Streets on fire
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Streets on fire |
| Original title | Streets of Fire |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1984 |
| length | about 90 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Walter Hill |
| script | Walter Hill Larry Gross |
| production | Ronald L. Schwary for RKO Pictures |
| camera | Andrew Laszlo |
| cut |
Freeman A. Davies Michael Ripps |
| occupation | |
| |
Streets of Fire is a 1984 published action film by Walter Hill , where Michael Paré , Willem Dafoe , Diane Lane and Amy Madigan play the main roles.
action
The story takes place in an unspecified time when the ambience and the clothes, cars, etc. suggest the USA around the mid-1950s, but the music and even video clips on color television are more likely to be in the 1980s. The law of the thumb rules the streets and lawless motorcycle gangs have usurped power. During an acclaimed performance one evening, the rock singer Ellen Aim is kidnapped away from the stage by the evil gang leader Raven and his gang, the "Bomber". Reva asks her brother Tom to come home to free Ellen from the kidnappers' hands. Tom, however, wants money for it, although Ellen was once his girlfriend and great love. He asks his sister to contact Ellen's manager Billy Fish. He negotiates a sum of US $ 10,000 with him for the liberation of Ellen. Although Billy disgusts it and is happy to have come out of the mud hole the Battery , he has to support Tom because he knows his way around there. The ex-soldier McCoy (quote: "My name is McCoy. I'm a soldier. At least I was until a year ago. Then the wars ran out."), Tom met in the bar "Black Hawk", helps him because she needs money too.
The three of them break into the Battery , free Ellen quickly, but have to go into hiding in the streets of Richmond because the whole operation has raised too much dust. On their escape from the bombers and the police, they roam through a red light district, take the Sorrels bus and continue their journey. A fan of Ellen accompanies the group, which has now grown to eight people.
The next morning they reach Richmond again and arrive at the police station. Raven Shaddock, who sees himself hurt in his pride, challenges Tom to a duel. But the local police want to prevent this and arrest Raven. Prepared for this, Raven calls his gang with a pneumatic horn, which is now outnumbered by the powerless police. Since the "bombers" have closed the city, Cody can not leave and takes on Raven.
There is a showdown . Tom wins a duel over Shaddock and the residents of Richmond band together to show the bombers the way out of the city after the defeat, peacefully but nevertheless firmly, with weapons pointed at them.
In the end, Ellen gives one last concert in Richmond with the Sorrels . Tom, who did not save her for the money and did not accept his share, leaves her again because he is crazy about her, but knows that it will not go well. McCoy accompanies him.
The film
Streets in Flames caused a sensation back then because it is a spectacular mix of road movie , action film and music film . The music is not just a background noise here, but is an equal factor alongside the plot and the actors. Two songs - the rock operas "Nowhere Fast" and "Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young" - were composed by Jim Steinman , who had previously composed for Meat Loaf in the same style .
In addition, Walter Hill works well with numerous set pieces of the Western, which he has transposed into a seemingly apocalyptic, decaying time. For example the figure of the cool, calculating avenger who moves into the city lonely, or that of the clichéd gang leader with his gang operating outside the law, who ends up in a showdown (a duel with sledgehammers ) against the hero. The perfectly staged interplay of these individual factors, together with the memorable acting performances, quickly helped the film to cult status .
In addition, Streets in Flames was the first film to be shot with a completely new type of film material with very high light sensitivity , which meant that night shots could be shot almost entirely without additional artificial light, because street lamps, neon signs, firelight, etc. illuminated the scenes sufficiently. In the lexicon of international film , Streets in Flames is therefore referred to as "film-historically significant because of the introduction of a new type of negative film, which as an innovation for studio films has a direct influence on their visual aesthetics".
The commercial success was still missing. US revenues were approximately $ 8 million with a cost of production of $ 14.5 million. Newspapers described him as “misogynistic” and “clumsy”, “tasteless” ( crude ; New York Times ), the leading actors were a failure ( Washington Post ) and the story was missing ( The Globe and Mail ). An intended continuation was therefore not pursued at that time. Today the film is largely rehabilitated and enjoys cult status with a larger fan base.
Soundtrack
- Fire Inc. - Nowhere Fast 6:02
- Marilyn Martin - Sorcerer 5:06 (Stevie Nicks)
- The Fixx - Deeper and Deeper 3:45
- Greg Phillinganes - Countdown to Love 3:00
- The Blasters - One Bad Stud 2:28
- Fire Inc. - Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young 6:58
- Maria McKee - Never Be You 4:06
- Dan Hartman - I Can Dream About You 4:07
- Ry Cooder - Hold That Snake 2:36
- The Blasters - Blue Shadows 3:17
German versions
The film was released in Germany on a video cassette from CIC and on a DVD from Universal . The cassette was released in two different editions, of which the first edition as a so-called unaudited version appeared, the second edition, but also by the Signet of G carries -18 version. The DVD is also FSK-18 tested. After the FSK was re-rated, another DVD was released, this has the new approval (FSK 16). All four versions are uncut. Since November 2013, the film has also been available for the first time in Germany in HD quality as Blu-Ray from Universal . Previously there was only one HD DVD for the American market.
Awards
Diane Lane was nominated for the 1985 Golden Raspberry for her role as Ellen Aim in "Worst Supporting Role" . Amy Madigan received Best Actress at the 1984 Sitges Festival for her role as McCoy. (IMDb)
continuation
In 2008 Albert Pyun shot an unofficial sequel to Streets in Flames with the film Road to Hell . Michael Paré and Deborah Van Valkenburgh continued their role from the first film in the film.
Web links
- Streets of Fire in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Streets of Fire at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- Streets on fire. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 18, 2013 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Streets on fire. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 18, 2013 .
- ↑ Bernd Teichmann: 15 Things You Need to Know About Diane Lane. In: stern.de. July 20, 2017. Retrieved November 23, 2019 .
- ↑ Road to Hell Movie ( Memento of the original from February 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
