I just got this in the mail from Amazon. Great picture and dynamic sound. Love this film. Awesome soundtrack, top rate. But, there was no booklet inside! Can anyone else confirm this if you happened to just get this. Thank you
Well well, thank you Steve! I thought Walter Hill did a great job staging the musical numbers. Saw this in the theater when it came out.
I watched them film the exteriors at Universal on the back lot. Never saw the film after it tanked. This will be my first time.
Great stuff, interesting. I’m so curious what you think about it. I saw a screening of it because my best friend used to be a bean counter for MCA. A long time ago.
I look forward to your review Steve. I own it on Laserdisc but I am not sure if I love the movie or dislike the movie. The soundtrack is great.
Since I only recently got the blu-ray and watched it for the first time (and what an excellent movie it is) I'm holding off on the 4K. I threw it on my Amazon wishlist for birthday/holidays and I can keep an eye out if it goes on sale.
It's a shame it flopped when released in 1984 because it's fantastic--of course, that applies to just about anything Walter Hill creates. I remember reading an interview with Hill in which He was inspired to make the film because He wanted to give people a film that showcased the things He loved as a kid: "Custom cars, kissing in the rain, neon, trains in the night, high-speed pursuit, rumbles, rock stars, motorcycles, jokes in tough situations, leather jackets and questions of honor." Michael Pare and Diane Lane were outstanding in it, along with Willem Dafoe. - siyt
Cinematographer, Andrew Laszlo, was at our film festival in the late 90's. He explained how they tented this huge area of the back lot for the film. It was a while ago but he said it was something like 14 acres, maybe more? Never saw the film in the theater. Had a 6' coffee table Sony front projection TV back in '85. I ran the audio through my receiver and I had two Altec Model 19's on each side of the screen. I could never figure how they shot the exteriors? They weren't a real location but they were too large for a sound stage. You might do an outside set and shoot at night if it were only a few scenes. There were too many exterior shots to shoot only at night. Andrew said that every morning the winds came up and tore the tarps and they had to repair them. He said that you could see shafts of light streaming through the tares. The colors of these night shots are outstanding. It is like a comic book brought to life. The music fits the film perfectly.
Some of it, it's dated pretty badly but I'm enjoying it. Hurts that our company lost so much money on this "sure thing."
I think it was one if those cases where the movie fell into an unknown void. An American Rock Fable is something that the public could not understand. It was a pure comic book brought to life. Guess the world wasn't ready for this genre? Go back and watch it from the beginning? It gets more intense and involved as the movie moves along. They put together a dream cast. The music, lighting and the sets were outstanding. It remains a favorite of mine!
I remember being disappointed in this movie when it first came out. I loved Bat Out of Hell and Warriors and couldn’t wait to see this flick, believing such a mash up would be awesome. It looks amazing as does the dazzling Diane Lane. Unfortunately, I found the movie and music empty. I quickly got bored with it. Great concept but it didn’t deliver for me. I wish they would release the original cut of The Warriors.
