Streets of Fire 4K 1984 Ultra HD 2160p

Story Movie

A gang of violent bikers kidnaps a popular rock diva straight from a concert. The singer's former beau, named Tom Cody, agrees to return the girl and declares war on the villainous motorcyclists.

Review 4K Movie

The Tale of Tommy and Ellen. Tom left for the army, and Ellen became a nationally beloved rock star. Now Ellen has a life of her own, she's dating a squishy producer named Billy, and Tom modestly keeps to himself. But one event changes all the plans of our trio: the ferocious leader of a local biker gang kidnaps the girl right from a concert...

He is Tom, a character for an eighties action movie and American action in general, the most trivial. A tough guy with a dark past and a murky future. He has a shotgun in one hand and the beautiful Diane Lane in the other. Tom speaks little and only about the case, shoots accurately, is smart, but still solves problems in the easiest way: if not a bullet in the head, then a pickaxe on the head of the offender of his girlfriend. Isn't he a hero? Actor Michael Paré, as Tom Cody, looks convincing, and there's not much else to add.

If there is a hero, there must be a villain. The characters in the film are as different as black and white. And they dress accordingly: one wears a white shirt, the other walks around all the time in an awfully funny black latex suit, apparently bought by a stern biker ringleader at a sex shop sale. The opaque villain in Willem Dafoe is more hilarious than frightening. Maybe that's Walter Hill's miscalculation. Willem Defoe has turned out a bad guy sketchy, devoid of any zest villain, which is a little disappointing, because bandits, crooks and other marginal personalities he always knew how to play excellently.

The film "Streets on Fire" itself can hardly pretend to have any plot originality. The amount of movie stamps per time unit is off the charts and there is nothing to be done about it. The dialogues are too simple, the minor characters are similar, and the script itself fits into a couple of short sentences.

Special effects are of high quality, but very common for the eighties: cars turn over by all the rules of Hollywood stuntmen tricks, expensive motorcycles explode beautifully from one hit in the gas tank. However, these scenes, by cameraman Andrew Laszlo, are filmed very professionally and dynamically.

For all the horrifying plot cranberries, there is something in Walter Hill's picture that lifts Streets on Fire high above other films of the same genre. The music. Ray Cooder's beautiful, groovy guitar soundtrack is something for which you can forgive "Streets..." for all its major and minor flaws.

"Streets on Fire" is both an action movie and a musical. And I liked it a lot more in the latter capacity. The musical numbers are beautiful, elegant and precise. What cannot be denied Walter Hill is the ability to include compositions in the film in such a way that the appearance for a few minutes of singing and dancing heroes of the picture does not distract the viewer from the storyline.

Compositions of the fifties in processing of the eighties, from the magnificent musician, capable of creating and experimenting in a variety of genres, perfectly harmonize with the general retro-futuristic atmosphere of "Streets on Fire". Gradually, getting more and more into Ry Cooder's work, I was and still am amazed by his ability to constantly search for new ways in music, self-improvement, experimenting with a variety of genres and directions, non-trivial approach to everything he does.

The music of Streets on Fire is a reference in its own way - it is a flawless combination of technical slide guitar playing with songs that have long ago become rock and roll classics. And all together, it's a chiseling mix of naive storytelling and uninterrupted drive, keeping a keen sense of freedom from the most aesthetically pleasing action movie for a long time.