upon the interrelationships of the gang members, it doesn’t find anything mildly or profoundly moving – more a portrayal than a commentary. Our best explanation for this historical group is the gang’s excuse that the war made them who they are.
David Carradine’s Cole Younger and Pamela Reed’s Belle Star impress. Their flirtatious romance is a dominance game of who can string the other along more powerfully. Still, the rest of the romantic or antagonistic pairings fail to spark.
You can read my full review of The Long Riders here.
Is The Long Riders a Good Movie Today?
If you like classic westerns and can be patient, check it out. Casual audiences could look elsewhere.
15 – The Driver (1978)
Chronological Order: 2
Genre: Action/Crime Thriller
Budget: $4 Million
Box Office: ~$4.9 Million
Plot: The enigmatic Driver (Ryan O’Neal) is skilled behind the wheel. For a price, he pilots criminals like bank robbers to safety.
The Detective (Bruce Dern) is a rule-bending cop ready to go to extremes to bring him to justice.
When The Detective sets The Driver up in a sting operation, The Driver will need help from The Player (Isabelle Adjani) to win.
With: Ronee Blakley
Let the controversial rankings begin.
While critics and audiences back in 1978 didn’t take to The Driver’s stylistic choices, directors Edgar Wright, Nicolas Winding Refn, and Quentin Tarantino are serious fans.
And though I’m just a movie fan and not an acclaimed director, you can see why.
The Driver, with its night-time car chases, opens up the engine. Oozing with style, the film’s look was influenced by painter Edward Hopper. The distressed back alleys and empty warehouses of Los Angeles come alive in a green-hued cement jungle.
But despite a sizzling plot of double-crosses and shaky allegiances, it deliberately plays out in a quiet, minimalist style.
The characters become more like archetypes of what they’re supposed to be than vibrant crooks and crook nabbers. Some barely speak, as if the film is afraid to provide a shred of detail about who they might be.
A quiet, understated style has been successful in films like Frenchman Jean-Pierre Melville’s excellent Le Samourai. Perhaps Hill wanted to take that European influence into America, but the style, for me, fell flatter here.
Though Hill had initially written the title role for as straight a casting as you could imagine, Steve McQueen, the part found its way to drama and comedy vet Ryan O’Neal.
While O’Neal’s performance gives what Hill wanted, a bonafide action star like McQueen could have given this film the gravitas it needed to make its bold choices work.
You can read my full review of The Driver here.
Is The Driver a Good Movie Today?
If you’re an aspiring writer, director, or fan of classic movies, look into this. Its bold, stylistic direction might appeal to you.
Kickback audiences may want to try the latest fare.
14 – Undisputed (2002)
Chronological Order: 18
Genre: Sports Drama Film
Budget: $15-20 Million
Box Office: $14.9 Million
Plot: When world heavyweight champion George “The Iceman” Chambers (Ving Rhames) is sentenced to prison, he gets to fight his way out.
Inmate Mendy Ripstein (Peter Falk), a gangster and boxing aficionado, offers Iceman a deal. Ripstein will use his connections to arrange his parole if he can defeat reigning prison boxing champ Monroe “Undisputed” Hutcheon (Wesley Snipes).
Can Monroe pull off the impossible and upset The Iceman?
With: Michael Rooker, Jon Seda, Wes Studi, Fisher Stevens, Master P
Why does a new prison in the Mojave desert have a built-in cage (lined with barbed wire) with a boxing ring in the middle?
Because the most suitable thing to do with a bunch of rowdy, highly dangerous inmates you’re allegedly trying to rehabilitate is let them duke it out in sanctioned boxing matches, I guess.
You can believe in the human corruption that would allow men to box in jail, but I’d love to have been there when the architect proposed their designs to county planners.
But if you can roll along with the absurdity of this film, there’s an exciting thought behind this tale.
Coming off the failed Supernova experience, which almost caused Hill to quit the film industry, he and his pal producer David Giler discussed Mike Tyson’s trip to prison.
They mused how interesting it was that no studio had ever taken the idea of the baddest heavyweight in the world being flung into the dangers of the prison environment.
And from that tiny seed, the idea germinated into a full-on film script.
Our stand-in for Tyson’s experience (the character doesn’t imitate “Iron Mike”) is George “The Iceman” Chambers.
And before we can go further – yet again, it’s an Iceman! What’s up with characters named Iceman? Iceman in Another 48 Hrs. Iceman in Top Gun. Iceman in this movie. Can screenwriters make a pact not to name any more characters Iceman?
But getting back to the review – full of pride, the champ is well-known to all the prisoners but walks around making damn sure they know exactly who he is anyhow. And Chambers brings a lot of trouble down on himself by refusing to take allegiances, disrespecting gangs that offer.
Then we have the man we know he’s destined to square off against, Monroe “Undisputed” Hutchen. Undefeated within the prison system boxing ring for ten years, Monroe would rather build sculptures out of toothpicks than waste his energy on Iceman’s taunts.
I was ho-hum about this film, but as the conflict and contrast between the two boxers takes shape, it carries you along to see who wins.
Rhames, Snipes, and Falk are comfortable and turn in solid performances.
And while Undisputed is a straight action/boxing genre piece that’s nothing more, that also means it’s nothing less.
It didn’t do too well at the box office but is said to have found success on the home video market (and has spawned three sequels).
Still, I wish Hill and Giler’s premise was put into a deeper movie. You can imagine a character-driven, more dramatic than genre piece on the meanest fighter going to the worst environment and dealing with those emotional and physical challenges.
But while the film takes that novel concept in a straight boxing direction, it’s far from bad and perfectly watchable.
Is Undisputed a Good Movie Today?
If you like Rocky for the boxing matches, not the moving story (a Rocky III and IV person instead of a I and II person), this is your kind of picture.
13 – Geronimo: An American Legend (1993)
Chronological Order: 15
Genre: Historical Western
Budget: $35 Million
Box Office: $18.6 Million
Plot: When the Apache agree to peace and life on a reservation, General George Crook (Gene Hackman) sends a small detachment, including 1st Lieutenant Charles B. Gatewood (Jason Patric) and 2nd Lieutenant Britton Davis (Matt Damon), to accept Geronimo’s (Wes Studi) surrender.
But after Gatewood and Davis escort Geronimo to the reservation, he and many other Apache grow restless and fail to embrace their new farming way of life.
Soon a brutal murder kickstarts Geronimo’s newest rebellion.
With: Robert Duvall
As westerns were in a revival in the early 90s (Unforgiven, Dances with Wolves, Tombstone, Last of the Mohicans), Geronimo seemed like a film poised to join the moment.
But Hill and his accomplished cast couldn’t get this historical epic to find fire. The movie fared poorly at the box office, and the critics were mixed.
It was challenging to market this film. It does not tell a love story, has few female characters, and has more somber tones than adventure flair.
But for those who have taken the plunge, there are some good bits here.
The horseriding and action scenes, with Peckinpah-esque flair, will impress you.
Gene Hackman and Robert Duvall bring charisma, and Wes Studi, in the title role, is quietly magnificent. The film’s surprise is Jason Patric, who turns in perhaps the most accomplished performance.
And the picture, shot with an uncommon mix of telescopic and widescreen lenses, is gorgeous.
The movie pulls at the emotions, as it intelligently puts the plight of the Apache and the understanding of that plight by the soldiers who had to intern them front and center. Any triumph in the film is honorless, wrecked by the sad reality of the soldiers’ duty.
But Geronimo’s big flaw is its meandering story, which lurches the film into mediocrity rather than gliding into excellence. It’s light on levity or entertainment value.
While the movie is far from bad, it’s unfortunate it doesn’t soar as it was yet another chance for Hill to make a standout classic western.
You can read my full review of Geronimo here.
Is Geronimo a Good Movie Today?
Fans of dramatic westerns might like it. For casual audiences, the world of content is large enough to find something else.
11 – Johnny Handsome (1989)
Chronological Order: 12
Genre: Neo-noir Crime Thriller
Budget: $20 Million
Box Office: $7 Million
Plot: John “Johnny Handsome” Sedley (Mickey Rourke) is a criminal with a disfigured face.
After a double cross lands him in jail, he meets Dr. Steven Fisher (Forest Whitaker) and enters his surgical rehabilitation program.
Dr. Fisher’s operations and speech program successfully gives Sedley a new face and a chance on parole as “Johnny Mitchell.”
But while Mitchell holds down a job and courts coworker Donna McCarty (Elizabeth McGovern), police Lieutenant A.Z. Drones (Morgan Freeman) is certain Johnny’s desire for revenge against Sunny Boyd (Ellen Barkin) and Rafe Garrett (Lance Henriksen) will draw him back to a life of crime.
Will Johnny make a new life for himself with Donna or get even with Sunny and Rafe?
With: Scott Wilson
Johnny Handsome is based on a novel by John Godey and Hill’s third film shot in New Orleans.
As the director puts it, the picture is a “moral choice” movie over the blazing action pieces it’s surrounded by in his filmography.
Hill thought getting this neo-noir crime thriller to play with American audiences could be challenging, and he was correct. The film didn’t rake in the dollars domestically.
But Hill and the producers had eyes on the European markets when casting Mickey Rourke. The actor was a big star overseas thanks to films like Angel Heart and 9 ½ Weeks. And while 1980s Americans may have been lukewarm to neo-noirs, Europeans of the day could be keen.
And today, the story of a seemingly doomed, Shakespearean star-crossed protagonist could put off some. But for those who hunger for throwback noir, it’s a fitting piece for the genre.
Rourke (The Wrestler, Sin City) was well-cast. He impressively wears massive makeup and alters his voice for the film’s first section as the disfigured Johnny. And his performance gives us just enough sympathy, avoiding overplaying it, so we gain a sense of a man bound by a sad destiny he can’t crawl out of without betraying the code he lives by.
Morgan Freeman’s Detective A.J. Dronez is a police officer almost like a devil on Johnny’s shoulder. Like The Joker blaming Batman for his villainy, you wonder if the officer’s unshakeable belief that Johnny will return to crime reinforces Johnny’s decisions.
Ellen Barkin and Lance Henriksen play the crooked and nasty Sunny and Rafe, who know better than to even trust each other. The dangerous duo are not overtly menacing. But like a nasty cut from the rusted top edge of a tin can that could carry tetanus, they’ll mess you up bad.
And as all Hill films are secret westerns, the final confrontation holds plenty of tension, releasing it in a face-off.
It’s a bleak tale. But Hill, cast, and crew purposefully pulled away from a trip into melodrama, giving the film a grounding, effective gravity.
Is Johnny Handsome a Good Movie Today?
If you are into neo-noir, you’ve found a good one.
10 – Dead for a Dollar (2022)
Chronological Order: 21
Genre: Western
Budget: Unknown
Box Office: $81,403 (released mainly on streaming)
Plot: Teacher Rachel Kidd (Rachel Brosnahan) is abducted by Elijah Jones (Brandon Scott), an army deserter. Her husband, Martin (Hamish Linklater), hires reputable bounty hunter Max Borlund (Christoph Waltz) to track them down.
Borlund heads into Mexico with Sergeant Alonzo Poe (Warren Burke) to the displeasure of local gangster Tiberio Vargas (Benjamin Bratt). To make things worse, Borlund’s old nemesis, gunslinger Joe Cribbens (Willem Dafoe), is in town and eager to settle their vendetta.
When Borlund learns the abduction isn’t what it seems, will he complete his mission or change his allegiances?
With: Luis Chavez, Fidel Gomez, Guy Burnet , Alfredo Quiroz, Scott Peat, Jackamoe Buzzell
I’m going against the tide of opinions throwing Dead for a Dollar up to number ten.
But above all else, a movie sets out to entertain. And despite this picture having heavier flaws than films I’ve ranked lower, I’m rewarding it for its entertaining spirit.
The movie, which looks like it didn’t cost an awful lot, was dedicated to a director of many low-budget westerns, Budd Boetticher.
The film’s trick is that it’s all setups and payoffs. It skillfully brings together many parties to the table of trouble, and I admire how it balances its many moving parts.
It’s nowhere near colliding characters with the skill of a good Guy Ritchie crime film (Snatch; Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels), but it moves its main characters and bit-part players along to one big confrontation.
And in true Hill fashion, the ending is a multi-party showdown/shootout to determine who comes out on top.
While the movie is a Hill film, the type that throws in a mano-a-mano bullwhip fight, it stands out from most of his others.
From a director accused of ignoring female characters (though rewriting a male character into Alien’s Ripley), this time he puts the story of a progressive, abused woman at the center of the film’s conflict. Rachel Kidd is ahead of her time but in a heap of trouble, not a silly damsel in distress.
For a director at the latter end of a ~50-year career, I loved that he found new stories to tell.
But the disappointment many audiences have expressed is also valid.
The mouthwatering leading cast for a western of Dafoe, Waltz, and Brosnahan play their parts well. Still, it’s like they’re overqualified for their positions. The film’s simplicity doesn’t wring quite enough from their star power to make them as useful as their talents could have been.
Much of the dialogue became boringly expository to keep the pacing as swift as this film moves.
And two characters meet their ends with far less bravado than I’d have hoped Hill could write it.
Due to cracks like these, the film wraps up flatter than you’d hope they’d been building toward. It could have been something if the movie had been tuned a little differently — a little more campy, serious, or over-the-top. As is, I found it only so-so.
But this brightly-lit, sandy-town, gunfights and standoffs western still carries an enjoyable throwback tone.
Is Dead for a Dollar a Good Movie Today?
Not everything is a museum piece. It’s a fun kickback watch.
9 – Last Man Standing (1996)
Chronological Order: 17
Genre: Action
Budget: $67 million
Box Office: $47.3 Million
Plot: During prohibition, John Smith (Bruce Willis) drives into the lowly town of Jericho, Texas.
When Smith learns the town is caught up in a war between an Irish and Italian gang, he figures he can make a lot of money by playing both sides.
With: Christopher Walken, Alexandra Powers, David Patrick Kelly, Karina Lombard, Bruce Dern, William Sanderson, Ned Eisenberg, Michael Imperioli, R.D. Call, Ken Jenkins, Ted Markland, Leslie Mann, Patrick Kilpatrick
This Bruce Willis actioner seems largely forgotten, but I remembered it nearly beat for beat, having rented it on video in the mid-90s. I watched it multiple times before returning it (and no doubt rewinding that VHS first). The movie can transfix a teenager, but an adult may demand more.
The picture is an authorized remake of Akira Kurosawa’s samurai classic Yojimbo (which makes it a distant cousin of the unauthorized Sergio Leone/Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Western remake, A Fistful of Dollars).
To separate the film from the source material, Hill chose to take the movie into a neo-noir aesthetic, landing on a prohibition-era gangster war.
The film’s bleak angle didn’t delight critics, and it returned sagging box office numbers.
In a film where 0.45 rounds push people back like they’re being attacked by invisible Sumo-wrestling ghosts, Hill was influenced by or had a parallel thought to John Woo’s bullet ballets.
Scenes like the hotel shootout scatter many bodies in a short period and are masterful bits of mayhem.
There’s Smith and the blaring clatter of his dual 1911 pistols, the ridiculous amount of debris kicked into the air, and the POV cams as Smith points and clicks—his speed and aim just 100% better than those of his opponents. If you look carefully, you’ll see a few frames of white edited into the mix, like muzzle flashes taking over the screen.
Some films throw everything at you in a haze, hoping you’ll believe that mess means action. Despite the ferocity of these mythical shootouts, they’re edited so we can still understand what’s happening.
Then there’s Ry Cooder’s dragging, chug-chug score. It’s almost a neo-noir version of the Jaws shark coming to get you with hints of the doomlike waltz found on the excellent Sin City soundtrack.
And the cinematography from Lloyd Ahern, Hill, and Crew dazzles. The dusty town of Jericho, coated in orange sepia, transports us. Like a western, there are many close-ups and bits of faded lighting.
The cast was pitch-perfect. Willis slides into its mysterious gun-toting lead; his counterpart is an imposing Christopher Walken. Hill regulars David Patrick Kelly, Bruce Dern, and William Sanderson (Deadwood) fill supporting roles.
But the film remains an ever-impressive eggshell sans the yolk.
The opposing gangs need more character. The Italians are stereotyped to the point of vast dinners of meatballs, spaghetti, and garlic bread. And other than their leader’s last name, I don’t know what makes Doyle’s gang Irish.
Between the ferocious action, the rest of the screentime is Smith knocking back bits of whiskey, mean-mugging between different gangs, and little escalations in the plot you care little about. As a young man, I could put up with it to get to the action scenes; as an adult audience, I make more demands.
Like its protagonist, it’s a film that is better than its reputation, yet its flaws will never be fully redeemed.
Is Last Man Standing a Good Movie Today?
If you’re a Willis or action noir fan, you might dig the dark vibes as I do. General audiences may prefer something lighter.
8 – Trespass (1992)
Chronological Order: 14
Genre: Action
Budget: $14 Million
Box Office: ~$13,750,000
Plot: Arkansas firefighters Vince (Bill Paxton) and Don (William Sadler) learn of a hidden cache of gold inside an abandoned East St. Louis warehouse. Telling no one, the men set out to recover the fortune.
But when Vince and Don stumble upon a murder by crime boss King James (Ice-T) and his gang, including the ambitious Savon (Ice Cube), a deadly standoff begins.
Trapped inside the building, can Vince and Don escape?
With: Art Evans, De’voreaux White, Bruce A. Young, Glenn Plummer, Stoney Jackson, T.E. Russell, Tommy Lister Jr., John Toles-Bey, Byron Minns, Tico Wells
I came into Trespass with zero expectations, having never heard of it.
But today, you can still find it streaming or on Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray through Shout! Factory, and now I know why it has its fans.
The script is a reworked 1970s story by none other than Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale (Back to the Future). However, the film takes an entirely different tone than we usually associate with the two.
The picture faced a tricky 1992 release. It was initially known as “The Looters” and set to open during the L.A. Riots. Like hell the studio was going to bring up that controversy. Retitled Trespass, it was pushed back for a Christmas release.
But even with the new title, its subject matter still raises questions of social issues.
You can’t ignore that the film pits two southern white firefighters against an all-black street gang. Still, Hill has described it as not intentionally political, though acknowledging that “white and black attitudes spill into the movie because of the attempt to create some kind of social reality out of the situation.”
Had it been a more popular movie, I wonder if the public would have engaged in a larger discussion of its optics.
But moving on to the picture itself, many have seen the plot as a loose reinterpretation of the Humphrey Bogart classic The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
And it’s a movie that features both Ice-T and Ice Cube (though, sadly, not Vanilla Ice), two leads Hill says were chosen not for their rap careers but based on their actual acting chops.
Both turned in excellent performances, especially because they were given creative license to improvise or alter dialogue as they saw fit.
But Trespass’s greatest strength is its pacing. Not a moment is wasted here as trouble begins the film, and there’s always something to up the ante as the two everyman fireguys plot their next escape attempt.
A straightforward thriller, it makes a lot of drama from basic moving parts. The film takes place over a short period, principally in one location, with clear motivations. Bradley, a character trapped in the middle, keeps you guessing what part he will play.
The criminals act logically, trying to cut off escape routes and outwit their foes. It keeps things from getting dull.
And the visuals get creative. One of the gangsters carries around an old-school camcorder, and its footage turns into a POV cam. There are a lot of Dutch angles and handheld cameras throughout the film to increase the volatile, tense atmosphere.
If you wanted to pick at it, surprisingly, the bickering gangsters are more vivid, realistic characters than firefighters Vince and Don.
Don’s intensity puts you off. Even before the maelstrom of the movie-long standoff, he acts like he’s a driven serial killer in his spare time. Had he started out grounded, I could have been more interested in his descent into madness and greed.
But the big flaw is its ending. Without giving it away, one of our protagonists is out of the action for the final confrontation, which I found strange.
And without spoiling it, the final scenes involve bitterness and trickery that fall flat. It’s hard to give audiences satisfaction in a film where you’ve kept them wondering about the outcome of a prolonged stalemate, and the results don’t necessarily take us somewhere brilliant.
But that’s mostly nitpicking.
While any higher moral message Gale and Zemeckis may have written into their script about the price of greed is missing, this is an excellent setup for an action film and unfolds into a tense, good time.
Is Trespass a Good Movie Today?
It won’t change your life, but for fans of thrillers, absolutely.
7 – Crossroads (1986)
Chronological Order: 7
Genre: Drama
Budget: Unknown
Box Office: ~$5,800,000
Plot: Juilliard student and aspiring musician Eugene Martone (Ralph Macchio) strikes a deal with old blues man Willie Brown (Joe Seneca): if Martone takes Brown back to Mississippi, he’ll teach him the lost song of famous guitarist Robert Johnson.
With: Jami Gertz, Steve Vai, Tim Russ, Joe Morton, Robert Judd, Dennis Lipscomb, Harry Carey Jr., John Hancock, Allan Arbus
Crossroads whiffed with audiences. With Ralph Macchio in the lead and an older man mentoring him, many saw the film as a cash-in rehash of The Karate Kid.
But as that type casting has faded, the movie has been given its flowers, especially by musicians.
The ending guitar showdown, like a gunfight, is infamous. Lead character Eugene Martone and the Devil’s proxy, Jack Butler (played by guitar legend Steve Vai), square off in a bluesman vs. shred-head battle for souls. And in guitar forums, there’s much appreciation for Ry Cooder’s blues score.
Despite Hill mostly directing action movies, this picture effectively weaves comedy into a dramatic (but not melodramatic) coming-of-age tale.
Macchio and Joe Seneca click in the roles of mentor and mentee. Both Macchio and Seneca paint false tough shells around their characters. Willy’s is the stern facade of false scorn; Eugene’s is the overconfidence of youth. Yet we can see right through each. The two characters gain a begrudging respect that evolves into a friendly partnership by the film’s end.
Despite the use of black-and-white flashbacks and some off-kilter dream sequences peppered into the movie for hints, the shift into straight folklore feels like a departure from the rest of the film.
But besides this minor incongruency, there’s much to like about this picture.
You can read our full review for Crossroads here.
Is Crossroads a Good Movie Today?
Yes. It’s a good time, and may play a little romantic for aspiring musicians.
6 – 48 Hrs. (1982)
Chronological Order: 6
Genre: Comedy/Action
Budget: $12 Million
Box Office: $78.9 Million
Plot: To stop criminal Albert Ganz (James Remar), uncouth San Francisco Police Officer Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) pulls convict Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy), one of Ganz’s former associates, out of prison to help him.
Will Cates and Hammond stop bickering long enough to track Ganz down?
With: Frank McRae, Annette O’Toole, David Patrick Kelly, Sonny Landham, Brion James
Admittedly, this film’s legacy bumped it up several places in the list. I wouldn’t recommend it to friends and family nowadays, but its genre importance can’t be sidestepped.
It’s not entirely the film’s fault. Successful comedy is always of its time, and what’s fresh and edgy in that moment rarely lasts.
But there’s certainly a lot going for 48 Hrs. that needs acknowledging.
While not the first “buddy cop” movie, you can tell by the absolute rash of them that followed that this is the film that, as Youtuber Minty puts it, defined the modern formula.
And it’s an accomplished film in its own right.
There’s a gliding pace to all exposition, like Jack’s time in the police precinct, complete with his now stereotypical yelling captain (Frank McRae, who parodied himself in genre spoof Last Action Hero).
Shot on location in San Francisco, the film will always be of its era. It is expertly paced and handles the compression of time well.
Hill regulars James Reymar and David Patrick Kelly (The Warriors) bring flavor to supporting roles, and James Horner (Titanic) donates a score.
But let’s remember that it launched quite a film career.
Before he willingly hopped into fatsuits (The Nutty Professor, Norbit) and landed in vehicles that lost nearly $100 million (The Adventures of Pluto Nash), Eddie Murphy really could entertain.
Despite being just a raw ~19-20 years old and in his first movie, you can see the exact scene Murphy made himself into a star – when he pretends to be a cop and turns over a redneck bar.
Looking lost and out of his depth, Murphy turns the power right around when he shatters a glass. The energy is sucked from the room, leaving him free to go apeshit on the stunned patrons Popeye Doyle style (The French Connection).
In truth, I don’t know what’s more unbelievable about the scene – Murphy’s performance or the idea that there’s a confederate-flag-flying, cowboy honkey-tonk bar in the middle of San Francisco. But it’s fun.
This is a pure tough guy film full of Hill things. There are the walloping gunshots, fistfights and standoffs, and cynical Jack’s diet of alcohol, cigarettes, and candy bars.
But the unobscured racism is what surprised me the most. Late in the film, Jack apologizes to Reggie for the many times he has called him the N-word or just about worse. But it’s shocking to me that a cop unafraid to get racist is a feature, not a bug, in the programming.
It’s hard to go back to the original film that germinated what are now many boilerplate cliches still used in cop films and have it feel fresh. While I can admire a lot of this movie, I can’t say I enjoy it.
Number six on this list is a worthy compromise.
Is 48 Hrs. a Good Movie Today?
To a general audience, no, I would not recommend it. It’s hard for comedy to age well.
But if you’re interested in the classic action genre or studying movies, this is a bedrock many films followed.
5 – Extreme Prejudice (1987)
Chronological Order: 10
Genre: Neo-western Action Thriller
Budget: $22 Million
Box Office: $11.3 Million
Plot: Texas Ranger Jack Benteen (Nick Nolte) and drug dealer Cash Bailey (Powers Boothe) grew up as friends but have taken different moral paths.
As the two men gear up for a collision course, Sarita Cisneros (María Conchita Alonso) struggles to take sides between former lover Cash and current boyfriend Jack.
Meanwhile, mysterious special operatives known as the Zombie Unit, led by Major Paul Hackett (Michael Ironside), plot a bank robbery with ties to Bailey.
With: Rip Torn, Clancy Brown, William Forsythe, Matt Mulhern, Larry B. Scott, Dan Tullis, Jr., John Dennis Johnston, Marco Rodríguez, Luis Contreras, Tommy “Tiny” Lister, Mickey Jones, Thomas Rosales Jr.,
This film is so neglected I could only rent a fullscreen version on streaming (a crime against cinema but the best I could do).
But it’s curious how this movie didn’t take off or become more appreciated today.
It’s riddled with bullets and peppered with the full-throttled action of many other 1980s blastaways.
According to the internet, the film has a kill count of 46, and it belongs to that time when whoever manufactured bloody squibs for cinema was rolling in the dollars (think Robocop, Rambo II, etc.).
But perhaps the film was just too smartly executed for its place and landed in the no-man’s land of competence – not over-the-top silly like The Running Man or Total Recall but inferior to the plucky personality of Die Hard.
Still, fans upvote this film in online forums, and you can see why.
Apparently a loose homage to The Wild Bunch, Extreme Prejudice has many excellent performances.
Actors like Rip Torn (Men in Black), Clancy Brown (The Shawshank Redemption), and William Forsythe (Once Upon a Time In America) bring a presence to could-be forgettable sidekicks.
Michael Ironside (Total Recall) does his exact Michael Ironside hardman stuff in a good way.
Lead Nick Nolte trained with a Texas Ranger and lost weight before the film. And his leaned-down, tall, noble sheriff with a moral conflict is at the forefront of his performance.
And let’s not forget native Texan Powers Boothe (Tombstone), who never seems to turn in an off performance. From the moment his Cash Bailey comes on screen and lets a scorpion crawl over his hand just to crush it in his palm, he reeks of a cold-hearted, bloodthirsty but cool charisma. It’s a hell of a way to set up a character, uttering no words but saying a lot.
The Texas setting is refreshing, stepping out of the 1980s big-city cop-and-robber films of San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, or Boston.
But the movie’s talent is balancing its split narrative. We follow lead character Jack Benteen’s day-to-day, the zombie units’ operations, and Jack’s personal issues with Sarita and Cash.
Most film scripts keep it simple and don’t introduce another set of potential protagonists. Yet the characters of the Zombie Unit are almost as prominent in the film as Jack, and the writing manages them as neither ancillary nor dominating the screen time.
Then we get to the movie’s third act, which takes place in Mexico. Things get wild, many bullets fly, and we see much more Cash vs. Jack, Boothe playing off of Nolte.
Double-crosses come to light. And to the confusion of Cash’s troops, he agrees to a duel to settle their differences. It’s not a samurai moment, but both men seem obliged to follow a code of Texas honor.
Is Extreme Prejudice a Good Movie Today?
If you’re a fan of 1980s action films, it fits right into that mix.
4 – Hard Times – (1975)
Chronological Order: 1
Genre: Action Drama Sport Film
Budget: ~$2.7-$3.1 Million
Box Office: $26.5 Million
Plot: In Depression-era New Orleans, new partners Chaney (Charles Bronson), Speed (James Coburn), and Poe (Strother Martin) are on their way to heaps of money in the underground fighting arenas.
But Chaney will face his strongest opponent when the trio comes against major player Chick Gandil (Michael McGuire).
With: Jill Ireland, Margaret Blye, Felice Orlandi, Edward Walsh, Bruce Glover, Robert Tessier, Nick Dimitri, Frank McRae
You wonder how directors would react to their fans ranking their first effort as one of their best. Any creative would like to think they grew in talent over their careers and outclassed their initial outputs.
But Hard Times’s best quality is how it breezes by, easy to enjoy and difficult not to like.
Bronson’s incredible physique, despite the actor being over 50, and his tough, quiet charisma shine.
Hardman Chaney is paired with James Coburn’s loose-lipped and unapologetic Speed, a man who lives far too fast for his own good and, in another life, is the greatest salesman that ever walked a floor.
The film’s pace never stalls, giving out fistfights and a couple of laughs along the way.
While the script is as tight as anything modern, fistfight scenes from ~50 years ago show their age.
And you wonder if the film could have put some more personal grudges between Chaney and his opponents for added tension.
But the ending is a little more poignant than you’d have figured, and it is a better watch than I expected.
This classic hustler film is a must-study for any aspiring screenwriter looking to nail dialogue and pacing.
You can read my full review for Hard Times here.
Is Hard Times a Good Movie Today?
If you like classic action/hustler films, go for it. However, if you’re used to today’s CGI bullet fests, you might find it too mild.
3 – Streets of Fire – (1984)
Chronological Order: 7
Genre: Action/Crime/Neo-Noir
Budget: $14.5 Million
Box Office: $8.1 Million
Plot: Pop star Ellen Aim (Diane Lane ) returns to her hometown city district of Richmond for a concert.
Raven Shaddock (Willem Dafoe) and his biker gang interrupt the performance, storming the stage and kidnapping Aim, to the chagrin of her manager, Billy Fish (Rick Moranis).
With the police not up to the task, Reva Cody (Deborah Van Valkenburgh) telegrams her brother and Aim’s former lover, Tom (Michael Paré), for help.
Teaming up with ex-soldier McCoy (Amy Madigan), can Tom rescue Ellen?
With: Richard Lawson, Rick Rossovich, Bill Paxton
Streets of Fire dared to be different. That’s probably why it crashed out of the box office yet struck a strong chord with some and has found an appreciation in time.
The film plays like a distant cousin of Hill’s The Warriors. But if Warriors stretched reality, Streets went farther and built one of its own. Rather than dress up L.A. or Chicago, the film crew constructed unique city sets and locations for many scenes.
Hill conceived of the idea as a comic book world, though not based on any particular source material, hoping to launch an all-new lead action hero franchise with main character Tom Cody.
He wanted to tuck all his teenage fascinations into it – custom cars, neon signs, trains in the night, rumbles, rock stars, motorcycles, and more.
And then-current influences worked their way into the film.
With the recent success of Flashdance, Hill and Co. decided it would be partly a musical.
Inspired by Star Wars’s “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away,” Hill and crew created their own quick tagline for alt-world, dubbing the film in the credits as “a rock and roll fable.”
And as John Hughes’s films became popular, elements of teen dramas were tossed in as the final spice in an otherworldly movie chili.
Shot by Warriors’s cinematographer Andrew Laszlo, the film captures the green-night elegance of rough-and-tumble city streets. And it’s edited into a rapid-fire format.
But any malice is toned down into that teen-movie vibe – a fantasy. There’s an upbeat, good time here as 80s pop stars and fashion collide with 50s bikers covered in grease.
The music performed by Fire, Inc., written by the legendary Jim Steinman (Bat Out of Hell), is operatic numbers that open and close the film with pump-it-up joy and curtain-calling grandiose.
You’ll know many cast members, including Moranis, Madigan, Lane, and Paxton. Willem Dafoe is excellent as the biker gang’s gothic, potentially kinky king.
And the final showdown, a sledgehammer fight, is straight out of Hill’s playbook.
Though the supporting characters are fun, they are seemingly pissed off at all moments, making for some iffy dialogue.
The crux of the movie’s action doesn’t spark in a way that makes the hero memorable.
Some have lamented lead actor Michael Pare’s performance, believing it keeps this film’s wheels on the ground (I disagree).
Yet the movie’s sheer boldness, blending many different times and places without going entirely off the rails, makes it worthwhile.
You can read my full review of Streets of Fire here.
Is Streets of Fire a Good Movie Today?
This is Hill’s other cult classic, and if you like them, you should check it out.
2 – Southern Comfort – (1981)
Chronological Order: 5
Genre: Action Thriller Film
Budget: $7.6 Million
Box Office: $2.9 Million
Plot: Nine Louisiana Army National Guard members, including Corporal Charles Hardin (Powers Boothe) and Private First Class Spencer (Keith Carradine), get lost in a sunken bayou.
After discovering a local Cajun camp, the squad uses pirogues (canoe-like boats) to reach the swamp’s other side and return to the mission.
But the Cajuns immediately return. And when they see the soldiers with their boats, a misunderstanding escalates into a deadly chase.
With: Fred Ward, Franklyn Seales, Lewis Smith, T. K. Carter, Peter Coyote, Crawford Poole, Les Lannom, Carlos Brown, Brion James, Sonny Landham as Hunter
Southern Comfort was an absolute worldwide bomb. Yet this forgotten thriller reminds fans of Deliverance, Predator, and The Thing.
Still, it’s no imitation and features its own calling cards, raising questions of toxic masculinity and treatment of other cultures.
But this is no contemplative museum piece. A straight watch will be more than enough to draw you into its engrossing horror.
This film gets so much right about its setup – pitting part-time soldiers against a native, nimble enemy; arming them mostly with blanks; and embedding them in a trap-littered, murky swamp.
And its characters behave realistically. Clicks form, rivals bloom, and differences of opinion lead to mental fraying, infighting, and violence.
As they portrayed frustrated and stressed-out characters, the actors didn’t have to look deep inside for inspiration. The film was challenging to make (its camera tripods sinking into the swamp, its actors struggling to find their marks in several feet of water).
A film rife with tension, you never get the feeling any character is safe, especially as it’s absent a big-name star no doubt plot armored to the end.
And whether or not you love the movie, stick around for its final act. A masterclass in editing for dramatic tension, it cross-cuts its audience to death. It may be the finest ~20 minutes of filmmaking in Hill’s career so far. He does what he always sets out to do—draw two uncomplicated parties together and see who comes out on top.
The cast, led by the celebrated Powers Boothe (Sin City, Deadwood), Keith Carradine (Dexter, Deadwood), and a haunting Brion James (Blade Runner), nail the subtleties of each shift in the film’s direction.
You can read our full Southern Comfort review here.
Is Southern Comfort a Good Movie Today?
It’s a shame this movie has not been consumed by a wider audience, and I encourage any fans of thrillers and/or horror to give it a shot. Some critics argue it is Hill’s best film.
1 – The Warriors (1979)
Chronological Order: 3
Genre: Action Thriller
Budget: $4 Million
Box Office: $22.5 Million
Plot: Under a flag of truce, every street gang in New York gathers for a speech by idealist leader Cyrus (Roger Hill).
As Cyrus lays out his vision to unite the gangs and push the police for control of the city, Luther (David Patrick Kelly) assassinates him with a revolver.
Chaos erupts as the police arrive, and in the mad scramble, Coney Island gang The Warriors are mistakenly blamed for Cyrus’s death.
In retaliation, major gang The Riffs spread the word on the streets – get The Warriors.
Can The Warriors run the gauntlet of gangs in their way and make it back to Coney Island?
With: Michael Beck, James Remar, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, Marcelino Sánchez, David Harris, Tom McKitterick, Brian Tyler, Dorsey Wright, Terry Michos, Edward Sewer as Masai, Lynne Thigpen, Thomas G. Waites
Going into this review, The Warriors was the easy favorite for the top spot. And while there are some interesting Hill films, rewatching it today, nothing else in his filmography can lay a glove on it.
Admittedly it’s one of my all-time favorites, discovered in my youth – always difficult ties to separate from and remain objective.
But the more behind-the-making specials you watch, the more you can appreciate the many creative and/or risky decisions that went right for the whole vehicle to click.
Barry De Vorzon’s funky rock main theme, mixing synthesizers and distorted guitar (uncommon in its time), adds to the mystery-land, surreal feel.
Cinematographer Andy Laszlo was delighted to get a New York summer downpour during filming, giving him an excuse to wet down the streets for dazzling light interplay and atmosphere.
Actor David Patrick Kelly, given the space by Hill to improvise, tapped into his childhood bullying experience (and some bottles he found under the pier) for its most well-known moment, the come-out-to-play scene.
Roger Hill played gang leader Cyrus with fine theatrical quality. His grandstanding speech’s refrain of “Can you dig it?” became a generational catchphrase. Yet he was a substitute, only stepping in because a real-life gangster hired to play the part failed to show.
And there’s Hill’s very big (and deliberate) decision to take the movie into a fantasy direction (which seems to have evolved out of The Studio’s command to mix white and black characters into the gangs for commercial reasons, but that seems like its own article).
It’s an intoxicatingly masculine and provocative film, of its time and unrepeatable, as it was shot on location in late 1970s New York.
And the movie is edited to be entirely kinetic.
The opening was originally a standard roll call scene. Warriors leader Cleon addresses his troops before the gathering, introducing us to each member and their job in the delegation.
But it was slow and boring. So it was cut and reimagined in media res.
The opening sequence cross-cuts between moving trains, expositional shots of the train map, one-on-one conversations between Warriors members, and other gangs rolling to the big meeting. It clocks in at only ~6:30, yet even squeezes in the credits.
Even on-set problems couldn’t stop the film’s momentum.
Hill and the actor who played Fox, Thomas G. Waites, reportedly had a fallout over creative differences during the shoot. But even that only ended the character and not the movie, as they found a way to kill off Fox without disrupting the story (a cop throws him into a moving train).
Lastly, some have pointed out how the film is anchored around train stations. With The Warriors battling to get to the next stop, it literally puts rails on the movie, keeping it grounded.
While that sounds like a given, several films I’ve looked at since starting this site fail to clearly establish an objective the characters and the audience know they’re working toward. That simple goal helps create tension and stabilizes the fantasy from riding off with the story.
The rest of the standard wonderful reactions audiences have apply: the stylish costumes and the colorful gangs. Michael Beck, James Reymar, and all the rest of the cast nailing it; the hard-hitting action.
I have only the minorest of nitpicks.
Joe Walsh and Barry De Vorzon’s “In The City” closes the film. It’s a solid listen, but it doesn’t fit the tone. It holds far too much of a “have a beer and relax now” vibe after the wild, otherworldly journey.
This helluva night should not wash away so easily. I’d have preferred something sans lyrics, more in line with the synthesizer and rock opening theme (to be fair, “Nowhere to Run” fits the film perfectly, iconic enough to be referenced in John Wick 4).
The Warriors remains one of my favorite films of all time. I was magnetized to it as a youth, and you grow closer to it when you step back and appreciate the intelligence and, in a few cases, luck that made it what it is.
Fun Fact: While I had thought the film was riffing on Homer’s Odyssey, Sol Yurick’s novel, which the film is based on, is inspired by the troubles of Xenophon in Anabasis (his Greek soldiers stuck in the enemy territory of Persia and fighting to return home).
Is The Warriors a Good Movie Today?
Yes, it’s still a cult classic for any action fan. Even as films are increasingly shot digitally, this one still looks fantastic on film.
Bonus Awards:
Most Surprising/Underrated Film: Southern Comfort
Some would spring for Streets of Fire here, but the internet has shined enough light on that film in recent years that I don’t consider it underrated.
Honorable mentions to Extreme Prejudice and Trespass, but Southern Comfort has to walk away with this.
Most Disappointing Film: Wild Bill
This one’s easy. Armed with a substantial budget, a vaunted action director who loves westerns teams up with the celebrated, multi-Oscar-nominated (and winner) Jeff Bridges and a more-than-capable supporting cast.
Hill took the film in ambitious directions, but it just wasn’t to be.
Best Action Sequence: The Warriors
Car chases (The Driver), western shootouts (The Long Riders), underground and prison ground boxing (Hard Times, Undisputed), and over-the-top 80s blastaways (Extreme Prejudice) – Hill has covered the spectrum of action direction.
I don’t think a single director can better orchestrate a gunfight, but if you’re asking me to pick one specific sequence and say, “That’s a Walter Hill action scene,” I’m going with The Warriors’s bathroom brawl against rollerskating gang The Punks.
The chase and battle with the Baseball Furies, arguably the film’s most memorable gang, is more iconic (and is set to a rehash of that spectacular main theme).
But the bathroom battle is a fluid demonstration of everything Walter Hill action sequences do – build anticipation, hit hard, and toss in some Peckinpah-style slow motion. As others have pointed out, there are a lot of cuts, but you can fluidly tell what’s going on.
In Closing: My Key Takeaways from Walter Hill’s Films
While directors like Tony Scott, John McTiernan, and James Cameron have been synonymous with the rise in American action films over the last ~40 years, Walter Hill holds a chair on any directors’ panel of genre players.
His pure longevity in a business known for being hard to survive in is admirable.
For a guy you could stereotype as a boilerplate macho movie maker, it’s not the case. Hill has had a unique creative angle for each film, even in cases where it didn’t pan out.
Four Things:
1 -Hill usually ends his films with a clean, western-like showdown between easy-to-understand characters. It’s simple but dramatic.
2 – When writing, a winning formula for Hill has been pairing a character who can’t resist talking to compensate for a strong silent type (Hard Times).
3 – Hill loved to team up a duo with entirely different attitudes so there would always be conflict in the film (48 Hrs.)
4 – You can start a story with a character (I want to write about a lawyer with insomnia) and put them into a dramatic situation or begin with a dramatic incident (I want to write about a news clipping I saw) and invent your characters to fill it out.
Hill’s scripts went both routes.
For example, Undisputed went incident – what happens when the toughest guy on the planet goes to prison.
Dead for a Dollar (based on a historical European bounty hunter in America) and Red Heat (about normalizing Arnold Schwarzenegger’s accent) went character first.
Too often in my amateur writing I’ve only gone for character first and am interested to try incident first. I think it’s important to consider both approaches.
Thanks for Reading
Good on you for reading to the end of this article.
I hope you picked up something useful and/or enjoyed my thoughts on the films of Walter Hill so far.
If you agree or disagree, please let me know (respectfully) in the comments below.
And if you love to read filmography deep dives, check out my ranking of all John Carpenter’s films here.
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