Remember watching this on video way back in the day. My mates and myself, eye's fixed at the tv loving every second. Movie ends and we rewind and press play again. Brilliant. The tape was rented put many times. I was excited to see it on film4 so I watched it. Sadly the years have not been good to this classic gang movie. But I still have great memories of how I felt when I viewed it 35 ish!? ish!? years ago. "COME OUT TO PLAAYYY!!".
I first saw it in 81' on a mates video. We were around 15. We absolutely loved it!
It's still a cool film. Yeah some of the acting is awful and some of the dialogue is risible, but it's still very enjoyable.
I saw it on film 4 and it looks fantastic in HD!
Was it a millionaire who said "Imagine no possessions"?
It's a mood film..and, if you haven't seen it in awhile, it all comes rushing back. Here's another trick--see it with someone who hasn't seen it..or a young person, son, daughter...and it's a "wholllle lotta magic" once again :)
"Hey...I like that...I like that!!" Terry Silver Karate Kid III
I am going to have to disagree, this film has aged very well. I did not see this film until I was in college in the 90s and I was blown away. The fact that the cast is unknowns and only a couple cast members have gone on to have successful acting careers give it a unique feel. As someone who was born and raised in NYC and still reside, this film is a great reminder of what NYC was like in the 70s and 80s. I watch the film a couple times a year and love it every time. I pray there is no attempt at a remake, the was talk of one in the early 2000s.
shareThose gangs or any part of the movie was in no way based in the time period that it was filmed. It was a "Streets of Fire" action fantasy.
shareWell most gangs looked more like the Turnbull ACs and none looked like the Tall Hats, but that is not the point. In the 70s NYC had a serious gang issue and the city was in a huge financial mess.
shareAbsolutely -- NYC in the 70's was a mess....they were talking about declaring bankruptcy. Obviously they fast forward into a fantasy world, but it is one that includes what might have happened (and they didn't know then that Giuliani would come in astride a white horse and proceed to clean up the town).
And of course, of course the gangs are made up and over the top.....it's a movie.
Doesn't mean they didn't go for a bit of realism though. A few months before the movie came out I read a profile in People about a gang member. The hook was that he was deaf, but that didn't make him cute and fuzzy. He'd also been charged (or at least suspected) with two murders.
And in the stadium scene...there he was in a three second close-up (wears a fedora if you watch again). Never read the backstory, but made clear that actual gang members were extras in the Cyrus as savior scene.
Currently streaming on Netflix.
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Every person that served can be called a veteran, but not every veteran can be called a Marine.
I just saw this for the first time, can't believe I never saw it before and I'm old enough to have seen it when it was fresh. I loved it, age or not this is a clear classic.
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